Surveying-Computing Integrated Approach to Tracking a Tunnel Boring Machine during Microtunneling.

摘要

This thesis research aims to tackle challenging resource tracking problems in the enclosed, complicated underground space of microtunneling construction. In such projects a steerable, remotely controlled tunnel boring machine (TBM) drills a subsurface utility tunnel with diameters generally ranging from 0.6 to 2.5 m. Accurate TBM tracking provides vital guidance to steering its advancement along an as-designed tunnel alignment in the underground space. However, on the majority of microtunneling sites, the TBM is only roughly guided by conventional laser alignment systems.;This research proposes an automated and cost-effective solution for precise TBM tracking through surveying-computing integration. A robotic total station is remotely controlled by preprogrammed procedures to automatically track the TBM's position in the underground space within millimeter level accuracy. Furthermore, given the coordinates of a minimum of three observation points on the TBM, the TBM's orientation (as defined with its three body rotation angles of yaw, pitch and roll) is determined by applying sophisticated point-to-angle computing algorithms in real time, rather than by using any orientation gauges or instruments (such as inclinometers, gyroscopes and compasses).;A Monte Carlo simulation approach is then formulated and applied in order to ensure the performances of the proposed solution satisfy practical application requirements in terms of the accuracy. A hardware-software integrated prototype of the proposed TBM tracking solution was developed in house for concept proving, which has undergone extensive validation testing. Its functionality was first tested in the laboratory. The practical applicability of the system was further verified over a three-month period in late 2009, on an ongoing microtunneling site in Hong Kong. Coupled with a 1.2 m diameter TBM, the system had been successfully implemented in tracking the installation of a 55 m long section of concrete tunnel.;The research has made essential contributions to the state of the art in resource tracking, computing and automation in construction engineering research. In terms of industrial contributions, the research has delivered a surveying-computing integrated, automated and cost-effective solution to tracking a working TBM in the underground space, holding high potential to advance the state of the practice in microtunneling operations.