Solid Timing

The Solid Timing command schedules through designed solids (.mdl files) to generate a 3D timing model and a detailed report. Each solid is mined by a single piece of equipment according to a working calendar. As the schedule is calculated, the solids will be compared against a Geologic Model to determine the quality of the material being extracted. The below documentation follows this outline:
  1. Required Setup
  2. Mine Solid Timing Dialog
  3. Reporting Options

1) Required Setup

Before the Solid Timing may be executed, proper setup is required. At a bare minimum, this includes drafting polylines that represent the direction/location of the solids, assigning solids to the polylines, and populating the Timing Project Manager.

Polylines may be drafted using any tools you like. The polylines should be contained within or exist along the edge of the solid to be mined. For example, the polyline may represent the geometric centroid of the solid, or they may represent a corner point on the the template of the solid. An example set of polylines is shown below.


Once the polylines have been drafted, you can assign design solids (.mdl files) to them with the Assign Solid to Polyline command. Note that design solids may be created with a variety of commands found on the Solid Pulldown Menu.

Once the polylines and solids have been defined, you may execute the command. You will first be prompted to define a Timing Project Manager file (.mpd file). This file is described at length here, but has been slightly modified for the application of Solid Timing. Unlike the Surface Equipment Timing and Underground Timing command, the Solid Timing command calculates volumes/qualities directly from a Geologic Model (.pre file) as the timing is executed. Attribute groups are not required, but are still available. An example of the Timing Project manager is shown below.


Note that the Geologic Model branch of the Timing Project Manager is unique to the Solid Timing command. This branch is discussed below, but all other branches of this file are discussed here. It is important to note that in order to calculate the timing, the Equipment, Calendar, and Start Date must be defined. A Geologic Model may be added by double-clicking the Geologic Model branch or by selecting the Branch and clicking the Add Set button. When defining a Geologic Model, the below dialog will appear.


Model Name: The Geologic Model may be assigned any name. You may select a .pre file by clicking the ellipsis button. Once selected, you may view/modify the .pre file by clicking the View button.

Density Setting: There are three options to specify the density of the materials defined in the Geologic Model.
The Use Strata Definition option will read density values from the Strata Definition file (.sdf file). Any strata types found in the Geologic Model that are not also defined in the Strata Definition will be assigned a default density value. The Strata Definition file may be selected by clicking the ellipsis button and viewed/modified by clicking the View button.
The Use Density Attribute will use an attribute found within the Geologic Model to define the density for each strata type. A benefit to this option is that each strata's density may vary across the property. Note that when using this option, you will need to enter the name of the Density attribute exactly as it appears in the Geologic Model. If no density attribute is found when this option is selected, the strata layers will be assigned a default density value.
The Use Constant Density option will assign a single density value to all strata types found in the Geologic Model.

2) Mine Solid Timing Dialog

Once the Timing Project Manager has been defined, you will be prompted to select all of the polylines/solids to use in the timing command. After these entities are selected, the below dialog will appear. This dialog controls the sequencing of the timing. Each section of this dialog is described below.


The Equip. Involved column will be automatically populated with equipment from the Timing Project Manager. You may create copies of equipment or edit the equipment definitions with the Copy Unit and Edit Unit buttons. The Edit Calendar button will allow you to modify the current calendar.


The Assignment Column lists the solids assigned to the currently selected equipment. Selecting a different unit will update this column with the list of solids assigned to that unit. This column lists solids in the order that they will be mined, with solids at the top of the list being mined first. Solids may be moved up/down in the list by selecting them and clicking the respective green arrow icon. Solids may be removed from the list by selecting the solid and clicking the red X icon. All solids may be removed from the list by clicking the Remove All button.


Delays may be added to the assignment column by clicking the Add Delay button. Delays will be added to the assignment column as if they were another solid to be mined. When adding a delay, the below dialog will appear.


Delay Duration: These values control how long the delay lasts. In the above example, the equipment will be delayed for a full shift. Note that partial shift delays are allowed.

Pure Calendar Delay: This option will not force a delay. If the equipment already has scheduled downtime when the delay is encountered, additional time will not be taken off.

As Scheduled Delay: This option will force a delay even if the equipment already has scheduled downtime when the delay is encountered. The delay will wait until the scheduled downtime is complete, then the delay will be applied.

Pure Calendar Delay after precedence is satisfied: This is similar to a Pure Calendar Delay, but will not attempt to apply the delay until precedence rules have been satisfied. Consider the scenario shown in the below table. Equipment E1 is scheduled to mine Pit A and Pit C. Equipment E2 is scheduled to mine Pit B and Pit D. A precedence rule has been created that does not allow Pit D to be mined until Pit A is complete. A delay of this type is placed on Equipment E2 after Pit B. In this scenario, the finish date of Pit A will first be calculated, then the delay will be applied. If the equipment already has scheduled downtime when the delay is encountered, additional time will not be taken off.

As Scheduled Delay after precedence is satisfied: This option is similar to an As Scheduled Delay, but will not attempt to apply the delay until precedence rules have been satisfied. Consider the below scenario. Equipment E1 is scheduled to mine Pit A and Pit C. Equipment E2 is scheduled to mine Pit B and Pit D. A precedence rule has been created that does not allow Pit D to be mined until Pit A is complete. A delay of this type is placed on Equipment E2 after Pit B. In this scenario, the finish date of Pit A will first be calculated, then the delay will be applied. If the equipment already has scheduled downtime, the delay will be applied in addition to this downtime.

Due To: This dropdown menu lists the Drawing Event delays defined in the Timing Project Manager. The ellipse button will allow you to define a new Drawing Event.


The Unassigned Column lists all solids that have not yet been assigned to a piece of equipment.

Assign: This button will assign the selected solid(s) to the selected piece of equipment. Solids may also be selected by double-clicking the name in the list.

Select: This button will select the solids according to the drop-down menu to the right of this button. If the drop-down menu is set to NONE, all solids will be unselected. If the drop-down menu is set to ALL, all solids will be selected.

Use Precedence: This checkbox will ensure that precedence is satisfied in the list. For example if Pit1-B1 is assigned to precede Pit1-B2, toggling this option on will reorder the list so that Pit1-B1 is listed before Pit1-B2.

Screen Pick: This button will allow you to sequence the solids by selecting them in the drawing. When activated, the Surface Equipment Timing Dialog will disappear and the drawing area will be visible. The command line will prompt you to click the polyline solid to assign to the currently selected piece of equipment. This option allows you to visually select the solids rather than picking them from a list.

3D Pick: This button will open a new window, as shown below, to show a 3D view of the available solids and the volumes/qualities associated with them. This interactive window allows you to sequence solids in an interactive 3D environment.

Vertical Scale: This value controls the vertical exaggeration of the graphics window.

Color By: This drop-down list controls how benches are colored in the graphics window.

The Solid Color option will color each solid with a single color.
The Normal option will color each face of the solid according the direction it faces. This adds a more vibrant color variation to the solids.

Control
 Action
This control represents the position of the sun in plan view. If the yellow square is in the center of the blue circle, the sun is in a zenith. If the yellow square is near the edge of the circle, the sun is near the horizon. To move the yellow square, simply drag it to a new location, or click on the new location. The slider bars on the sides control the intensity and brightness of the display.
Switches to Dynamic Zoom mode. Click and drag to zoom in and out.
Switches to Rotation mode. When the cursor is placed near the outer edge of the view, a "Z" cursor is presented that permits rotation around the Z-axis. When the cursor is placed further into the interior of the view, an "X,Y" cursor is presented that permits the tilt angle of the view to be adjusted.
Switches to Pan mode. Click and drag to pan.
Switches to Pick mode. Double click a solid to assign it to the currently selected piece of equipment.
Prompts you to select linework such as contours or 3D faces to add to the 3D viewer window. This linework can be used to identify reference points in the drawing to assist in selection.

Toggle shading of Solids and 3D Faces.
Exits the 3D Pick window, calculates the amount of time required to mine the assigned solids, and generates a report. This function is discussed later in this section of the help manual.
Displays a detailed report of the current timing assignment. This is similar to the standard Report function, but provides more detailed information and does not attempt to create a timing map. An example report is shown below.

The calculator icon at the top left of the screen will recalculate the timing results of the currently assigned solids. This allows additional solids to be added/removed from the assigned equipment and then quickly recalculate the impact on the scheduling.
The slider bar at the top of dialog represents the timeline of the mining progression. Clicking-and-dragging the slider will update the displayed information.
The spreadsheet report will display solids to be mined in the currently selected time period.
Controls the information displayed on the bar charts. When clicked the below dialog will appear.

This dialog contains two columns: Available and Used. Only items in the Used column will be shown in the bar chart area below the 3D Pick graphics window. Items may be moved between the two columns by selecting the item and clicking one of the green arrows between the two columns. To the right of the Used column are four icons. The green arrows can be used to move the selected item up and down in the list. The red pencil can be used to edit the selected item as described below. The blue reset icon will clear out all used attributes and return them to the available column.

The attribute listed in the Available column will be automatically generated based off the Geologic Model. The volume, tonnage, and qualities for each strata type will be available.

You can use the Create/Edit/Delete Equation buttons to manage equations. These equations can be used to represent values that are not actually in the Geologic Model, but are rather a combination of other values. More information on defining equations is provided here.

When an item is first moved to the Used column, the below dialog will appear to control that item's appearance on the chart, including minimum value to display, maximum value to display, and color. You can also define the method used for calculating the total of the value. For example, values such as volume can be totaled as a Sum, whereas values such as quality can be a Weighted Average that is weighted by the Volume of each solid. You can also enable the Targets, which are simply horizontal lines displayed on the bar charts to represent threshold values.
Controls the attributes that are displayed in the tooltip when the cursor is hovering over a bench. Attributes in the left column will not be displayed.
Undoes the last selection in the 3D pick window.
Zooms to the extents of the items shown in the 3D window.

Ignore zero elev: This option will toggle the visibility of surface features at zero elevation in the graphics window.

Pick Equipment: This drop-down list includes all equipment that have been added to the main Surface Equipment Timing dialog. Solids will be assigned to the selected equipment.

Blocks Assigned to Selected Equipment: This list shows all solids that have been assigned to the selected equipment. The solids are listed in the order they will be mined. The green arrows below the list will move the currently selected solid up and down in the list. The red X will remove the selected solid from the list and make it available for assignment to another piece of equipment.

Maximum Bars: This value controls the maximum number of periods (and thus, the number of vertical bars) that may be shown in each chart when the Timelapse option is enabled.

Timelapse: This checkbox will create a new period each time a solid is selected, thus adding another bar to the charts. Once the maximum number of periods is displayed, older periods will be removed from the charts.

Chart Unpicked: This option will reset the charts and only show information pertaining to solids that have not yet been assigned to a piece of equipment.

Display Assigned Blocks: This option will display solids that have already been assigned to a piece of equipment.

Period Slider Bar: The slider bar below the charts is only available when the Timelapse option is disabled. This slider bar allows you to control how many solids are represented in the last vertical bar of the charts. For example, if the slider bar is moved to the right end of the bar, all assigned solids will be represented in the bar chart. If the slider bar is moved closer further to the left, fewer solids will be represented in the bar chart.

3) Reporting Options

These options at the bottom of the Mine Solid Timing dialog control the various reporting options.



Starting Date: This value sets the date to begin mining operations. The ellipsis button to the right of this field will open a small calendar to assist in date selection. By default, this value will be set the Mine Start Date set in the Timing Project Manager.

Number of Shifts: This value will set the number of working shifts in a day.

Collect Extended Information for Gantt Chart: When enabled, this option will allow the Gantt Chart to include extra information such as the pit volume, quality, etc.

Calculate: This button will calculated the mine schedule. If any errors are encountered, the below dialog (left) will appear. The problem report generated will appear similar to below (right). In this example, a precedence rule has been violated for the Unit 1. Entire Decline <1:2> cannot be mined until Entire Decline <B:1> has been mined. This will require an edit to the assignment order.



If no problems are encountered, the schedule will be calculated and the below dialog will appear.




Report: This button will generate a very simple report as shown below. Note that this report does not include information about the amount of material mined.


Detailed Report: This button will generate a more detailed report, including information such as the amount of material mined, quality of material, downtime, etc. This report is discussed in more detail later in this help document.
Report: This button (directly below the Calculate button) is only available after calculating the mine schedule. This button will open the Detailed Report dialog. This is the same dialog that will appear after selecting the Detailed Report option after clicking the Calculate button. The Detailed Report is described layer in this help document.

Undo Report: This button will delete a previous timing map and clear the calculated schedule. This allows for quick what-if analysis of the scheduling.

Events Report: This button will display the Events Report, which lists all Drawing Events encountered during the mine schedule. Drawing Events are discussed in more detail in the Timing Project Manager. This report is only available after a Detailed Report has been generated.

Monthly Report: This button will generate a monthly report, similar to the Detailed Report, but with less information available and without the ability to set custom time periods for reporting. An example of the Monthly Report is shown below.


Gantt Chart: This button will generate a Gantt chart of the mine schedule. This button is only available after calculating the mine schedule. For more information, see the Gantt Chart section of the help manual.

Utilization Report: This button will generate a Utilization Report of the mine schedule. This report lists each shift for each piece of equipment. Scheduled delays will be reported as such. An example of the Utilization Report is shown below.



Back to Project: This button will return to the Timing Project Manager window.

Detailed Reporting: When a Detailed Report is generated, the below dialog will appear.



Report by Period/Equipment: These two radio buttons will determine how the timing map is generated.

If the Period option is selected, the timing map will be colored by period, regardless of which equipment is working.
If the Equipment option is selected, the timing map will be colored by equipment, regardless of when the mining takes place.

Report Only: This option will not create a timing map; only the mine schedule will be reported. When selected, many other options on the dialog will be ghosted out.

Draw Period Solids: This option will draw the timing solids in the drawing window. The solids will be colored according to the Report By option previously discussed.

Select Solids Folder: This button will allow you to specify a directory to output the timing solids (.mdl files). These solids are required in order to create a Timing Viewer file.

Draw Legend: This option will draw a color legend of the timing map.

Output Timing Viewer File: This option will output a Timing Viewer File of the mine progression. This is a 3D playback that may be controlled with a timeline. You may specify the file name and location by clicking the Select Timing Viewer File button. More information on the Timing Viewer File is available here.

Block Labeling: This dropdown list will determine how the labels are drawn in the timing map.

The No Block Labels option will not draw labels.
The Draw Actual Dates option will label the starting and ending date of each period.
The Draw Period Names option will draw labels defined in the Custom Date Table.
The Use Custom Names option will draw labels defined in the Custom Amount Table.
The Use Custom Text Block option will draw labels according to the below dialog. When selected, the Text Block Style, Add, Edit, and Remove buttons will become available. The Text Block Style dropdown list will list all available text block labels. The Add button will create a new text block. The Edit button will edit the currently selected text block. The Remove button will remove the currently selected text block.


The left side of the above dialog contains pre-defined keys that may be used in the labels. The right side of the dialog shows how the text block label will appear.

Add: This button will add the selected attribute to the current line. Multiple attributes may be added to a single line.

Add Text: This button will add custom text to the current line. In the above example, "tons" has been added as a suffix to the KEYWEIGHT attribute.

Add Attribute: This button will add any attribute that is not defined in the pre-defined list. This attribute name must match an attribute available in the final text report.

Add New Line: This button will create a new line in the text block. In the above example, three lines have been created.

Remove: This button will remove the selected line from the text block.

Text Size: This value will set the text size of the block labels.

Text Autosize: This option will automatically size the text of the block labels. The text size will vary, as it will be set to 1/6 of the length of the block (e.g. a block that is 600 units long will create a text height of 100 units).

Length-wise labels: This option will rotate the block labels in line with the mining direction of each bench. If not selected, labels will be drawn perpendicular to the mining direction.

Text Style: This option will set the text style to use for the period labels. The Select button will allow you to select one of the existing text styles.

Legend Scale: This option will set the text size of the timing map legend.

Transparency: This dropdown list will determine the transparency of the timing solids that are drawn in the drawing window.

The bottom left of the dialog contains 8 radio buttons for various types of reports.

12 months + 8 quarters + years: This option will report the mine schedule monthly for the first year, quarterly for the second and third year, and annually for any period of time beyond the third year.

Show Months of Development: This option will report the mine schedule monthly starting on the first day of the schedule. For example, if the 12th is the first day of the schedule, the periods will span from the 12th to the 11th of the following month.

Show 1st Days of Months: This option will report the mine schedule monthly starting on the first day of each month. If the first day of the schedule is not on the first of the month, that period will continue until the first day of the next month.

Show Years of Development: This option will report the mine schedule annually starting on the first day of the schedule. For example, if 6/27 is the first day of the schedule, the periods will span from 6/27 to 6/26 of the following year.

Show 1st Days of Years: This option will report the mine schedule annually starting on the first day of each year. If the first day of the schedule is not on the first of the year, that period will continue until the first day of the next year.

Show Date Range: This option will reference the Report Period and Finish Date to the right of this option. This option will set this range of dates as a single period for coloring and reporting.

Custom Date Table: This option will report the mine schedule into the time periods set in the Custom Dates table, as discussed below.

Custom Amount Table: This option will report the mine schedule into the amounts set in the Custom Amount table, as discussed below. The dropdown list below the Amounts button can be used to set the units for the amounts in the Custom Amounts Table.

Dates/Colors: This button will open the below dialog, which controls custom coloring for the timing map.


The above dialog can be used to create custom time periods to show in the timing map. The icons at the top left of the dialog will add and delete rows of information.

End Date: This column displays the end date for the row of information.

Range: This column sets the date range of the period. Dates may be preceded by > or < to mark indefinite time periods.

Color: This column sets the color of the time period. Double clicking one of these cells will open the CAD color palette.

Pattern: This column sets the hatch pattern for the timing blocks.

Scale: This column sets the scale of the hatch pattern.

Layer: This column sets the CAD layer on which to draw the timing block.

Label: This column sets a custom label for the timing block.

Clear: This button will clear the table of all information.

Auto Set: This button will open the below dialog, which allows for quick population of the Custom Dates table.

Starting Line: This value will set the row to begin the automatic population of the Custom Date table.

Starting Date: This is the Date From that will be used on the Starting Line. The ellipse button will open a small calendar to assist in date selection.

Hatch Scale: This value will set the hatch scale for the new time periods.

Hatch Pattern: This field will set the hatch pattern for the new time periods. The ellipse button will open the list of available hatch patterns.

Set Same Layer: This option will place all new time periods on the same layer, which is set just to the right of this checkbox. The ellipse button will open the list of existing CAD layers.

Set Colors: This option will set custom colors for the new time periods. The colors are referenced in the CAD color palette, and are numbered 1 through 255.

Color Increment: This value sets the increment of colors to use for coloring. For example, a value of 10 will increment through colors 10, 20, 30, etc.

Start Color: This value sets the color to use on the Starting Row.

Repeat: This option will determine the length of the time periods. Selecting the Every option will allow you to set a custom length for the time periods. The number of time periods to create is set below this dropdown list.

Amounts: This button will open the below dialog, which controls another method of custom coloring of the timing map.

The above dialog is very similar to the Custom Dates table previously discussed. The only difference is that the dates are replaced with the Amounts column. These values may represent one of the following values to be mined:

  • Total Tons
  • Key Material Tons
  • Waste Tons
  • Total Area
  • Mined Area
  • Total Volume
  • Key Material Volume
  • Waste Volume
  • User Grid

Auto Set: This button will open the below dialog, which is very similar to the Auto Set dialog used in the Custom Dates table, as previously discussed. This dialog differs in that amounts are specified rather than dates, and the periods cannot be defined to repeat for a specific number of times.




An example report and timing map is shown below.



There are many attributes available in this report. Most of these attributes are self explanatory, but some are not as clear. The below definitions are therefore provided.
  • Calendar Days: Actual period length rounded up (to account for partial days)
  • Operating days: Actual period length rounded up, minus days that do not have at least one working shift
  • Days: Scheduled Hours divided by Shift Length
  • Weekdays Worked: Weekdays with at least a portion of shift worked
  • Saturdays Worked: Saturdays with a least a portion of a shift worked
  • Sundays Worked: Sundays with a least a portion of a shift worked
  • Days Waiting: Number of days equipment cannot work due to a precedence rule
  • Work Shifts: Number of shifts when production took place
  • Hours Scheduled: Number of hours equipment is scheduled to work (this includes Hours Utilized, Hours Delayed, and Hours Available)
  • Hours Down: Number of hours equipment is not scheduled to work (due to downtime scheduled on the calendar)
  • Hours Utilized: Number of hours equipment is actually working
  • Hours Delayed: Number of hours equipment is delayed due to a Drawing Event or Scheduled Delay (note, this is not the same as Hours Down)
  • Hours Available: Number of hours is scheduled to work, but is neither being utilized nor is it actually delayed. If a piece of equipment encounters a delay during the middle of the shift, the partial shift time remaining will be counted as Hours Available (the delay will be applied to the next shift)
   
The below image helps visualize the organization of the different definitions of Hours.



Pulldown Location: Solid
Keyboard Command: UGMINESCHEDULE
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