
Expertise and power density drives new mobile robotics revolution
Industrial solutions and case studies
Case study: Instrumentation for ore
prospecting
When drilling for ore at shallower sites complexity and cost can be significantly reduced using a motor driven helical screw drill bit. New sensors and on-board processing of the power demands of the drill’s motor allows automatic logging information on the changing composition of the soil that the drill passes through. This allows faster and more accurate prioritization of follow-on site surveys, saving manpower and costs. The key goals were:
Logging the motor’s load condition allowed precise control of drill rotation speed, improving the integrity of the recovered soil samples. This was simplified through the use of the BCM bus converter modules built-in PMBus ports. These rugged converters operate over wide temperature ranges and offer excellent resistance to shock and vibration improving system reliability. Key benefits were:
The truck-based AC generator output was rectified to provide a 330VDC bus that remotely powered the drive motor via a long cable. At the drill head, four BCM VIA Bus converters with their outputs in series transformed and isolated the 330V rail, providing the drill’s motor drive electronics with a 2.5kW 160VDC rail. Two DCM DC-DC converters provided regulated 28V rails from the 330V DC bus to power instrumentation and processors. To analyze this power chain, go to Vicor Whiteboard online tool.
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