Patent Application
20190316417
This disclosure relates generally to rotary drill machines, and more particularly, to a system operative to position the machines to compensate for drilling holes on sloped surfaces.
Rotary drill machines or rotary blast hole drills are often used in surface mining operations to drill holes into which explosives are inserted. The machines typically include a frame or platform on which a pivotable mast supporting a rotatable drill bit is mounted. A drive mechanism is provided to propel the machine from one drill hole location to the next.
A leveling system may be operatively connected to the platform so that the platform, and thus the mast and drill bit, may be positioned at the desired orientation (e.g., horizontal) in preparation for a drilling operation. In some embodiments, the leveling system includes a plurality of hydraulic actuators operatively connected to a hydraulic system and operative to independently raise each actuator a desired amount.
Upon positioning the rotary drill machine at a desired location, actuation of the leveling system may cause a shift in the location at which the drill bit will engage the work surface. Depending upon the extent of the slope of the work surface on which the rotary drill machine is positioned, the result of the leveling process may be significant movement of the drill bit away from its desired location. This issue may become more significant when the rotary drill machine is being moved in an autonomous manner. In such case, repositioning the machine may be difficult and/or impractical.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 2017/0234119 discloses a system for automatically leveling a machine including using an electronic processor to autonomously change a position of at least one of a plurality of jacks to level the machine. The system may extend at least one of the plurality of jacks or retract at least one of the plurality of jacks. Such leveling operation is performed after the machine is positioned at a desired location.
The foregoing background discussion is intended solely to aid the reader. It is not intended to limit the innovations described herein, nor to limit or expand the prior art discussed. Thus, the foregoing discussion should not be taken to indicate that any particular element of a prior system is unsuitable for use with the innovations described herein, nor is it intended to indicate that any element is essential in implementing the innovations described herein. The implementations and application of the innovations described herein are defined by the appended claims.
In one aspect, a system for compensating for a slope of a work surface on which a machine is disposed while drilling holes in the work surface includes a leveling system, a rotary drill mechanism, a position sensor, an inclination sensor, and controller. The leveling system is operatively connected to the machine and configured to move the machine to a desired orientation. The rotary drill mechanism is operatively connected to the leveling system and configured to drill holes in the work surface. The position sensor is operatively associated with the machine and configured to generate position signals indicative of a position of the machine. The inclination sensor is operatively associated with the machine and configured to generate slope signals indicative of a slope of the work surface adjacent the machine. The controller is configured to access characteristics of the machine including a position of a machine reference relative to the rotary drill mechanism, the leveling system, and the position sensor, access coordinates of a desired map drill hole, determine current coordinates of the machine reference based upon the position signals from the position sensor, and determine a current slope of the machine based upon the slope signals from the inclination sensor. The controller is further configured to determine a dynamic offset compensation to compensate for movement of the rotary drill mechanism by the leveling system from a first position offset from the desired map drill hole to a second position aligned with the desired map drill hole, with the dynamic offset compensation being based upon the characteristics of the machine and the current slope of the machine, generate a drive command to propel the machine and move the machine reference to a position at which the rotary drill mechanism is aligned with the first position, and generate a leveling command to operate the leveling system to move the machine to the desired orientation at which the rotary drill mechanism is aligned with the desired map drill hole.
In another aspect, a method of compensating for a slope of a work surface on which a machine is disposed while drilling holes in the work surface with a rotary drill mechanism operatively associated with a leveling system includes accessing characteristics of the machine including a position of a machine reference relative to the rotary drill mechanism, the leveling system, and a position sensor, accessing coordinates of a desired map drill hole, determining current coordinates of the machine reference based upon position signals from the position sensor, and determining a current slope of the machine based upon slope signals from a slope sensor. The method further includes determining a dynamic offset compensation to compensate for movement of the rotary drill mechanism by the leveling system from a first position offset from the desired map drill hole to a second position aligned with the desired map drill hole, with the dynamic offset compensation being based upon the characteristics of the machine and the current slope of the machine, generating a drive command to propel the machine and move the machine reference to a position at which the rotary drill mechanism is aligned with the first position, and generating a leveling command to operate the leveling system to move the machine to a desired orientation at which the rotary drill mechanism is aligned with the desired map drill hole.
In still another aspect, a machine includes a ground engaging drive mechanism, a leveling system, a rotary drill mechanism, a position sensor, an inclination sensor, and controller. The ground engaging drive mechanism is operatively connected to the machine and configured to propel the machine about a work site. The leveling system is operatively connected to the machine and configured to move the machine to a desired orientation. The rotary drill mechanism is operatively connected to the leveling system and configured to drill holes in the work surface. The position sensor is operatively associated with the machine and configured to generate position signals indicative of a position of the machine. The inclination sensor is operatively associated with the machine and configured to generate slope signals indicative of a slope of the work surface adjacent the machine. The controller is configured to access characteristics of the machine including a position of a machine reference relative to the rotary drill mechanism, the leveling system, and the position sensor, access coordinates of a desired map drill hole, determine current coordinates of the machine reference based upon the position signals from the position sensor, and determine a current slope of the machine based upon the slope signals from the inclination sensor. The controller is further configured to determine a dynamic offset compensation to compensate for movement of the rotary drill mechanism by the leveling system from a first position offset from the desired map drill hole to a second position aligned with the desired map drill hole, with the dynamic offset compensation being based upon the characteristics of the machine and the current slope of the machine, generate a drive command to propel the machine and move the machine reference to a position at which the rotary drill mechanism is aligned with the first position, and generate a leveling command to operate the leveling system to move the machine to the desired orientation at which the rotary drill mechanism is aligned with the desired map drill hole.
A cab or operator station 20 may be provided that an operator may physically occupy and provide input to operate the machine. The mast 15 and operator station 20 are positioned towards the rear 22 of the machine 10, opposite the front 21 of the machine.
Machine 10 may also have a leveling system generally indicated at 25 including a plurality of jacks configured as actuators or hydraulic cylinders to raise the machine 10 above the work surface 101 during a drilling operation. Referring to
In addition, as depicted in
As depicted in
Each of the left front jack 26 and the right front jack 27 is spaced from the longitudinal centerline 30 by a lateral offset 33 and from the lateral centerline 31 by a longitudinal offset 34. Each of the left rear jack 28 and the right rear jack 29 is spaced from the longitudinal centerline 30 by a lateral offset 35 and from the lateral centerline 31 by a longitudinal offset 36. In some embodiments, the drill bit 17 may, when in a vertical orientation, be offset from either or both of the longitudinal centerline 30 and the lateral centerline 31. As depicted in
A control system 40, as shown generally by an arrow in
The controller 41 may be an electronic controller that operates in a logical fashion to perform operations, execute control algorithms, store and retrieve data and other desired operations. The controller 41 may include or access memory, secondary storage devices, processors, and any other components for running an application. The memory and secondary storage devices may be in the form of read-only memory (ROM) or random access memory (RAM) or integrated circuitry that is accessible by the controller. Various other circuits may be associated with the controller 41 such as power supply circuitry, signal conditioning circuitry, driver circuitry, and other types of circuitry.
The controller 41 may be a single controller or may include more than one controller disposed to control various functions and/or features of the machine 10. The term “controller” is meant to be used in its broadest sense to include one or more controllers and/or microprocessors that may be associated with the machine 10 and that may cooperate in controlling various functions and operations of the machine 10. The functionality of the controller 41 may be implemented in hardware and/or software without regard to the functionality. The controller 41 may rely on one or more data maps relating to the operating conditions and the operating environment of the machine 10 that may be stored in the memory of controller. Each of these data maps may include a collection of data in the form of tables, graphs, and/or equations to maximize the performance and efficiency of the machine 10 and its operation.
The control system 40 and the controller 41 may be located on the machine 10 or may be distributed so that certain functions are performed on the machine 10 and other functions are performed remotely.
Machine 10 may be configured to be operated autonomously, semi-autonomously, or manually. When operating semi-autonomously or manually, machine 10 may be operated by remote control and/or by an operator physically located within the operator station 20 of the machine. As used herein, a machine 10 operating in an autonomous manner operates automatically based upon information received from various sensors without the need for human operator input. A machine 10 operating semi-autonomously includes an operator, either within the machine or remotely, who performs some tasks or provides some input and other tasks are performed automatically and may be based upon information received from various sensors. A machine 10 being operated manually is one in which an operator is controlling all or essentially all of the functions of the machine. A machine 10 may be operated remotely by an operator (i.e., remote control) in either a manual or semi-autonomous manner.
During autonomous operation (and semi-autonomous positioning) of the machine 10, the control system 40 may be configured to position the machine based upon the position of any reference point or datum associated with the machine. In one embodiment, the control system 40 may utilize the intersection of the longitudinal centerline 30 and the lateral centerline 31 of the machine at the level of the lower surface of the tracks 13 to define a datum or machine reference 32 (
Machine 10 may be equipped with a plurality of machine sensors 45, as shown generally by an arrow in
A position sensor 46, as shown generally by an arrow in
One or more slope or inclination sensors 48 such as a pitch angle sensor may be provided to generate slope data or signals indicative of the slope or inclination (i.e., pitch and roll) of the machine 10 relative to a ground or earth reference. Separate sensors may be provided for determining each of the pitch and roll of the machine or a combined sensor may provide signals to determine both pitch and roll. In other examples, the slope or inclination may be determined from data generated by the position sensor 46.
A mast angle sensor generally indicated at 49 may be provided to sense the angle 70 (
Referring to
Upon positioning the machine 10 on a sloped work surface 103 as depicted in
Further, in order to re-orient the machine to a horizontal position, the jacks are raised in a non-uniform manner as depicted in
It should be noted that in addition to the sloped work surface 103 being pitched from front to rear relative to the machine 10 as depicted in
Depending upon the configuration of the work surface 101, the machine 10 may experience both pitch and roll relative to a horizontal plane. As a result, re-orienting the machine 10 to a horizontal position may require raising each of the jacks in a non-uniform manner (i.e., each of the jacks may be raised a different amount) to compensate for both the pitch and roll of the machine. Accordingly, the dynamic offset may include a shift in both the “x” and “y” directions as a result of the pitch and roll of the sloped work surface 103.
As a result of the dynamic offset, positioning the machine 10 at a desired location for drilling a hole in the work surface without requiring subsequent re-alignment may be challenging or problematic. More specifically, upon positioning the machine 10 on a sloped surface 103 so that the bit projection 105 is aligned with the location of the map drill hole 75, subsequent re-orienting of the machine to a horizontal position will move the bit projection away from the desired hole location. If the slope (i.e., pitch and roll) is significant, the bit projection 105 may move a significant distance away from the location of the map drill hole 75 during the re-orienting or leveling process. Subsequent drilling, without re-positioning the machine 10 prior to the leveling process would then result in the hole being drilled at a location offset from the map drill hole 75 location. Control system 40 may therefore include a dynamic offset compensation system generally indicated at 42 in
The dynamic offset compensation system 42 may generally operate by determining the dynamic offset as a result of a sloped work surface 103 on which the machine 10 is operating and then determining the actual or target position to which the machine 10 should be propelled so that, upon leveling of the machine, the rotated bit projection 106 is aligned with the position of the map drill hole 75.
The industrial applicability of the system described herein will be readily appreciated from the foregoing discussion. The foregoing discussion is applicable to machines 10, such as a rotary blast hole drills, that operate at a work site 100 for drilling holes in the work surface 101. The systems and processes disclosed herein may be used at a mining site, a landfill, a quarry, a construction site, a roadwork site, or any other area or site in which it is desired drill holes in a work surface.
At stage 52, the location or coordinates of the desired holes to be drilled in the work surface 101 may be set or stored. Such holes may be referred to as map drill holes 75 and the position of each map drill hole may be expressed in terms of an “x” position such as Xmap and a “y” position such as Ymap. In one embodiment, the coordinates of the desired map drill holes 75 may be stored as part of a work site map. Other manners of determining the desired locations of the map drill holes 75 are contemplated.
At stage 53, the controller 41 may access the coordinates of and move the machine 10 towards the next desired map drill hole 75. While doing so, the controller 41 may receive at stage 54 data from the sensors associated with the machine 10 including the position sensor 46, the inclination sensor 48, and the mast angle sensor 49. The controller 41 may determine at stage 55 the position and heading of the machine 10 based upon the position data from the position sensor 46 and the angle of the mast 15 based upon angle signals from the mast angle sensor 49.
More specifically, based upon the distances between the individual sensors 47 of the position sensor 46 and the machine reference 32, the position and heading of the machine reference may be determined from the position signals. Further, the controller 41 may determine the position or current coordinates of the machine reference 32 from the position data. In addition, based upon the distance between the drill bit 17, when vertical, and the position of the machine reference 32, the position of the drill projection 105 may also be determined.
At stage 56, the controller 41 may determine the slope (i.e., pitch and roll) of the machine 10 based upon slope signals from the inclination sensor 48. The controller 41 may determine at decision stage 57 whether the difference between the current pitch and roll of the machine 10 and the previously stored pitch and roll of the machine exceeds a slope change threshold. If the difference between the current pitch and roll and the previously stored pitch and roll is less than a predetermined slope change threshold, the controller 41 may skip to stage 61 and continue to operate based upon the previously stored pitch and roll. In one embodiment, the angle threshold may be one degree. The difference between the current pitch and roll and the previously stored pitch and roll may be determined according to the following:
Δ=|(|Pitchold|+|Rollold|)−(|Pitchnew|)+|Rollnew|| (1)
where Δ is the difference between the current pitch and roll and the previously stored pitch and roll, Pitchold is the previously stored pitch, Rollold is the previously stored roll, Pitchnew is the current pitch, and Rollnew is the current roll.
If the difference A between the sum of the current pitch and roll and the sum of the previously stored pitch and roll is greater than the predetermined slope change threshold, the controller 41 may replace at stage 58 the previously stored pitch and roll with the current pitch and roll.
After the replacing the current slope data with the new slope data, the controller 41 may determine, based upon the new pitch and roll of the machine 10, a target position offset from the desired map drill hole to account or compensate for the dynamic offset caused by the sloped work surface 103. In other words, the controller 41 may determine the position at which the machine 10 or bit projection 105 should be positioned so that, upon leveling the machine, the rotated bit projection will be aligned with the map drill hole 75. In doing so, the controller 41 may determine the desired position of the machine reference 32 to position the bit projection 105 at the position offset from the desired map drill hole.
More specifically, when extending certain jacks to level the machine 10 and compensate for the dynamic offset caused by a sloped work surface 103, the machine will generally rotate about the jack positioned at the highest elevation on the work surface. In some instances, the highest jack may also be raised with the other jacks during the leveling process but the overall movement of the machine may be generalized as rotation. In other words, even if the machine 10 is not being strictly rotated as the jacks are being extended to level the machine, such movement may be approximated and may be referred to herein as rotation of the machine. The portion of the machine 10 adjacent the highest jack may be subjected to the least amount of movement during the leveling process and thus the use of the highest jack as a reference for determining the compensation for the dynamic offset may be desirable as it may simplify the analysis of the movement of the machine 10 and thus simplify the calculation of the dynamic offset compensation.
At stage 59, the controller 41 may analyze the topography of the work surface adjacent the machine 10 to determine the highest elevation on which the jacks are currently positioned. In other words, the controller 41 may determine, prior to raising the jacks to level the machine 10, which jack (e.g., the upper surface thereof) is at the highest elevation. In one embodiment, the controller 41 may determine whether the pitch of the machine 10 is positive or negative. Based upon one standard pitch convention, if the pitch is positive, the front 21 of the machine is higher than the rear 22 and, if the pitch is negative, the rear of the machine is higher than the front. Based upon one standard roll convention, if the roll is positive, the left side 23 of the machine is higher than the right side 24 and, if the roll is negative, the right side is higher than the left side. As a result, the highest jack may be determined based upon the logic set forth in the following table:
The target position for the machine reference 32 (expressed as Xtarget,Ytarget,Ztarget) may be determined at stage 60. More specifically, by positioning the machine 10 so that the machine reference 32 is at its target position, the drill projection 105 will be offset from the map drill hole 75 but upon rotating the machine 10 to a horizontal position, the rotated bit projection 106 will be aligned with the map drill hole 75 location.
To determine the target position for the machine reference 32, desired coordinates (expressed as X1, Y1, Z1) of the top of the highest jack (i.e., the intersection of the highest jack and the frame 12) may be determined in terms of the coordinates of the target position, the pitch and roll of the machine 10, and the dimensions of the machine.
More specifically, X1 may be expressed as:
X
1
=X
map+(XJackoffset+XBitoffset)*Sin(targetyaw)+YJackoffset*Cos(targetyaw) (2)
where XJackoffset is the length of the longitudinal offset 33, 36 between the machine reference 32 and the highest jack, XBitoffset is distance along the longitudinal centerline 30 from the drill bit 17 (when in a vertical position) and the machine reference 32, targetyaw is the desired angle of the yaw of the machine 10, and YJackoffset is the length of the lateral offset 34, 35 between the machine reference 32 and the highest jack.
XBitoffset may be expressed as:
X
Bitoffset=(Jackedheight+Const1)*Tan(targetmastangle)+Const2 (3)
where Jackedheight is the distance from the work surface 101 to the machine reference 32 when the jacks are raised or extended, targetmastangle is the desired mast angle 70, and Const1 and Const2 are set based upon the geometry or dimensions of the machine 10.
Const1 may be expressed as:
Const1=Platformheight+Mastpivotfromframe (4)
where Platformheight is the distance from the work surface 101 to the frame 12 when the jacks are not raised or extended and Mastpivotfromframe is the distance from the frame to the mast pivot point 16.
Const2 may be expressed as:
Const2=Steeltomastpivotpoint/Cos(targetmastangle)+Mastpivotpointongitudinaloffset (5)
where Steeltomastpivotpoint is the shortest distance from the mast pivot point 16 to the drill bit 17, and mastpivotpointlongitudinaloffset is the longitudinal distance between the mast pivot point 16 and the lateral centerline 31.
Y1 may be expressed as:
Y
1
=Y
map(XJackoffset+XBitoffset)*Cos(targetyaw)−Yjackoffset*Sin(targetyaw) (6)
Z1 may be expressed as:
Z
1=elevation+Zjackoffset (7)
where elevation is the Z coordinate of the GPS reading at machine reference 32 and ZJackoffset is the distance from the work surface 101 to the machine reference when the jacks are raised. Zjackoffset may be expressed as:
Z
Jackoffset=(XJackoffset+XBitoffset)*Sin(pitch)−yJackoffset*Cos(pitch)*Sin(roll)+Const3 (8)
where Const3 is the Platformheight.
The components of the target position (Xtarget, Ytarget, Ztarget) may then be expressed as:
X
target
=X
1
+X
Jackoffset)*Cos(pitch)*Sin(targetyaw)+(−YJackoffset)*[Cos(targetyaw)*Cos(roll)+Sin(targetyaw)*Sin(pitch)*Sin(roll)]+Const3*[−Cos(targetyaw)*Sin(roll)+Sin(targetyaw)*Sin(pitch)*Cos(roll)] (9)
where pitch is the pitch of the machine 10 as sensed by the inclination sensor 48 and roll is the roll of the machine 10 as sensed by the inclination sensor 48.
Y
target
=Y
1
+X
Jackoffset)*Cos(pitch)*Cos(targetyaw)+(−YJackoffset)[−Sin(targetyaw)*Cos(roll)+Cos(targetyaw)*Sin(pitch)*Sin(roll)]+Const3*[Sin(targetyaw)*Sin(roll)+Cos(targetyaw)*Sin(pitch)*Cos(roll)] (10)
Z
target
=Z
1+(XJackoffset)*Sin(pitch)−(−YJackoffset)*Cos(pitch)*Sin(roll)−Const3*Cos(pitch)*Cos(roll) (11)
Once the target position Xtarget,Ytarget,Ztarget of the machine 10 has been determined, controller 41 may determine at decision stage 61 whether the machine reference 32 is aligned with the target position. If the machine reference 32 and the target position are not aligned, the machine 10 may continue to be moved towards the target position and stages 53-61 repeated. If the machine reference 32 is aligned with the target position Xtarget,Ytarget,Ztarget propulsion of the machine 10 may be terminated and the controller 41 may generate at stage 62 one or more lift or leveling commands to raise the jacks so that the machine 10 is level. At stage 63 a drilling command may be generated to perform a drilling operation.
Upon completion of the drilling operation, the next map drill hole 75 may be set or accessed within the controller 41 and the process continued.
Various alternative methods and embodiments are contemplated. For example, the machine reference 32 may be defined or set at any location. Although the process is described as moving the machine 10 from a sloped position to a horizontal position when leveling the machine, the process may include moving the machine to be parallel to any reference plane. Further, although the process is described and formulas provided in the context of rotating the machine about the highest jack, other points of reference may be used.
Still further, in another embodiment, the distance that the drill projection 105 will travel or be moved upon leveling the machine 10 may be determined and the coordinates of the map drill hole 75 may be adjusted based upon the movement of the drill projection to define the coordinates of the adjusted map drill hole. The machine 10 may then be propelled to align the drill projection with the adjusted map drill hole prior to the leveling operation.
It will be appreciated that the foregoing description provides examples of the disclosed system and technique. All references to the disclosure or examples thereof are intended to reference the particular example being discussed at that point and are not intended to imply any limitation as to the scope of the disclosure more generally. All language of distinction and disparagement with respect to certain features is intended to indicate a lack of preference for those features, but not to exclude such from the scope of the disclosure entirely unless otherwise indicated.
Recitation of ranges of values herein are merely intended to serve as a shorthand method of referring individually to each separate value falling within the range, unless otherwise indicated herein, and each separate value is incorporated into the specification as if it were individually recited herein. All methods described herein can be performed in any suitable order unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context.
Accordingly, this disclosure includes all modifications and equivalents of the subject matter recited in the claims appended hereto as permitted by applicable law. Moreover, any combination of the above-described elements in all possible variations thereof is encompassed by the disclosure unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context.
