Ultra-Wideband-Technologie für den Einsatz im Schwermaschinenbau

The rising demands for automation systems continuously pose new challenges on the sensor systems. Due to the increasing capabilities of computer systems and their proportionally rising ability to process and aggregate data, the automation of manufacturing equipment is the long term goal since the 1990’s.Based on the developments of the industrial nations regarding Industry 4.0, the mining and heavy machinery industry have realized the potential of this vision. The digitization of the mine is the big subject of the future for many companies.This digitization is obviously multilayered, as one can immediately see from the many different and independent tasks in a modern mine: beginning with the winning, the transport and analysis of the material, the processing, the quality control, the loading and in parallel to all these tasks the repeated stacking and reclaiming of material. However, a central aspect of this automation is the knowledge of the surroundings of the machines to be automated. This inevitably leads to the task of mobile machinery positioning.In this thesis, a new positioning system, based on the UWB-Technology, is presented. The advantages of such a system can overcome several drawbacks of existing positioning systems in the industry.The basics of radio-based positioning, which are necessary for the understanding of positioning systems, are explained. The current state of the art of positioning systems is outlined and advantages and disadvantages are discussed. Furthermore, the state of art in research is outlined. After this, the basics of the UWB-Technology are explained and the development of the new positioning system is described. Several test measurements are shown in which the performance of the system is being tested and relevant installations of the system in real applications are described. Possible use-cases of the developed system are created. Improvements regarding (process) safety are described in which the new system can deliver an added value. Furthermore, an overview over the approval process of such a radio system in Germany, the EU and the USA is given, in order to help with the commercialization of this system. The thesis ends with a summary and an outlook on upcoming future developments