The Kelastic variable wall mining machine. Third quarterly technical report, April 1--July 1, 1997

The Project Team accomplished two tasks during the third quarter: preparation and presentation of professional papers; and development of simulation models and sub models of the hypothetical variable wall mining installation. The project team also continued its search for the suitable animation software to be adapted to the underground mining systems. Meanwhile work is progressing along the lines of updating the original open loop flow diagram that deals with the automatic control of the thrusting, advance, and rotation of the auger train which both cuts (extracts) and transports the coal across the face. The team is integrating the control systems into a deterministic mathematical equation for optimizing the mining and material flow rate in the operating system. The long range plan is to integrate the current deterministic equations in a suitable animation program with a number of adjustable and controllable parameters. This will enable coal operators and engineers to visualize how the variations can affect the safety, cost and production levels of the system