Imaging Process Control for Mining and Cominution of Construction Materials
Extraterrestrial mining activities will at first be concerned with the production of construction materials. Rock and earth materials can provide the strongest and most cost effective solutions. Scarce resources (energy, human intervention) in extraterrestrial mining operations, will limit many types of activities. At the same time, construction materials need to be processed, including blasting, crushing, screening, and milling, to exact specifications. Automation is the key to minimizing resource utilization, and optical sizing is crucial for these tasks, enabling automated process control without requiring excessive human quality control strategies.
History and expansion of the Panama Canal
Abstract PREFACE: 'The creation of the Panama Canal was far more than a vast, unprecedented feat of engineering. It was a profoundly important historic event and a sweeping human drama not unlike that of war. Apart from wars, it represented the largest, most costly single effort ever before mounted anywhere on earth. It held the world's attention over a span of forty years. It affected the lives of tens of thousands of people at every level of society and of virtually every race and nationality. Great reputations were made and destroyed. For numbers of men and women it was the adventure of a lifetime. Because of it one nation, France, was rocked to its foundations. Another, Colombia, lost its most prized possession, the Isthmus of Panama. Nicaragua, on the verge of becoming a world crossroads, was left to wait for some future chance. The Republic of Panama was born. The United States was embarked on a role of global involvement'. The widening of the Panama Canal to approximately 40 m (130 ft) for its enti...
WipFrag System II - Online Fragmentation Analysis
Synopsis The WipFrag fragmentation sizing system has been in widespread use for many years now. The original WipFrag system (System I) using images from video cameras, digital cameras, and conventional cameras, as well as from digital images, was designed primarily to use images from a roving camera. In this way a camera operator could survey a muck pile, take some pictures, and analyze them on his computer. Studies and industry experience has shown that sampling errors are the most significant problems with optical imaging systems. A better way to measure fragmentation is online, imaging over a conveyor belt. This has the advantage of discounting a significant amount of sampling bias, getting a much larger statistical sample, and allowing real time process control if necessary. WipFrag system II has been designed to meet all these requirements and features a variety of options to communicate with process control equipment. This paper describes the system and some of its applications.