Procedures of Detecting Damage to a Conveyor Belt with Use of an Inspection Legged Robot for Deep Mine Infrastructure

Conveying systems are responsible for a large part of continuous horizontal transportation in underground mines. The total length of a conveyor network can reach hundreds of kilometers, while a single conveyor usually has a route length of about 0.5–2 km. The belt is a critical and one of the most c...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Maria Stachowiak, Wioletta Koperska, Paweł Stefaniak, Artur Skoczylas, Sergii Anufriiev
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2021-09-01
Series:Minerals
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2075-163X/11/10/1040
Description
Summary:Conveying systems are responsible for a large part of continuous horizontal transportation in underground mines. The total length of a conveyor network can reach hundreds of kilometers, while a single conveyor usually has a route length of about 0.5–2 km. The belt is a critical and one of the most costly components of the conveyor, and damage to it can result in long unexpected stoppages of production. This is why proper monitoring of conveyor belts is crucial for continuous operation. In this article, algorithms for the detection of potential damage to a conveyor belt are described. The algorithms for analysis used video recordings of a moving belt conveyor, which, in case the of hazardous conditions of deep mines, can be collected, for example, by a legged autonomous inspection robot. The video was then analyzed frame by frame. In this article, algorithms for edge damage detection, belt deviation, and conveyor load estimation are described. The main goal of the research was to find a potential application for image recognition to detect damage to conveyor belts in mines.
ISSN:2075-163X