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PPS-RH4
Guidance System for Roadheader
Overview

Introduction
Cutting a tunnel using a partial face excavating roadheader is a big challenge for
machinery and mining personnel. Guiding both through the rough and tough
environment to guarantee an acceptable and cost saving accuracy below 5 cm / 2 in
can only be accomplished by a highly developed combination of hard- and software.

The PPS-RH program (PPS Roadheader Guidance System with automatic profile
management) is able to graphically show the 3-D co-ordinates of the cutterhead and
its distance to the designed tunnel profile along a given tunnel axis.

The calculation is based on data coming from three major components:

 a permanent geodetic measurement by a motorized total station to two motor

prisms mounted on the machine
 pitch and roll are continuously provided by a two-axis inclinometer mounted on
the machine
 readings for the horizontal and vertical movement of the boom as well as the
extension of the telescoping boom (if present) are coming from sensors or the
PLC.

The customer contributes the designed tunnel axis and profiles as project specific
parts of the calculation.

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Operator´s Screen

On the standard survey screen, the main focus is on the cutterhead moving
within the given profile. The profile in use is shown in the top line with the
chainage (of cutterhead center) responsible for the profile chosen (1).
The cutterhead (2) changes color depending on the distance to the profile (3).
The red cross (4) shows the centerline, the white shape (5) represents the
machine.
At the bottom various messages keep the operator informed about program
progress. It must be completely green to provide a valid calculation!
(6) time window: turns red after three minutes or during initialisation;
(7) progress window: shows the current status of the system;
(8) sensor window: normally green; red if there are no sensor values;
(9) height difference: The difference in height between the two machine prisms
is measured by the TCA and can be calculated by using roll and pitch of
the inclinometer. These two values are compared here and should not
differ by more than 0,01m;
(10) Info window displays all values chosen in the screen settings;
(11) Pitch: the absolute inclination (to the horizon) of the machine in driving
direction as measured by the inclinometer is shown here;
(12)Roll: by choosing “Show CL” in the pull down menu “Survey”, clicking on
the window or pressing the “c”-key it is possible to switch between display
of roll and the centerline segment with machine and orientation elements;
(13) Display of apron (plus collision warning if activated).

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Advantages of PPS-RH4 Guidance System:

- project management – handle more than one project/ centerline

- quick algorithm for cutterhead calculation
- calculation of closest distance also in direction of cutterhead movement
- simple input for all survey values
- clear input for machine parameters
- profile editor for managing different profiles
- interpolation between neighboring profiles
- cutterhead editor for input of cutterhead geometry
- easy parameter change for transverse to inline cutterhead and vice versa
- variable definition of data transfer parameters
- menu for inclinometer calibration
- various options for customising the display
- input of maximum cutting height and width for large profiles
- handling of metric and american units
- various languages: english, german, russian, spanish, chinese, italian
- support of Leica Viva totalstations
- preparation for automatic stop
- display of horizontal view of projected tunnel
- password protection for important parameters
- interface with Amberg Tunnel Software Package
- record of cutting history (analysed with Amberg Tunnel):

Contact details:

PPS GmbH
Henschelring 15a
D- 85551 Kirchheim bei München
Tel +49 89 127 66 144 0
Fax +49 89 127 66 144 20
e-mail: info@pps-muc.de www.pps-muc.de

 PPS GmbH Version 4.2.12, Feb 2016

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