Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to open-pit mining, and more particularly, to managing open-pit mining during periods of rainfall.
Background Description
Open-pit or open-cast mining is a surface mining technique for extracting ore deposits of commercially useful minerals from a very large open pit or borrow pit. Modern open-pit mining operations rely heavily on large, heavy equipment including, for example, bull dozers, excavators, back hoes and dump trucks. These behemoths remove an overburden of surface material from a large field to leave an earthen floor at the vein with the valuable subsurface deposit. The typical pit may cover an area of square miles with that same heavy equipment being used to remove the exposed ore from the vein, and carry loads of ore over unpaved pit roads to extract the valuable minerals.
Operators can mine at full capacity with a firm floor in a dry pit. However, when a typical pit gets wet, the unpaved pit roads get very muddy. During heavy rain, heavy equipment can bog down in the mud, even halting mining completely. To continue mining in rainfall, trucks may need to change to alternate, predefined routes. Even so, equipment may still get stuck. Extracting one of these behemoths from the mud can occupy one or more bulldozers and excavators, taking them away from more productive mining activity. Consequently, rainfall can have a major impact on open-pit mining operations.
Thus, there is a need for efficiently, locally forecasting weather; and, more particularly for efficiently, locally forecasting rainfall in real time for open-pit mining operations to avoid potentially dangerous and unproductive situations.
A feature of the invention is dispatching plans are adjusted for mining equipment based on rainfall sensed by the mining equipment;
Another feature of the invention is rainfall in open-pit mines is detected from mining equipment wiper use;
Yet another feature of the invention is rainfall in open-pit mines is detected from mining equipment wiper use, and dispatching plans are adjusted for mining equipment based on rainfall sensed by the mining equipment.
The present invention relates to an open-pit mining system, method of forecasting weather and a computer program product therefor. A dispatching system models local pit conditions and generates a dispatching plan for mining equipment for each mining shift. A forecasting system generates local forecasts. Pieces of mining equipment include wiper frequency sensors sensing wiper use whenever equipment wipers are engaged. The wiper frequency sensors forward wiper use data to the forecasting system, which determines pit rainfall from collected sensed wiper frequency. The dispatching system adjusts the dispatching plan to compensate for rainfall effects.
The foregoing and other objects, aspects and advantages will be better understood from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the invention with reference to the drawings, in which:
As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, aspects of the present invention may be embodied as a system, method or computer program product. Accordingly, aspects of the present invention may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment (including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects that may all generally be referred to herein as a “circuit,” “module” or “system.” Furthermore, aspects of the present invention may take the form of a computer program product embodied in one or more computer readable medium(s) having computer readable program code embodied thereon.
Any combination of one or more computer readable medium(s) may be utilized. The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium. A computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer readable storage medium would include the following: an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. In the context of this document, a computer readable storage medium may be any tangible medium that can contain, or store a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.
A computer readable signal medium may include a propagated data signal with computer readable program code embodied therein, for example, in baseband or as part of a carrier wave. Such a propagated signal may take any of a variety of forms, including, but not limited to, electro-magnetic, optical, or any suitable combination thereof. A computer readable signal medium may be any computer readable medium that is not a computer readable storage medium and that can communicate, propagate, or transport a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.
Program code embodied on a computer readable medium may be transmitted using any appropriate medium, including but not limited to wireless, wireline, optical fiber cable, RF, etc., or any suitable combination of the foregoing.
Computer program code for carrying out operations for aspects of the present invention may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including an object oriented programming language such as Java, Smalltalk, C++ or the like and conventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C” programming language or similar programming languages. The program code may execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider).
Aspects of the present invention are described below with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems) and computer program products according to embodiments of the invention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer readable medium that can direct a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer readable medium produce an article of manufacture including instructions which implement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer, other programmable apparatus or other devices to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide processes for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
The flowcharts and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate the architecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementations of systems, methods and computer program products according to various embodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in the flowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portion of code, which comprises one or more executable instructions for implementing the specified logical function(s). It should also be noted that, in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specified functions or acts, or combinations of special purpose hardware and computer instructions.
Turning now to the drawings and more particularly,
A dispatching system 102 generates a dispatching plan 104 for mining equipment 106 for each next shift. Mining equipment 106 include built-in sensors 108 that normally monitor and control systems on equipment 106, including, equipment wiper 106W use. A rainfall measurement system 109 collects rainfall data 110 from sensors 108 at equipment 106. A forecasting system 112 generates high resolution local forecasts 114 for the whole pit, and assimilates pit rainfall 110 to adjust the forecast 114 as necessary. A pit modelling system 115 models 116 the pit under local conditions based on the forecast 114, as adjusted. The dispatching system 102 refines the dispatching plan 104, based on the modeled pit conditions 116, and distributes the plan 104 to the mining equipment 106, e.g., on a suitable mobile device 118.
It should be noted that although shown and described herein in independent computers, the preferred dispatching system 102, rainfall measurement system 109, forecasting system 112 and pit modelling system 115 may be collocated on the same computer or personal computer (PC) or further distributed among several computers. Similarly, the dispatching plan 104 and local pit model 116 may be located and maintained on separate storage 104, 116, or collocated on the same storage.
Modern equipment typically include on board controllers that control and monitor nearly every on-going operation in/by the particular piece of equipment. During periods of rainfall, when operators engage equipment wipers, controller sensors 108 monitor windshield wiper use and frequency. The sensors 108 forward wiper frequency data for individual dispatched equipment to the rainfall measurement system 109, which determines pit rainfall 110 from the data in real time. Preferably, the forecasting system 112 uses a numerical or data-driven weather model to determine pit rainfall, as well as other meteorological conditions that may affect mining productivity. The dispatching system 102 forwards the refined plan 104 to the equipment 106 operators, e.g., on suitable mobile devices 118, such as cell phones and/or networked tablets, or on a computer monitor, such as forecasting system 112.
So prior to the start of the next shift, using the pit model 116 the dispatching system 102 generates 122 a dispatching plan 104, automatically or interactively, for available mining equipment. The dispatching system 102 uses the current local forecast 114 in further combination with equipment parameters and operational data, e.g., load capacity, speed and vertical acceleration. The shift begins mining 124 normally, based on the dispatching plan 104, and continues until it begins to rain 126. When it starts to rain 126, equipment operators switch on wipers, adjusting pulse delays or switching the wipers full on depending on rain intensity. Mining equipment 106 sensors 108, preferably, are located with each individual piece of mining equipment 106 for sensing 128 wiper frequency.
The individual sensed frequencies tend to map rain intensity across the entire pit, and from this, the forecasting system 112 can determine/measure rainfall 130 in real time. Preferably, the forecasting system 112 aggregates rain measurements from sensed wiper frequencies from all of the dispatched equipment, to forecast overall pit rainfall. For example, Rabiei et al., “Rainfall estimation using moving cars as rain gauges—laboratory experiments,” Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 17, 4701-4712, doi:10.5194/hess-17-4701-2013, 2013, teaches correlating driver controlled wiper frequency and rainfall intensity.
Based on that real time rainfall forecast, the dispatching system 102 can adjust 132 the pit model 116. Then, the dispatching system 102 adjusts 134 the dispatching plan 104 based on the rainfall refined pit model 116 to leverage real time rainfall information. The adjusted dispatching plan 104 mitigates, and preferably, avoids potentially dangerous and unproductive situations, allowing operators continue mining well into inclement weather for maximized mine productivity.
Advantageously, a preferred mining management system provides for monitoring rainfall in open pit mining operations even in locales with no or very few dedicated or fixed rainfall sensors, by relying primarily on wiper sensors to measure rainfall. As operators use wipers, interpolating wiper frequencies from all mine assets provides an accurate, real-time rainfall estimate. Thus having a real-time rainfall estimate, road conditions may be modeled to accurately reflect pit road conditions in a high resolution short-term (nowcasting) model. The pit model couples the rainfall forecast to the dispatching system, which uses the model to adjust and refine the current dispatching plan. Thus, a preferred system enables real-time operational responses for improved efficiency, continuing mining operation, e.g., for trucks, excavator and other infrastructure, in spite of rainfall.
While the invention has been described in terms of preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that the invention can be practiced with modification within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. It is intended that all such variations and modifications fall within the scope of the appended claims. Examples and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded as illustrative rather than restrictive.