An Inspection Robot for Belt Conveyor Maintenance in Underground Mine—Infrared Thermography for Overheated Idlers Detection

Jarosław Szrek,Jacek Wodecki,Radoslaw Zimroz,Ryszard Błażej

doi:10.3390/app10144984

Jarosław Szrek, Jacek Wodecki + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/app10144984

Copy DOI

Abstract

It is well known that mechanical systems require supervision and maintenance procedures. There are a lot of condition monitoring techniques that are commonly used, and in the era of IoT and predictive maintenance one may find plenty of solutions for various applications. Unfortunately in the case of belt conveyors used in underground mining a list of possible solutions shrinks quickly. The reason is that they are specific mechanical systems—the typical conveyor is located in the mining tunnel and its length may vary between 100 and 1000 m. According to mining regulations, visual inspection of the conveyor route should be done before it will start the operation. On the other hand, since environmental conditions in mining tunnels are extremely harsh and the risk of accidents is high, there is a tendency to minimize human presence in the tunnels. In this paper, we propose a prototype of an inspection robot based on a UGV platform that could support maintenance staff during the inspection. At present, the robot is controlled by an operator using radio however, we plan to make it autonomous. Moreover, its support could be significant—the robot can “see” elements of the conveyor route (RGB camera) and can identify hot spots using infrared thermography. Moreover, the detected hot spots could be localized and its position can be stored together with both types of images. In parallel, it is possible to preview images in a real-time and stored data allow analysing state of conveyor system after the inspection mission. It is also important that due to radio control systems, an operator can stay in a safe place. Such a robot can be classified as a mobile monitoring system for spatially distributed underground infrastructure.

Highlights

The demand for raw materials has increased significantly in recent years
We propose a UGV (Unmanned Ground Vehicle) platform as a virtual miner that will do the same work as inspection staff, namely it will ride along the belt conveyor and collect information about conveyor operation using sensors
At the same time RGB images have been acquired by the second camera

Summary

Introduction

The demand for raw materials has increased significantly in recent years. accessible deposits have been exhausted, so we need to reach deeper and deeper to get the treasures of the Earth.Mining is usually considered to be risky and dangerous and miners arouse respect and fear. The demand for raw materials has increased significantly in recent years. Accessible deposits have been exhausted, so we need to reach deeper and deeper to get the treasures of the Earth. Current effective mining is a matter of advanced technologies rather than magic. Harsh conditions in deep mines, global competition related to production cost- all these factors lead to the conclusion that advanced technologies that must be used for modern mining. The Mine Magazine recently defined 10 emerging technologies that may change the mining industry. Robotics, predictive maintenance, remote operating and monitoring centers and advanced analytics has been selected as future of mining [1]. Deep underground mining is a general term; every single mine is very different and depends on geology, raw material type, the geometry of deposit, Appl.

Results

Discussion

Conclusion