UK Pigman College of Engineering researchers in the Department of Mining Engineering Steven Schafrik (PI), Zach Agioutantis (Co-I) and Joseph Sottile (Co-I) have received a nearly $439,000 grant from the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health for their project, "Development and Demonstration of an Automated Shuttle Car."
The two-year grant will support the project's objective to demonstrate autonomous shuttle car operations consistent with the expectations of a coal operator using modifications and technologies that have a realistic pathway to certification. This work will be performed in a partnership between the Department of Mining Engineering, Francis Enterprises Inc, a business that fabricates and repairs equipment for the coal mining industry, and CONSOL Energy Inc.,a producer and exporter of high-Btu bituminous thermal and metallurgical coal.
ABSTRACT
Operating a shuttle car from onboard can be a difficult and taxing job. The shuttle car operator is often in a position immediately downstream from the continuous miner’s cut and is always the closest to the feeder while it’s full. Visibility for the operator is poor, with many new miners operating the car having regular collisions with the rib, continuous miner, and feeder. Shuttle cars follow the same pre-planned paths through the mine face in regular and predictable patterns. The University of Kentucky (UKY) will provide software approach and developments for Francis Enterprises and will provide project management. Francis Enterprises has the current shuttle car hardware platform and will upgrade it as well as integrate the software changes. CONSOL Energy will provide the tasking for the autonomous missions as well as an in-mine location to host testing and demonstrations. The project will demonstrate a human-supervised autonomous mission for a shuttle car in an underground location that does not require MSHA-approved equipment to operate.
