PRINCIPLES OF MECHATRONICS AND CONCURRENT ENGINEERING AS THE BASIS FOR RELIABILITY OF GRANITE MINING MACHINES WITH INTELLIGENT CONTROL SYSTEMS FOR ELECTROTECHNOLOGIES AND POWER SUPPLY

Abstract

The paper investigates the contemporary trend toward the intellectualization of face mining machines, driven by increasing requirements for productivity, energy efficiency, reliability, service life of critical components, and industrial safety in the extraction of hard rock formations, particularly granite. It is substantiated that a modern cutting complex should not be regarded as a collection of independent mechanical units, but rather as an integrated mechatronic system in which mechanical, power (electrical and hydraulic), electronic, and information components operate within a unified control architecture. In such systems, key control, monitoring, and diagnostic processes are implemented through a distributed information network that integrates electrotechnologies, intelligent control modules, and power supply subsystems.
The fundamental differences between previous-generation shearer loaders equipped with hydraulic feed systems (RKU type) and new-generation machines featuring variable-frequency electric feed drives (KDK500 type) are analyzed. It is demonstrated that, in modern machines, electronic and information components, state sensors, technical diagnostic systems, and software-based control algorithms are not auxiliary elements but structural components that directly determine operability and reliability. The increasing role of embedded electronics, real-time control algorithms, and network-based communication transforms such mining machines into cyber-physical systems, where electromechanical processes are tightly integrated with digital information flows.
Based on structural and functional analysis using S- and F-models, it is shown that the traditional sequential (“vertical”) design approach fails to ensure proper coordination of components of different physical nature. This results in conflicting parameters at subsystem interfaces, reduced operational efficiency, and the necessity of late-stage design modifications. To overcome these limitations, the application of concurrent (parallel) engineering principles is proposed. This approach involves preliminary functional–structural analysis, mathematical and simulation modeling of subsystem interactions, and early synthesis of automatic control loops, diagnostic functions, and information exchange mechanisms between mining machines and the dispatch control center.
The proposed methodology enables the identification of limiting technological factors at the early stages of design, including rock mass transportation capacity, machine stabilization constraints, operator-related limitations, dust generation, vibration loads, and power supply conditions. Incorporating these factors into the design process enhances productivity, reliability of electrotechnological processes, energy efficiency of power supply systems, and overall operational safety. The obtained results form a methodological basis for the development of intelligent mechatronic mining machines and create prerequisites for the transition to low-manpower and fully unmanned granite extraction technologies.