Anti-Collision Detection on a Mining Unit
Anti-Collision Detection on a Mining Unit
(OP)
Hello All,
I am working on a series of 3 mining units which are not mechanically connected (i.e. about 3m apart) but need to move in together at the same time. They are each about 3 stories high and 50m long and move along on caterpiller tracks and are fully manually operator controlled. The trouble I am having is finding an instrument (an economical one at that) that will detect if the units get too close to each other and trip the caterpillar drives to prevent a collision. Previously I have used small ultrasonics for short range detection on a ship loader to detect if a car was parked on the rails, but that was years ago and I have had trouble finding a similar instrument. As they are not connected, they can also skew over various angles so the system I chose would need to accomodate this.
An additional function (although can be engineered out separately so not essential) would be to detect if they got too far apart so as not to stretch the interconnecting pipework and cables.
Thanks for your input in advance!
Cheers
Goldyvb
I am working on a series of 3 mining units which are not mechanically connected (i.e. about 3m apart) but need to move in together at the same time. They are each about 3 stories high and 50m long and move along on caterpiller tracks and are fully manually operator controlled. The trouble I am having is finding an instrument (an economical one at that) that will detect if the units get too close to each other and trip the caterpillar drives to prevent a collision. Previously I have used small ultrasonics for short range detection on a ship loader to detect if a car was parked on the rails, but that was years ago and I have had trouble finding a similar instrument. As they are not connected, they can also skew over various angles so the system I chose would need to accomodate this.
An additional function (although can be engineered out separately so not essential) would be to detect if they got too far apart so as not to stretch the interconnecting pipework and cables.
Thanks for your input in advance!
Cheers
Goldyvb





RE: Anti-Collision Detection on a Mining Unit
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RE: Anti-Collision Detection on a Mining Unit
RE: Anti-Collision Detection on a Mining Unit
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RE: Anti-Collision Detection on a Mining Unit
RE: Anti-Collision Detection on a Mining Unit
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(Siemens bought Milltronics some years ago) fails to find any reference to the use of ultrasonics for anything but 'level'.
I suspect that any rep who handled Milltronics before it was Siemens might understand how to do it.
RE: Anti-Collision Detection on a Mining Unit
How about something simpler like a bungee cord / pulley system connected to a display to indicating the separation gap. A pointer fixed to the cord against a scale where the operator could see it indicating the gap distance . You could also include a proximity switches that would shut down the leading unit's drive as the tension indicated too much gap or the trailing unit if the gap was too close.