A System for Monitoring the Position of Brown Coal Bucket-Whell Excavators and their Operational Safety

Abstract

The purpose of the system for real-time tracking of mining excavator and loader positions is to improve the management and control of brown coal mining in opencast mines and to improve work safety. The system calculates the wheel excavator position using data from GNSS equipment installed on the giant mining machines, inclinometers and inertial measurement units located on each mining machine. Data are transmitted from the machines and stored in databases on servers. Visualization of the wheel excavator movement in real time is performed in software products of KVASoftware s.r.o., which enables work with a digital terrain model, geology of the deposit and overburden, including objects impairing safety work. The article describes the procedure of data preparation and setting up the whole system in different levels of KVASoftvare s.r.o. software products. It also describes in detail its use with regard to the safety of work in heavy mining operations, specifically in areas affected by underground mining or areas dangerous due to the occurrence of tectonic deformations in the overburden and in the seam.