Material designs provide polygons that define the location and the identity of the materials. Extra parameters that are associated with the materials can be included with the identity of the material.
A background polygon can be created that encompasses all the polygons. This polygon can be used to identify material as any other material that has not been identified specifically by a material polygon.
Note: If a background is required, locate the associated background material parameters on the drawing where the parameters are not associated with any other polygons.
The background can also be associated with material parameters. Background parameters cannot be the same as parameters used in any polygons on the design. If background parameters are used, the polygons are not clear.
The on-board software can be configured for identification and reporting of the material identity and the material parameters for both the bucket and the truck load. For instance, the material parameters can include the percentage of individual minerals within the identified material. This parameter information can then be used for modifying the content of a truck load or for determining the best destination for a truck.
Reference: For information on polygon and material design definition, refer to Systems Operation, "DXF File Convention for Material Grade Design".
Reference: For information on parameter setup for materials, refer to the Systems Operation, "Material Identification".
The available Materials windows include the following types:
- All Materials
- All Materials Histogram
- All Dippers
- History
- GIS Materials (only in GIS mode)
Note: The GIS Materials window is only available in GIS mode. In GIS mode, existing settings are ignored, and a GIS Materials window is displayed instead.
The All Materials Histogram window can assist the operator in identifying the percentages of materials in the loads.
The All Materials, All Dippers, and History windows are highly configurable and are primarily used for testing.
Refer to Illustration 4 at the end of this section for a sample of the on-board software screen showing the four types of Materials windows.
The All Materials window provides the following information:
- Each type of material that is contained in the bucket
- Number of buckets within the current truck load
After the truck has been sent, the information in this window remains until the first bucket is unloaded into the next truck.
Each row in the All Materials window displays information about one type of material. If a load has five types of material, five rows of information are displayed regardless of the number of buckets loaded into the truck.
Material Parameter 1 - The name of the first parameter in the extended material information: This information is extracted from the first parameter field.
Material Parameter n - The name of the nth parameter in the extended material information: This information is extracted from the nth parameter field.
The following fields can be configured for an All Materials window:
"Material" - The name of the material that is reported: The material can be either the material that is identified by the on-board software, or else the material that is selected to override the identified material.
"Dipper" - The total number of bucket loads in the truck load
"Truck" - Not applicable
If this field is used, then "Current" is always displayed.
"Identified Material" - The name of the material that is identified by the on-board software: This field is not affected by an override.
"% Identified Material" - The percentage of the identified material in the truck load
"% Mined" - The percentage of the identified material that has been collected from a mined out area
"Reason" - Not applicable
Do not use this field in an "All Materials" window.
"Override" - The material selected by the operator to override the material identified by the on-board software: When an override is applied, the same material name appears on all lines of the All materials window.
All Materials Histogram Window
The All Materials Histogram window is the main window that the operator uses. The window is used to identify the materials that are contained within truck loads. This window is a graphical representation of the percentages of the materials in a truck load. "Mined out" percentages are also reported in this window.
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| Illustration 1 | g03396101 |
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Example of an All Materials Histogram window (1) Histogram bar that graphically represents the percentage of the material in the truck load (2) The full material string, including parameters, for the identified material (3) The percentage of the material in the truck load | |
The All Dippers window displays information about each bucket load in a truck load. This window can be configured to indicate the number of bucket loads in a truck load, and the percentages of material in each bucket load. After the truck has been sent, the window remains unchanged. When the first bucket is loaded into the new truck, the window is reset.
Each row in the All Dippers window displays information about the predominant material in each bucket load. If there are five bucket loads in a truck load, then there will be five rows. There is one row for each of the five bucket loads that are displaying information about the predominant material.
"Material Parameter 1" - The name of the first parameter in the extended material information: This information is extracted from the first parameter field.
"Material Parameter [n]" - The name of the nth parameter in the extended material information: This information is extracted from the nth parameter field.
The fields below can be configured for an All Dippers window:
"Material" - The name of the material that is reported: The material can be either the material that is identified by the on-board software, or the material that is selected to override the identified material.
"Dipper" - The sequential number of the bucket load for the current truck load.
"Truck" - Not applicable
If this field is used, then "Current" is always displayed.
"Identified Material" - The name of the predominant material in the bucket: The predominant material is identified by the on-board software. This field is not affected by an override.
"% Identified Material" - The percentage of the identified material in the bucket load
"% Mined" - The percentage of the bucket load that has been collected from a mined out area
"Reason" - The trigger that caused the bucket load to be emptied into the truck
"Override" - The material selected by the operator to override the material identified by the on-board software: When an override is applied, the same material name appears on all the lines of the All Dippers window.
The History window displays information about each truck load that has been sent. Each row in this window displays information about the predominant material in each truck load. If five truck loads are sent, there will be five rows displaying information about the predominant material in each of the truck loads.
"Material Parameter 1" - The name of the first parameter in the extended material information: This information is extracted from the first parameter field.
"Material Parameter [n]" - The name of the nth parameter in the extended material information: This information is extracted from the nth parameter field.
The following fields can be configured for a History window:
"Material" - The name of the material that is reported: The material can be the material identified by the on-board software or the material selected to override the identified material.
"Dipper" - The number of bucket loads in the current truck load
"Truck" - Either the name of the truck that was sent or else the sequential number of the truck that was sent
"Identified Material" - The name of the predominant material in the bucket: The predominant material is identified by the on-board software. This field is not affected by an override.
"% Identified Material" - The percentage of the identified material in the bucket load
"% Mined" - The percentage of the truck load that has been collected from a mined out area
"Reason" - Not applicable for a History window
"Override" - The material selected by the operator to override the material identified by the on-board software
The "Materials" windows can be set up in the office using the "Screen Configuration" utility (SCU).
Only the "All material Histogram" window is recommended for operator use. If any of the other Materials windows are used, keep the format of the windows as simple as possible. Simplicity allows for easy, fast interpretation of the information for the operator.
Before setting up the windows, either create a screen or else ensure that there is sufficient space available on the current screen.
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Menu - Opens the main menu |
To create materials windows, complete these steps:
- From the main menu, select "Configuration" > "Materials" to open the "Create Materials Window" dialog.
- Select one of the radio buttons to specify which type of window is required.
- In the left-hand pull-down menu, select the check boxes for the required information for the various parameters of the materials.
- Enter a value in the "History Count" field to limit the maximum number of rows that are stored in memory. The history count is only used when screen changes occur. This value will also control the amount of operating memory that is used for this feature.
- Select the "Display Current Truck" check box to display information in the top row of the Materials window for the current truck load.
- Check the "Set Background to Material Color". Ensure that the background color of the materials window is not the same as the color of the predominant material or the override material.
- Press "OK". The specified window is created.
- Resize and move the new window as required.
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| Illustration 2 | g06301580 |
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The "Create Materials Window" dialog. | |
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Menu - Opens the main menu |
To create an All Material Histogram window, complete these steps:
- From the main menu, select "Configuration" > "Materials" to open the "Create Materials Window" dialog.
Show/hide table
Illustration 3 g06301635 "All Materials Histogram" radio button selected - Select the "All Materials Histogram" radio button.
- Check the "Show Mined Out Material in Histogram" in order for the histogram display to indicate the percentage that is mined out for each material.
- Press "OK". The All Materials Histogram window is created.
- Resize and move the new All Materials Histogram window as required.
Interpreting Materials Windows
This section outlines the information that is displayed in the Materials windows. The current truck has been loaded with five buckets. Illustration 4 depicts the four types of Materials windows. The "Identifier" field in Table 1 identifies the type of window. In Illustration 4 this window type identifier is located in the first column of each of the windows.
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| Illustration 4 | g03396109 |
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A sample on-board software screen with the four types of Materials windows | |
| Callout | Identifier | Window Type |
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2 3 4 |
T
D A |
History
All Dippers All Materials Histogram |
(1) History - The History window is configured with the "Display Current Truck" box checked. The row displayed in the History window indicates that the current truck has nine dipper loads. There is only one row in the History window because no other trucks have been loaded yet.
The predominant material in the current truck is C-Gold.
The % Identified Material field indicates that 51.9% of the current load is C-Gold material.
The % Mined field indicates that 0% of the load has been recovered from areas that have been mined out.
(2) All Dippers - The All Dippers window displays a history of all the dipper loads that have been placed in the current truck. The dipper loads are numbered sequentially. The "Identified Material" column reports the predominant material for each dipper load.
The "% Mined" column reports the percentage of the mined out material in each dipper.
The method by which the on-board software detects that the dipper is loaded into the truck is reported in the "Reason" column. In Illustration 4, the reason the dipper was loaded is that the dump switch was triggered.
(3) All Materials - The All materials window displays information about all the materials that are contained in the current truck load. The rows are arranged by the percentages of each of the materials. The predominant material is in the top row and the material with the smallest percentage of the load is in the bottom row.
The "% Identified Material" is reported as a percentage of the truck load. In the example, the percentages are as follows:
- 51.0% of the material in the truck load is C-Gold.
- 14.8% of the load is B-Gold material.
- 33.3% of the load is equal amounts of F-Gold, Iron-Gold, and E-Gold.
The "% Mined" is reported as a percentage of each material in the load. In Illustration 4, none of the material in the truck load was recovered from a mined out area. The sum of the "% Mined" rows is the total % Mined for the truck load.
(4) Histogram - The "Histogram" window is a simple graphical representation of the materials in the truck load. One color-coded bar is used for each material. The extended material parameters are also displayed for each material. The materials are ordered from the largest to the smallest percentage of the load. In the example, the largest percent of the load, accounting for 52%, is C-Gold. The length of the bar for each of the materials represents the respective percentage of the material in the load. The actual percentage value is also presented.