Research on belt deviation diagnosis of belt conveyors based on deep learning

Abstract Due to the slow detection speed, low accuracy, and small detection range of existing methods for detecting belt deviation in belt conveyors, this paper introduces an enhanced ultra-fast lane detection (UFLD) algorithm that leverages deep learning for the detection of belt deviation. Based on the UFLD algorithm, a variable step-size row anchor division method is proposed, and the simple parameter-free attention module is added to the network to enhance the network model’s focus on edge information of conveyor belts. Furthermore, improvements are made to the convolution operations in the ResNet-18 Stem and the downsampling operations in the residual modules, thereby enhancing the network’s ability to recognize the edges of conveyor belts. Based on the established experimental platform, a high-definition camera equipped with a track-type inspection robot was used to inspect the entire belt conveyor, covering the whole of the transmission line. The conveyor belt operation datasets collected under various working conditions were used to train and comparatively study the Hough Transform, DHT, YOLOv5, YOLOv8, LaneNet, SAD, and UFLD algorithms. The experimental outcomes demonstrate that the algorithm introduced in this article outperforms the other algorithms, achieving an F1-measure of 90.31%, an accuracy rate of 94.19 %, and a detection speed of 71 frames per second, meeting the real-time diagnostic needs for belt misalignment in the coal mining industry.