Free-steered vehicles

Boocock, M.G., T.C. Corlett, and J. Naylor. 1994. Visibility from free steered vehicles a case study. The Mining Engineer 154(396) 81-84. 

The Safety of Free Steered Vehicle Operations Below Ground in British Coal Mines. London ... 

Mason, S. and G.C. Simpson. 1990. Ergonomics Principles for the Design of Free Steered Vehicles. Report No. SSL/90/173. Bretby, UK British Coal Corporation, Scientific Services - Ergonomics Technical Department. 

Schofield, D. 1997. Virtual reality associated with FSVs, quarries and open cast vehicles—Training, risk assessment and practical improvements. Workshop on Risks Associated with Free Steered Vehicles, Safety and Health Commission for the Mining and Other Extractive Industries, European Commission, Luxembourg. 

Two designs of load-haul-dump free-steered vehicles (known locally as the Rhino and the Domino) were used in the mine for underground materials transfer. Unfortunately, the relative position of the forward and reverse on the gear selector was exactly the opposite from one machine to the other, as shown in Figure 3.2. This would not have caused any problems if drivers were trained on one specific machine and subsequently only ever drove that machine. However, initial operator training on the surface used one or other machine (dependent on availability) with successful trainees licensed to drive both. In addition, it was not uncommon for operators to change machines during a shift. In this circumstance errors are, quite simply, inevitable. 

Similar problems have been identified on other vehicles in use in underground mines (both coal and hard rock). For example, in 1992 the UK Health and Safety Executive pirblished a Topic Report (HSE, 1992) titled The Safety of Free Steered Vehicle Operations Below Ground in British Coal Mines (brrilding on work carried out by both British Coal and the HSE) which includes several plots of dangerously restricted vision from free-steered vehicles (shuttle cars etc.). The same report highlights some of the specific accidents (inclrrding fatalities) which had occurred associated with FSV operation dtrring the five-year period from 1986 to 1991. The report states ... 

Free-Steered Vehicles (Mason and Simpson, 1990a)... 

A third stream of the design aids for designers philosophy was developed in the creation of reports showing how the ergonomics/human factors of underground locomotives and free-steered vehicles could be improved by retrofit changes within the capability of individual mines (see, for example, Rushworth, 1996). 

A type of, or alternative name for, a free-steered vehicle (see above). 

These are a specific type of free-steered vehicle which normally run from the area where material is being cut to the point where it is loaded onto/ into the main materials transfer system. Normally this particular type of free-steered vehicle is bi-directional (which often involves the driver sitting at 90 degrees to the line of travel). 

A rabber-tyied vehicle used (primarily) for the movement of supplies and coal/ore around the mine. Free-steered refers to the fact that it does not run on rails. Several versions of these machines exist depending on their primary use (e.g., some have flat-bed load areas whereas others have buckets). See also Shuttle cars. Load-haul-dumps below. 

The steering input simulations which exercise the vehicle s handling or stability and steering control properties consist of manoeuvres of the so called free-control type, in which steering wheel angle is considered as the input. 

Design of controls, primarily steering wheel and brake pedal, clutch, and accelerator pedals. These must be designed so that the driver has rapid and error-free control of the speed and direction of the vehicle. 

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