Reference: For additional information on the setup and the use of Materials windows, refer to Systems Operation Manual, "Materials Windows".
Material designs provide polygons that define the location and the identity of the materials. Additional parameters that are associated with the materials can be included with the identity of the material.
CAESultra 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 the Systems Operation Manual, "DXF File Convention"
Reference: For information on parameter setup for materials, refer to the Systems Operation Manual, "Material Identification".
There are four types of Materials windows. The first type of Materials window is the "All material Histogram" window. The All material Histogram window can assist the operator in identifying the percentages of materials in the loads.
The other three types of Materials window types are highly configurable and are primarily used for testing. These three window types are the All materials window, the All Dippers window, and the History window.
Refer to Illustration 5 at the end of this section for a sample CAESultra screen showing the four types of Materials windows.
All Material Histogram
The "All material Histogram" window is the main window that the operator uses. The window is used in order 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 | g01175088 |
All material Histogram example. (1) Histogram bar that graphically represents the percentage of the material in the truck load (2) The percentage of the material in the truck load (3) The full material string, including parameters, for the identified material | |
All Materials Window
The "All materials" window provides information on each type of material that is contained in the bucket and the 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 there are five types of material in a load, then five rows of information will be displayed. This is true regardless of the number of buckets that have been loaded into the truck.
Material Parameter 1 - The name of the first parameter in the extended material information. This is also the information that is extracted from the first parameter field.
Material Parameter n - The name of the nth parameter in the extended material information. This is also the information that 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 CAESultra, or else it can be 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 it always displays "Current".
Identified Material - The name of the material that is identified by CAESultra. 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.
This field should not be used in an All materials window.
Override - The material selected by the operator in order to override the material identified by CAESultra. When an override is applied, the same material name appears on all lines of the All materials window.
All Dippers Window
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 that are in a truck load, as well as 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, 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 is also the information that is extracted from the first parameter field.
Material Parameter n - The name of the nth parameter in the extended material information. This is also the information that 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 CAESultra, or else it can be 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 it always displays "Current"
Identified Material - The name of the predominant material in the bucket. The predominant material is identified by CAESultra. 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 in order to override the material identified by CAESultra. When an override is applied, the same material name appears on all of the lines of the All Dippers window.
History 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 have been sent, then there will be five rows that are displaying information about the predominant material in each of the five truck loads.
Material Parameter 1 - The name of the first parameter in the extended material information. This is also the information that is extracted from the first parameter field.
Material Parameter n - The name of the nth parameter in the extended material information. This is also the information that 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 either the material that is identified by CAESultra, or else it can be the material that is 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 CAESultra. 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.
This field should not be used in a history window.
Override - The material selected by the operator in order to override the material identified by CAESultra.
Materials Windows Set Up
The "Materials" windows can be set up in the office using the "Screen Configuration" utility.
Reference: For additional information about configuring these windows, refer to Systems Operation Manual, "Window Configure".
Only the "All material Histogram" window is recommended for operator use. If any of the other Materials windows are used, then the format of the windows should be kept as simple as possible so that the operator can easily and quickly interpret the information.
Before setting up Materials windows, either create a new screen or else ensure that there is sufficient space available on the current screen.
Use the following steps in order to create new Materials windows:
- Select "Configuration" from the main menu.
- Select "Materials". The "Create Materials Window" dialog appears.
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| Illustration 2 | g01175089 |
The Materials menu item | |
- Select one of the radio buttons in order to specify which type of window is required.
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| Illustration 3 | g01175090 |
The Create Materials Window dialog. | |
- The left hand window pane in the Create Materials Window dialog contains check boxes for the various parameters of the materials. In the Materials window, select the check boxes for the required information.
- Enter a value in the "History Count" field in order 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 in order to display information in the top row of the Materials window for the current truck load.
- Check the "Set Background to Material Color" in order to make the background color of the materials window the same as the color of either the predominant material or the override material.
- Press "OK". The Materials window is created.
- Resize and move the new Materials window as required.
All Material Histogram Set Up
Use the following steps in order to create an "All material Histogram" window:
- Select "Configuration" from the main menu.
- Select "Materials". The "Create Materials Window" dialog appears.
- Select the "All material 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.
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| Illustration 4 | g01175168 |
All material Histogram | |
- Press "OK". The All material Histogram window is created.
- Resize and move the new All material 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 5 depicts the four types of Materials windows. The "Identifier" field in Table 1 identifies the type of window. In Illustration 5 this window type identifier is located in the first column of each of the windows.
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| Illustration 5 | g01175201 |
A sample CAESultra screen with the four types of Materials windows | |
| Callout | Identifier | Window Type | |
| 1 2 3 4 |
T D A |
History Add Dippers All materials Histogram |
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History - The History window (1) is configured with the "Display Current Truck" box checked. The row displayed in the History window indicates that the current truck has five 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 Ore 2.
The % Identified Material filed indicates that 40% of the current load is Ore 2 material.
The % Mined field indicates that 6.7% of the load has been recovered from areas that have been mined out.
All Dippers - The All Dippers window (2) displays a history of all of the dipper loads that have been placed in the current truck. The dipper loads are numbered sequentially from one to five. The predominant material is reported for each dipper load.
The top row of the All Dippers window displays the current truck load because the "Display Current Truck" box was checked when the window was created. Even though the Dippers window displays dipper loads, the first row displays the truck load information for the current truck. Note that the information presented on the first row is the same as the first row of the "History" window.
The percentage of the mined out material in each dipper is reported. In this case, 33% of dipper number three was recovered from a mined out material.
The method by which CAESultra detects that the dipper is loaded into the truck is reported in the "Reason" column. In Illustration 5, the reason the dipper was loaded is that the dump switch was triggered.
All Materials - The All materials window (3) displays information about all of 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, 40% of the material in the truck load is Ore 2, 20% of the load is Ore 3 material, another 20% is Ore 1 material, and the material in the remaining 20% of the load is Ore 6.
The "% Mined" is reported as a percentage of each material in the load. In Illustration 5, 6.7% of the material in the truck load was recovered from a mined out area of Ore 6 material. The sum of the % Mined rows is the total % Mined for the truck load, which in this case is 6.7%.
The top row of the All materials window displays the current truck load. In Illustration 5, note that the "Display Current Truck" box was checked when this window was created. Even though this window displays only one type of material on each row, the first row displays the current truck load information. Also note that the information presented on the first row is the same as the first row of the History window.
Histogram - The " Histogram" window (4) 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. The length of the bar for each of the materials represents its respective percentage of the load. The actual percentage value is also presented.