Abstract: An equipment recovery system for high risk environments such as high wall mine shafts has a vehicle that rides on a track including applications where a push-beam conveyor may serve as the track. The vehicle has a guide to keep it on the track and a hitch for attaching a recovery cable. The vehicle is remotely operated from outside the mine, has a power train for moving the vehicle, an implement for performing tasks, and carries an onboard power source and electrical control boxes to power and control the vehicle and implement. The vehicle may communicate with an outside operator station via an Ethernet cable and may employ and Ethernet extender for that purpose. The vehicle may have a camera to transmit video images. The vehicle may be operated from a high wall miner control center or from an operator station on a self propelled support vehicle.

Abstract: A material and equipment recovery system for high risk environments has a recovery vehicle and surface control station, and a communication link between them, which may be an Ethernet link. The recovery vehicle has an operable recovery implement suitable to its particular application. The surface control station has an operator station from which an operator can operate the recovery vehicle remotely. Cameras on the recovery vehicle provide images for an operator to maneuver the recovery vehicle and monitor systems on the recovery vehicle. The surface control station also has a winch and recovery cable that attaches to the recovery vehicle to retrieve it should it become disabled. An optical alignment device on the surface control station allows alignment of the surface control station to keep the retrieval cable effective. The recovery vehicle and control station have hitch elements and the recovery vehicle can reposition the control station at a site.

Abstract: An equipment recovery system for high risk environments such as high wall mine shafts has a vehicle that rides on a track including applications where a push-beam conveyor may serve as the track. The vehicle has a guide to keep it on the track and a hitch for attaching a recovery cable. The vehicle is remotely operated from outside the mine, has a power train for moving the vehicle, an implement for performing tasks, and carries an onboard power source and electrical control boxes to power and control the vehicle and implement. The vehicle may communicate with an outside operator station via an Ethernet cable and may employ and Ethernet extender for that purpose. The vehicle may have a camera to transmit video images. The vehicle may be operated from a high wall miner control center or from an operator station on a self propelled support vehicle.

Abstract: A material and equipment recovery system for high risk environments has a recovery vehicle and surface control station, and a communication link between them, which may be an Ethernet link. The recovery vehicle has an operable recovery implement suitable to its particular application. The surface control station has an operator station from which an operator can operate the recovery vehicle remotely. Cameras on the recovery vehicle provide images for an operator to maneuver the recovery vehicle and monitor systems on the recovery vehicle. The surface control station also has a winch and recovery cable that attaches to the recovery vehicle to retrieve it should it become disabled. An optical alignment device on the surface control station allows alignment of the surface control station to keep the retrieval cable effective. The recovery vehicle and control station have hitch elements and the recovery vehicle can reposition the control station at a site.