WANG L, SUN K, YUAN R F,et al. Research on intelligent control system of hydraulic support based on EtherCAT[J]. Journal of Henan Polytechnic University(Natural Science) , 2025, 44(3): 53-63.

doi:10.16186/j.cnki.1673-9787.2024110014

Received:2024/11/07

Revised:2025/01/15

Online:2025-04-18

Research on intelligent control system of hydraulic support based on EtherCAT

WANG Lei1, SUN Kai1, YUAN Ruifu2, QI Junyan3

1.School of Computer Science and Technology， Henan Polytechnic University， Jiaozuo  454000， Henan， China；2.School of Energy Science and Engineering， Henan Polytechnic University， Jiaozuo  454000， Henan， China；3.School of Software， Henan Polytechnic University， Jiaozuo  454000， Henan， China

Abstract: Objectives Hydraulic support is one of the key equipments in coal mining. In order to solve the problem of low communication rate and poor synchronization of hydraulic support communication network，  Methods a complete intelligent control system was designed for supporting and covering hydraulic support，and the data transmission and control of the hydraulic support were discussed in depth. EtherCAT communication was based on standard Ethernet data frames and was optimized in the application layer and data link layer of the protocol stack. The EtherCAT bus was applied to the whole hydraulic support communication network to complete the hardware and software design of the hydraulic support intelligent control system. The commands for single-frame control， neighboring-frame control and group control of hydraulic supports were embedded in Ethernet data frames with EtherCAT telegrams to realize the Ethernet control of direct I/O. Based on the established hydraulic support motion model， the high-precision distributed clock（DC） synchronization mechanism of the EtherCAT bus was utilized to realize the precise control of the position of the coal miner and the movements of the hydraulic support such as lifting， advancing and moving.  Results By replacing the conventional CAN bus with the EtherCAT bus， the communication rate was increased from 1 Mbps to 100 Mbps， which significantly enhanced the speed and efficiency of data transmission. At the same time， the network topology was expanded from a single bus type to a more flexible hybrid topology with a wider range of adaptability. The unified management and control of hydraulic support by the master station effectively simplified the complexity of network management. By utilizing EtherCAT Distributed Clock （DC） synchronization mechanism， a microsecond motion control update cycle was achieved， which ensured fast data exchange between the hydraulic support slaves and the master. Conclusions By introducing the EtherCAT bus technology， the control efficiency and communication rate of the hydraulic support were significantly improved. The results of this study not only improved the intelligent unmanned coal mining technology system，but also provided an important reference for subsequent research and field application， and was also of great significance in promoting the safe and efficient production of coal mine working face.

Key words: hydraulic support; EtherCAT; monitoring substation; coal mining; fault alarm