A dispatch procedure for traffic control of a fleet of remote-controlled automatic LHDS in underground hard rock mines : modelling approach is based on simulation

Abstract: A concept for automating Load-Haul-Dump (LHD) vehicles has stimulated considerable interest in the Swedish mining industry. In this concept, tramming and dumping operations of an LHD should be automatic. During loading, an operator from a control room fills the bucket of a vehicle via remote-control aided by a television system. The application of such a Remote-controlled/Automatic LHD (RAL) system in underground hard rock mines exhibits some operational and traffic control characteristics that have not been studied previously (e.g. vehicle motion in bidirectional lane-segments, lack of alternative routes to the same destination, stochastic nature of an RAL system due to human involvement in the loading operation). This thesis deals with the construction and implementation of a dispatch and traffic control procedure for a fleet of RAL vehicles operating in an underground mining transport layout. The development of the dispatch procedure has been based on concepts in graph theory. This dispatch procedure can perform the following tasks: Resolve traffic conflicts between vehicles during motion Plan collision-free routes Select destinations for the vehicles For studying and evaluating the operation of a fleet of RALs, a discrete-event simulation model has been developed and implemented. This, so-called PROFITIS version 2.0 model, integrates graphical modelling and presentation of RAL transport layouts with animation of the motion of vehicles during simulation. The model is used to evaluate the capacity of a future fleet of RALs which might operate in a typical transport layout at the LKAB Swedish iron ore mine in Kiruna. The research work presented in this thesis indicates that extensive studies and analysis should be performed to examine the potential and limitations of RAL systems, before any actual application is attempted in an underground mine.