Determining the feasibility of using a microcomputer for electrical trouble-shooting on underground mining machinery. Final report for 1984-85 SOMED Project

Technical Report · Tue Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1985

OSTI ID:6062871

Novak, T; Webb, W E; Gupta, S K

Breakdowns due to electrical component failure frequently occur with underground mining machines. These breakdowns interfere with normal production, while at the same time create potential safety hazards since repairmen must insert their hands into energized control-circuit areas to perform electrical trouble-shooting. Both the decreased productivity and safety problems associated with electrical breakdowns could possibly be reduced through using microcomputers for diagnosing electrical component failures. The time associated with trouble-shooting would be decreased, and repairmen would not have to make voltage measurements in crowded, energized control cases. The primary objective of this study was to develop a small-scale prototype of such a system. Electrical circuits for various underground mining machines were reviewed. Because of its relative simplicity, a motor-control circuit which is similar to that of a Lee Norse 45 continuous miner was selected and fabricated. The circuit was analyzed to determine how many test points were required for a microcomputer to predict which component has failed. A 64-k TSR-80 microcomputer was selected as the processing unit and was modified so that it could be interfaced with the test points of the motor-control circuit. An algorithm was developed to perform the diagnosis. Electrical faults were then simulated to verify the accuracy of the algorithm. The results showed that the microcomputer could accurately predict open-mode component failures. 16 figs.

• Research Organization: Alabama Univ., University (USA)
• OSTI ID: 6062871
• Report Number(s): NP-6901103; ON: TI86901103
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

42 ENGINEERING
420800* -- Engineering-- Electronic Circuits & Devices-- (-1989)
99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS
990200 -- Mathematics & Computers
ALGORITHMS
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
COMPUTERS
ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT
ELECTRONIC CIRCUITS
EQUIPMENT
FAILURES
MATHEMATICAL LOGIC
MICROELECTRONIC CIRCUITS
MICROPROCESSORS
MINING
SIMULATION
UNDERGROUND MINING
USES