Autonomous Prototype of a Full Dimension Continuous Haulage System

Design and development of a 1/10 scale prototype of a Full Dimension Continuous Haulage System manufactured by the Long-Airdox Company. The prototype, which will allow development and testing of path-planning and control algorithms for autonomous navigation and operation in underground coal mines, has been completed. The prototype system, though not an identical copy, clones all full-scale model degrees of freedom and functions necessary for navigation. In addition to the physical structure, a microcontroller-based system was developed for providing the necessary low-level motor controls, data gathering and multiple processor communications. High level software running on a laptop PC with the windows operating system is used for analyzing all measurement data, execution of path-planning and control algorithms and issuing the command data.