Autonomous face navigation of a continuous mining machine

The tasks involved in the autonomous face navigation for a continuous mining machine and the navigational information necessary to perform these tasks are discussed. The proposed solution is presented, including the use of a mobile control structure (MCS) to serve as a reference in the face area of laser-based optical scanning units and retroreflective targets to determine the machine´s position relative to the reference, and the use of gyroscope to maintain a short-term knowledge of the heading of the machine. An algorithm for fusion of the laser system´s data is outlined. Future work on the navigational control software is discussed, and the status of the project is given