Tele-operated shotcrete spraying with the Meyco Robojet Logica

摘要

In 1999, INCO Limited Mines Research, in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, took delivery of a Meyco Robojet Logica Spraymobile, a computerized concrete spraying system. The Spraymobile is a self-contained mobile machine capable of applying spray-on ground support in underground applications. The Logica component of the Robojet is designed to control the operation of the Robojet, as well as scan and map the tunnel geometry prior to the spraying operation. The Robojet can be operated in various modes, from manual to automatic operation. In the automatic mode the computer controls the standoff distance, angle, and motion of the spraying jet. In 2000, INCO Limited, working with Meyco Equipment of Switzerland (a division of Master Builders Technologies), detailed a plan to create a tele-operation package for controlling the spraying process from a surface location at INCO's Mines Research Test mine. With the Robojet Logica operating in automatic mode, the operator at the machine becomes a process monitor. Since the Logica system controls the key spraying parameters of nozzle distance and nozzle angle to the sprayed surface, the operator could easily monitor and control the Robojet Logica from a remote location. The benefits of operating underground mobile mining equipment (drills and LHD's) from a surface location has previously been demonstrated at INCO Limited. However, the ability to control a ground support operation (shotcrete spraying) from the surface has not been attempted until now. This paper will describe the Spraymobile shotcreting system, the development of the tele-operation package for the Robojet Logica, as well as modifications to the original Spraymobile for implementing the tele-remote package on the Robojet Logica at the Mines Research Test mine.