Mining Publication: Development and Testing of a Computer-Assisted Remote-Control System for the Compact Loader-Trammer

A prototype mucking machine designed to operate in narrow-vein stopes was developed under contract with the U.S. Bureau of Mines. The machine, called a compact loader-trammer, or minimucker, was designed to replace slusher muckers in narrow-vein underground mines. The minimucker is a six-wheel-drive, skid-steered, load-haul-dump (LHD) machine that loads muck at the front with a novel slide-bucket system and ejects it out the rear so that the machine does not have to be turned around. An automatic guidance system that used ultrasonic ranging sensors and a wall-following algorithm was installed. Additional tests in a simulated test stope showed that these changes improved the operation of the minimucker.