The Landmark Longwall Automation Project

Inertial navigation technology has, for the first time, allowed the position of a longwall shearer to be mapped in three dimensions. Following the success of the technology in highwall mining and successful trials on a longwall face, the Australian Coal Association Research Program (ACARP) commissioned a three year “Landmark” project that will advance longwall automation to the level of “on-face observation” by the end of 2004. The paper discusses project outcomes which have been divided into a number of areas, each addressing a specific requirement of a successful longwall automation process. The cornerstone of these, automatic face alignment, has been successfully demonstrated underground. The project has the support of major longwall equipment manufacturers including Eickhoff, DBT and Joy Mining Machinery.