Automatic Haulage Truck (AHT) expert system

CIM Bulletin, Vol. 87, No. 976, 1994

S. Zakaria, Automation and Robotics, Inco Limited, Copper Cliff, Ontario

Inco's Automated Haulage Truck System (AHT) is a revolutionary automatic guided vehicle that performs all load, haul and dump operations without human intervention. The high level of sophistication and the short period it has been in operation has only allowed a select few Inco personnel to become familiar with the AHT operation and maintenance. As an aid to operations an expert system using the knowledge gained from the experienced specialists was implemented in the field. The AHT operating and maintenance assistance expert system will reason through the information given, arrive at conclusions and give advice to operations, technical and management personnel. It will provide comprehensive real-time troubleshooting assistance for the hydraulic, electrical and mechanical subsystems of the AHT. The AHT expert system has many benefits to Inco which include increased skill levels of AHT operations and maintenance personnel, reduction in AHT downtime, standardization of troubleshooting procedures and reduction in AHT operating and maintenance costs. In the future, the expert system application will be linked to SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition), maintenance and statistical software to display current and historical trends of variables from a centralized historical database. As well, a wide variety of features will be integrated into the system including AutoCad drawings, graphics, photographs, voice and video capabilities.

Keywords: Computer applications, Expert systems, Automated Haulage Truck system (AHT).