FLEET AUTOMATION
Mining autonomy with flexibility
Paul Moore sat down with ASI Mining’s Director of Business Development,
Drew Larsen to get a detailed insight into its position in the AHS market in
terms of the flexibility it can offer to mining customers
Q Can you summarise what differentiates ASI in the mining AHS market
versus the main truck OEM solutions?
A The key differentiators for ASI Mining (ASI) are primarily around its
capability as a retrofitter and as an OEM agnostic AHS provider. These two
capabilities, in effect, separate the purchasing decision for AHS technology
from the physical truck. The ability to separate those is very important for
the long-term flexibility of an autonomous mine site. Furthermore, being
able to field the technology on both new and older trucks of different makes
and models, ie mixed fleets, opens up the technology to a whole lot more
mining operations. Additionally, mining operations benefit from ASI’s model
of integrating its AHS with upstream systems like fleet management
systems (FMS). ASI helps its customers integrate dispatch information with
ASI Mining’s Mobius command and control software, rather than having a
complete FMS replacement. This further eliminates one of the key barriers
to AHS adoption. That kind of flexibility is particularly important for
brownfield sites that need to leverage their existing investments in fleet and
system assets. It enables those fleets to access AHS benefits today rather
than having to wait for fleet or FMS replacement. So, the value proposition
we offer is all the benefits of having an AHS system but making it much
more flexible and accessible. It’s also significant to mention that often, the
only way a business case justification of AHS can be achieved for brownfield
sites is by leveraging the existing truck and system assets, exactly in line
with ASI’s offering. So, our key message is targeted at those sites that are
looking to access AHS but may be under the mindset that they must wait to
replace their fleet or change out their FMS. They don’t.
Q Does that mean you are not as active in the greenfield mine market for
AHS?
A Of course, we can retrofit our system onto new trucks, it really doesn’t
matter whether trucks are new or old – we can even retrofit “autonomous
ready” trucks. But it is true that many of the greenfield sites are opting to
go for the OEM’s AHS systems, whereas a lot of the retrofit sites we are
working with are not viable under that business model. And even in a case
where new trucks are purchased for a greenfield site, if the mine operator is
willing to bring in an OEM agnostic system, it still preserves future flexibility
for them in terms of being able to add to or change out different truck types
and models, even to switch to smaller trucks over time. A greenfield mine
site might also want to bring in some used equipment at some point. Again,
the point is ASI’s AHS model provides much more flexibility in these
scenarios.
Q Does this mean within the same mining group they might opt for ASI at a
brownfield mine but an OEM-centric system at a greenfield mine?
A Yes, we are seeing that. If an operation has a homogenous vehicle fleet
or is buying a new replacement fleet of the same make, we see that there
is a compelling case to opt for an OEM-centric model. But even when that
is the case, there are still some flexibility trade-offs and it would not be
surprising for multinational mining companies with different fleet
compositions, and perhaps legacy fleets from prior acquisitions, to
consider their AHS options on a site by site basis. With autonomy there is
no one size fits all solution. Different sites have different fleets, different
fleet management set ups and different needs – so it is understandable
that one mining company may choose to leverage different AHS providers
at different mine sites.
66 International Mining | APRIL 2020
Q What about the process of
implementing autonomy in terms of
the early training and communications
stage as well as ensuring safety? What
has ASI’s experience been and what
approach do you take when it comes to
proof of concepts?
A As a technology company we
recognise that our mining customers
are not going to be equipped to just
buy technology off the shelf, plug it in
and have it work. There is a long
process we go through even before we
start to deploy the technology itself.
Fortunately, there is a lot more awareness of those important areas such as
operational readiness and safety planning, regulatory approvals, change
management, and infrastructure upgrades. We must make provision for our
customer’s needs and available resources when it comes to AHS
implementation. So we have tried to build capabilities around supporting
those needs, both directly and through our partners, to be able to provide
beginning to end support offerings that will walk our customers though the
entire process and give them access to the resources they need to be
successful. We have done this with Nevada Gold Mines and other miners,
bringing in the resources that enable the customer to fully extract the
benefits of the technology once it has been deployed. Even after the
deployment there is an ongoing effort to help optimise and tailor the
solutions for their specific site and be able to do that in conjunction with the
operator’s existing resources in a way that works for them. That includes
training and support that helps leverage the benefits of autonomy. We
recognise that the people side of things – the change management, is
probably the biggest factor in AHS success. If we neglect that, the project
will likely fail.
Q What about mine planning and the FMS and making sure that is set up
properly for AHS to function correctly especially when it transitions from
POC to a production fleet?
A One of the biggest challenges for mine operators that are implementing
autonomy is generally their very low tolerance for disruption of their
operations and production KPIs. So, this means implementing a system
within an operation in the least disruptive way possible and one that
minimises negative impacts. This is a challenge, and we generally must
tailor a rollout plan that is suited to the particular site. Traditionally, having
a satellite pit or some kind of segregated pilot area where things can be
tested and validated before moving to production is the typical model. But
when you move into a pit where it is difficult to achieve isolation, that’s
continued on page 68
ASI Mining has signed a subcontract with Epiroc to supply its
autonomous haul truck solution to Roy Hill in Western Australia