ROBOSHOT

“INTELLIJET”

THE INTELLIGENT SHOTCRETE

MEASUREMENT SYSTEM
01 KEY FEATURES

INTEGRATED
ACCURATE THICKNESS REAL TIME SCANNER
MEASUREMENT MONITORING FOR THICKNESS
VERIFICATION

INTEGRATED EASY TO USE CAN BUS

AUTOMATIC CHEMICAL EASILY EXTRACTABLE SYSTEM WITH
DOSING SYSTEM DATA LOG FILES INTEGRATED
SYSTEM DIAGNOSTICS
02 SYSTEM OVERVIEW

 The “Intellijet” system is designed to assist the operator in achieving a minimum desired shotcrete
thickness in real-time. In addition it simplifies the shotcreting tasks and enables the operator to work in
a more efficient way both with a high level of safety and with the resultant shotcrete being of predicted
quality.

 The system effectively stands behind the operator as an intelligent assistant; not interfering, but
advising the operator of deposit thickness and automatically adjusting, if required, the various chemical
additives and flows in order to maintain quality. In addition, the system maintains logs and
documentation for subsequent analysis and quality assurance and overall machine health monitoring.
 MODES OF
03
OPERATION

 The Intellijet system has two modes of operation, ON or OFF. The system is ON by default and
requires no additional training to operate although familiarization is provided. When the system is ON
the operator operates the machine as a normal shotcrete machine and the system simply provides
feedback on thickness while in the background monitoring and adjusting the chemical flow rates as
required.

 At all times the Operator has full control, of the nozzle, boom and spaying volume. The “Intellijet”
Processor assists by advising if and when the desired thickness has been achieved in real time during
the shotcrete process. This advice is given by way of coloured indicator lights which are mounted on
the boom so as to be visible when watching the workface. The system is capable of maintaining and
reporting performance values achieved during a shift.

 In the unlikely event of a cable or sensor used by the Intellijet system is cut or destroyed the system
reverts to a standard shotcreting machine and the Intellijet system can be turned OFF with no loss of
up time.
04 USER INTERFACE

 While the system is sophisticated, the user interface has

been kept simple and requires minimal input from the
operator.

 The operator can interact with the system through the

panel screen mounted in the driver cabin. The Intellijet
system shares the same display as the main drivers and
all system parameters.
04 USER INTERFACE

 The Intellijet display has been streamlined to bare

essentials giving the current threshold and actual
thickness in the direction of the spray head. The spray
head can be an arbitrary distance from the wall and will
still give a reading of the thickness at the point it is
facing.

 The only setup input required of the operator is the

threshold which will default and persist across jobs.

 On the operator screen the operator only needs to input

the desired threshold as shown on the left & then the
system will run autonomously once pumping
commences.

 While spraying the actual shotcrete thickness will show

in real time on the right side of the page. The maintained
mapping of the current job will only be reset when the
system is powered off. In addition to the in-cabin display
there are two light towers that indicate to the operator
that desired shotcrete thickness has been reached in the
direction the nozzle is pointed.
04 USER INTERFACE

In addition to the in-cabin display there are two light towers

that indicate to the operator that desired shotcrete
thickness has been reached in the direction the nozzle is
pointed.

 Green indicates thickness is below threshold

 Orange indicates threshold has been reached
 Red indicates the system is not able to start measuring

One light tower is mounted horizontally on the underside of

the boom for easy viewing while spraying. A second is
mounted vertically at the
front of the machine.
05 PRIOR SPRAYING LOGGED PARAMETERS

Parameters to be set by the operator can include:

 Operator identification
 Location
 Date and time
 Nominated shotcrete mix design code
 Chemical dosing rate as a percentage of cement.
 Required target shotcrete thickness
 Pre-scan of workface for QA
06 POST SPRAYING LOGGED & RECORDED
DATA

Logged data recorded operator can include:

 Operator identification
 Location
 Date and time
 Nominated shotcrete mix design code
 Chemical dosing rate as a percentage of cement
 Required target shotcrete thickness
 Any QA/QC parameters
 Quantity of Shotcrete Sprayed
 Total Chemical used for shift
 Machine/Engine performance detail
 Details of areas of underspray and overspray
 Diagram of mine profile
 Diagram of spray profile
07 ACCESSING LOGGED INFORMATION

 The system may be accessed via a standard or

coded USB key.

 On insert into the protected USB port on the automation

controller, the controller will detect and verify the USB
key and cause all of the latest log files to be downloaded
onto the USB or the latest software updates are
uploaded from the USB to the autonomous controller.

 This is done without any requirement for operator input

and can occur during operations without interference.
08 FORMAT OF LOGGED FILES

 The system maintains extensive log files sorted on a per job basis or as a full event log which can be
used for machine health monitoring and training.

 Timings for all operations of the machine are kept down to milliseconds to allow subsequent analysis and
simulation of operations.
09 ANALYSIS & SIMULATION

 The logs allow the operational behavior of existing machines to be analyzed and modeled.

 It is also possible to perform operations for testing and confirmation whilst using a full kinematic model
and/or simulator of the boom/spray assembly.
10 QA/QC VERIFICATION

 Intellijet provides an attached Laser scanner for accurate

pre and post scans of the workface.
 The scanner data is logged against the job record and
transferred with the operational logs.
 Comparison of pre and post scans provides a depth map of
the spray area.
11 REMOTE ACCESS AND MONITORING

 In addition, logs are written in html to allow

subsequent display and promulgation across
standard web browsers and both for promulgation
throughout the organization and directly from the
machine in real-time where an
in-mine network is available.
12 BENEFITS OF THE ‘INTELLIJET’

 Improved safety of operators that don’t have to stand so close to or near unsupported ground.

 Improved working environment by allowing for remote control of the machine.

 Improved quality of the in-place spraying due to even spraying with correct chemical dosing rates.

 Increased productivity benefits since less waste of material sprayed results in less time spraying and
less time transporting shotcrete to the machine.

 Reduces spraying cycle due to higher output capacity.

 Huge cost savings due to reduced rebound, thickness and chemical controls.

 Less maintenance costs due to smoother operation of machine.

 Electronic history of QA/QC values.

13 THE FUTURE OF THE ‘INTELLIJET’

AUTONOMOUS SPRAYING –
 After driving to the location and setting up the machine for shotcreting in the shotcrete zone, the
Operator will activate an initial scan.

 After the initial scan the operator indicates to the machine on the control panel the region that is to be
sprayed i.e. starting and finishing points.

 Once the concrete has arrived and discharged into the machine hopper, the operator will activate a
“start” button , the “Intellijet” Processor controls the concrete pump, nozzle and boom movement, the
spraying rate and also the chemical dosing rate.

 It is expected that the movement of the nozzle will be in a simulated lance action using a type of “fly by
wire” electronic control.

 At the end of the shotcreting process the operator will do another scan of the area sprayed and the
“Intellijet” will indicate which zones have not met the requirements as set out in the initial specifications
set up by the operator into the control panel at the start of the shift.
13 THE FUTURE OF THE ‘INTELLIJET’

cont.

 The operator can go back in a manual mode and rectify the under sprayed areas or any other areas of
concern and then do a final scan for reference and quality assurance.

 If satisfactory results have been achieved the operator can pack up the machine for the next job.

 The system will be capable of reporting all performance values achieved during shift.

 At present the accuracy of scanning is approximately 4mm and the accuracy of determining the
thickness of sprayed concrete is likely to be ±10%
13 THE FUTURE OF THE ‘INTELLIJET’

cont.

 Ability to have Web based real time monitoring and recording of the shotcrete operation.

 Ability to log into the Intellijet system and download information directly or automatically.

 The Intellijet system will incorporate much more diagnostics on the machine operation and
performance which will allow real time or web based monitoring of the equipment and allow for better
planning and scheduling of preventative maintenance.

 All new features will always be retrofitable to the base unit.