Simulating the flight of mining machines

The motion of mining machines is examined by analogy to that of spacecraft, aircraft and submarines. Simulation of mining machine steering dynamics is an essential prerequisite to the proper design of guidance systems, whether manual or automatic, with respect whether to laser target beams or to meandering geological features. Mining excavation machines exhibit long-term dynamic behaviour that must be properly analysed and understood before successful simulation can be accomplished. Although slow in their effects, these dynamics are quite as powerful as are aerodynamics on the flight characteristics of aircraft. Because of the solid environment in which the mining machines operate, the physical causes of pitch, yaw and roll are different, but the resultant dynamical equations can show some similarity. However, additional effects remain that pose unique control design problems. The mining machine is perhaps best regarded a a mobile robot that constantly recreates its own environment or workcell