IM 2020 October 20 | Page 24

MINING DRONES
to underground connectivity or safety issues . “ This will provide a holistic view of the mine and transparency of the entire mining process to the mine management when using such tools as the OptiMine Mine Visualizer ,” he said . “ Furthermore , the A3R ( Autonomy Aerial Robots ) will be able to map routes much faster that can then potentially be used by the Sandvik fleet to map the safest and best tramming routes .”
IM also heard from Sandvik on this agreement , with Jarkko Ruokojärvi , Global Business Development Manager , Automation , Sandvik Mining and Rock Technology , saying the ability to autonomously create 3D views of various mine locations through the Exyn drone platform would speed up the mapping of new areas , while providing visibility into locations that would otherwise be off-limits .
“ These capabilities contribute to the value proposition of Sandvik ’ s OptiMine and AutoMine for higher productivity and safety by increasing the overall transparency of the mining environment ,” Ruokojärvi said . “ Such improved and updated knowledge of the mine facilitates optimisation of the mining process and equipment behaviour through operational insights and faster decision making with the Sandvik systems .”
He explained that Exyn ’ s ability to take people away from hazardous areas with the use of autonomy aligned well with Sandvik ’ s automation offering to improve mine safety .
“ Sandvik was very impressed by the highly advanced level of Exyn ’ s technologies for autonomous aerial robotics , as well as the drive and motivation of the Exyn team to serve the mining industry in order to generate value for Sandvik and Exyn ’ s joint customers ,” Ruokojärvi said .
While surveying and assessing inaccessible stopes in underground mines may be a common request from the mining community – one area Sandvik and Exyn highlighted – Exyn ’ s Elm says there is a business case for using autonomous drones in both greenfield and brownfield operations .
“ Our technology can work in either application ,” he said , “ but our sweet spot is in continuously active mining operations where the many benefits of optimising the mapping process and boosting operations ’ management is particularly important . That said we have also seen great success in mines that have been shut down for a length of time , as well .”
He added : “ We offer a unique value proposition in that the A3R can work in underground environments with the same confidence and peace of mind as we would outdoors , even when it is out of sight and beyond communications .”
The Sandvik and Exyn announcement from July mentioned the two companies pursuing research on how to apply and generate 3D views and perceptions of underground spaces autonomously with the combination of Sandvik ’ s solutions and Exyn ’ s drones , which Jabrayan happily expanded on for IM .
“ This research allows us to deliver a more holistic view of the mine , beyond even a complete 3D view of aerial and ground spaces ,” he said . “ The integration of other sensors , gas reading and different types of cameras paired with machine learning provides a unique opportunity . It also will further empower mine rescue operations .”
A demonstration of the technology has already been carried out , he added .
Lastly , when it comes to R & D for future payloads , Jabrayan said the company was looking at a few different options , ranging from gas sensors to fish-eye cameras that would have applications in mining and beyond .
“ These additions would have a drastic impact on both lead and lag indicators , from mine planning to mine inspections , to increase efficiency and improve safety ,” he explained . “ Together with Sandvik , as well as feedback from our global client base , we will continue to push the boundaries of autonomy in the underground space .”
More than autonomy
Exyn and Emesent are not the only drone-focused companies interested in signing agreements with mining OEMs and vendors , with Inkonova CEO , Pau Mallol , telling IM the company has been approaching players in the industry it feels could benefit from its drone solutions .
The Sweden-based entity has risen up the drone ranks in the past few years following Japanbased drone major , TerraDrone , taking a “ significant ” stake in it in 2018 .
Mallol says TerraDrone has been instrumental in the development and testing of its Batonomous system via several group companies like KazUAV ( Kazakhstan ), UAS Inc ( Canada ) and especially Terra Drone Chile .
In all these instances , Inkonova has continued to provide the drone platform , scanner payload , ground station and necessary software , Mallol explained .
With the Inkonova Batonomous system , drones can be automated to fly and survey with a click on a screen without manual piloting or GPS and with real-time mapping to help navigate constricted spaces , according to the company .
When asked about Inkonova ’ s ‘ niche ’ or ‘ unique value proposition ’ for underground mining , Mallol replied : “ We have been always focused on beyond-line-of-sight underground mapping , inflight processing with Dual SLAM ( simultaneous localisation and mapping ) for the user to have the scan available right after landing in the ground station , and autonomy for simple drone operation .”
The company offers its scanning payload as two modules for handheld or vehicle-mounted use , Mallol says , but the company ’ s value proposition remains : “ Democratising mobile scanning in underground mining : cost-effective laser scanning without compromises on autonomy , safety or results quality .”
Mallol also pointed to the cost differential between the company ’ s drones and payloads when compared with others on the market .
“ We do provide a solution that is significantly more cost effective without compromising the results that suits markets where companies cannot afford more expensive ( not always the best ) solutions ,” he said .
Going back to the Batonomous system Inkonova has previously used at sites such as LKAB ’ s Gällivare mine , in Sweden , Mallol says one of the features that differentiates it among the drone field are “ active collision avoidance ” based on 360 °, real-time LiDAR data gathering . To carry this out , the company avoids the use of ultrasonic or visual sensors due to coverage limitations and low reliability in dusty and dark conditions underground , he said .
He added : “ Our system has been developed from the ground up , looking at long-term implementation on any robot , not only drones .
“ We offer both powerful hardware that allows for future software upgrades enabling new features ( from autonomy to analytics and AI-based decisions ) as well as an autonomy and mapping engines that can be tailored easily to any other robotic system by adapting only the high-level layers and interfaces of the system .”
This versatility allows Inkonova to customise both hardware and software to client needs . Here , the ability to tap into the PX4 open-source autopilot system for autonomous aircraft helps , with Mallol explaining that this allows customers to control other PX4-based industrial drones through the Batonomous system .
The company is looking forward to 2021 when it can update the market on its new developments , Mallol says .
“ Commercially speaking , we have not still released our full 3D autonomous exploration mode for underground , but we are in an advanced testing and validation phase ,” he said . “ Other exciting features will come in 2021 , not just full autonomy .”
Taking stock
Equipped with the appropriate surveying equipment , UAVs help to make mine surveyors ’ work safer , more accurate and informative , but also more efficient and effective , according to Philipp Amon , RIEGL ’ s Manager of the ULS Business Division .
UAVs have been used to carry out stocktaking across industries for many years , with UAV-based
22 International Mining | OCTOBER 2020