Dragline Operational Enhancements through the use of Digital Terrain Maps

Digital Terrain Maps (DTMs) offer the next logical step in monitoring the performance of a dragline and the overburden removal excavation process. Online knowledge of the local terrain and how it changes with time would allow measurement of the real productivity (coal uncovered) of a dragline operation which can not be measured with conventional dragline monitors. A DTM system is also a critical part of a Dragline Swing Assist (DSA) system as it would allow such a system to ‘see’ the surrounding environment and hence allow it to match the performance of a human operator.

A proof-of-conceptDTMsystem was demonstrated on a Bucyrus 1350 dragline at Callide’s Boundary Hill pit as part of the previous ACARP project C10039 Automated Digital Terrain Mapping for Draglines. The aim of this project was to demonstrate the use of a DTM system in a production environment. The project culminated in a four week trial where the mine planners used the DTMs created each day to compare performance against excavation plan.

This project has demonstrated:

• The ability to calibrate the DTMsystem such that it enables DTMs to be generated in the co-ordinate system of the mine.
• The ability to automatically transfer DTMs generated on-board the dragline at the Boundary Hill pit to the mine planners working in the Callide offices (a distance of over 10km).
• The use of a simple interface for the dragline operators to perform their own DTM scans.
• The use of the DTM system during a 4-week trial in production.
• The ability of the mine planners to use the data produced by the DTM system in their day-to-day operations.
• The ability to measure material volume movement over time.