MK4 Highwall Guidance System

The best gets even better

AMT supplied the first commercial highwall mining guidance package in 1998. Since that time the original guidance system has been further developed and AMT has established a position as world leader in the development of this advanced technology.

For more than a decade AMT has worked closely with Addcar, the world leader in the design, manufacture and operation of high-production highwall mining systems, to make the AMT guidance technologies an integral and essential part of the mining package. This successful alliance has led to the development of the next generation MK4 guidance system which incorporates the latest inertial, data processing and intelligent sensing technologies.

MK4

#1

The MK4 main screen provides the mining operator with an advanced touch screen graphical presentation of the main mining parameters - drive penetration depth, heading and cross-track deviation, coal pillar thickness, machine pitch and roll, roof and floor coal thickness.

MK4

#2

If the mining process deviates even slightly from the stringent design plan the MK4 display guides the operator to take corrective action.

MK3 Tour

#3

Wizards provide step by step assistance with all hardware and system configuration tasks. The Pit Design Wizard is used to enter the drive design parameters for each highwall pit. Supervisor passwords are used to restrict access to configuration level features.

MK3 Tour

#4

The Mk3 system incorporates extensive self diagnostic features which alert the operator to hardware and system faults, protects the system from subsequent damage and pin-points the cause and nature of the fault.

Industry Accepted Solution

Following the success and industry acceptance of the original CSIRO developed highwall mining guidance system, AMT undertook the development of a commercial highwall guidance package - the latest MK4 technology was released in 2011. At the heart of the MK4 system is a custom developed software application which supervises the complex control and communication functions and incorporates an advanced graphical user interface.

The MK4 Guidance System employs sophisticated inertial navigation techniques and provides the operator with accurate three-dimensional mining information. This includes vital navigation information to enable the operator to accurately guide the mining machine to a required path.

The system incorporates a modular design that can be readily adapted to accommodate specific client requirements.

The MK4 Highwall Mining Guidance System boasts the following major features

• Incorporating the latest inertial navigation technology
• Integrated touch screen industrial Panel PC and hardware interface
• Two wire high speed communications channel
• Sophisticated system diagnostic and fault finding software features
• 3D data visualisation capabilities
• Provision for remote system monitoring and data transfer
• Robust, centralised data communication and processing hardware located on the continuous miner

Building on the time-proven success of this guidance technology. AMT's Mk4 guidance system incorporates the latest inertial, data processing and intelligent sensing technologies.