MINING NETWORKS & CONNECTIVITY
geofencing, violations and real time notifications.
It also enables V2X (vehicle to anything) instead of
just V2V (vehicle to vehicle). Collecting real time
data for analysis can help predict behaviours
before they happen.
Another example is hangtime reduction (shovel
hanging waiting for the truck to spot in the right
position by acting as a visual indicator). In a
conventional mine guided spotting using GPS
assistance can reduce it to 8 seconds from a
typical veteran operator figure of 12-15 seconds or
a rookie operator of typically 26 seconds. What
has this got to do with LTE? Theoretically with AHS
you can reach zero hangtime, which on average is
13% of a shovel’s typical time consumed (based
on 15 seconds). The autonomous truck navigates
to the spot point automatically without the shovel
needing to hang as a visual indicator. Saving those
15 seconds means for 18 loads an hour an extra
4.5 minutes of extra capacity per hour, or 1.5 hours
per day equating to 547.5 hours a year which can
be equated to 2.19 Mt of gained material loaded
based on a shovel working at 4,000 t/h. The more
reliable the network, the more these gains are
guaranteed.
Looking more generally at comms, Komatsu
quoted an internal mine study of WiFi connected
AHS trucks at three minesites which showed that
comms equipment problems accounted for 15.13%
of time lost in a 24 hour period, that’s 13 minutes
6 seconds of time lost per AHS truck per day or
318,766 lost tonnes per year. One customer that
converted from 802.11 to LTE reduced AHS truck
slowing comms related events by almost 85%
which increased production by over 255,000 t/y
purely because of the more consistent network
connectivity of LTE. Trucks connected to the
network more reliably are also safer as they don’t
have to fall back on LIDAR or ODS and other
methods for awareness of other vehicles when
connectivity is lost.
Lastly, why did Komatsu opt to work with Nokia
on LTE? First, Haukeness said that Nokia’s
involvement at the Arizona Proving Grounds
enabled Komatsu to build a robust development
network and meet key deployment timelines for
customers. It also enabled Komatsu to be first to
market with AHS on LTE allowing customers to
have safer and more productive operations faster.
LTE’s increased network reliability has allowed
Komatsu to focus resources on application
development instead of network issues. It has
allowed Komatsu to run data collection and
analytics in parallel with mission critical traffic. LTE
has also allowed Komatsu to co-locate
applications on a single network/modem that
wasn’t possible on WiFi at the time because of
differences in the nature of the two protocols.
Lastly, the reliability and QoS functions have
allowed Komatsu to diversify the types of data
collected, to drive the creation of better
autonomous driving software and feed real time
into analytics platforms to create better insights.
Nokia’s Jaime Laguna Ramirez concluded on
possible next cooperation steps between the two
companies – 5G implementation at the Arizona
Proving Grounds, pushing thought leadership in
the mining technology sector and creating new
network solutions for industrial automation. 5G
will mean increased speeds, ultra-reliable low
latency comms and less contention for spectrum.
It will enable true machine learning with prediction
of behaviours and actions, analysis of complex
terrain for navigation and identifying anomalies
that create safety hazards. Self-provisioning
wireless 5G networks will allow applications to
communicate their needs themselves.
Redline's ruggedised LTE offering
Publicly traded, Canadian headquartered, wireless
communications provider Redline
Communications is unusual for a company dealing
with comms technology to be able to say they
have the same brand and dealt mainly with the
same industrial markets for the past 21 years. It
builds products and features and functions
specifically to meet the needs of markets like
mining. Reno Moccia, EVP Sales & Marketing, told
IM: "I would say that is our biggest differentiator
of Redline from a manufacturer perspective
compared to other manufacturers of LTE
technology. Our products are built from the
ground up specifically with the needs and
demands of the industrial marketplace in mind.
This means very ruggedised to withstand
extremes and ensure uninterrupted connection.
Our radios are designed with a MTBF of over 30
years. All of our casings are made from aluminium
alloy and powder coated, we use nickel plating to
combat corrosion and all of our connectors are
stainless steel. Plus our systems use minimal
power – our microcell eNodeB uses only 70 w
power while transmitting 20 w of power – far less
than say a Nokia, Ericsson or Huawei equivalent."
Redline manufactures a turnkey wireless
offering which includes two unique and
complementary wireless solutions – first is what it
calls virtual fibre – which is a Redline exclusive
fixed wireless portfolio, so fixed mining grade and
ruggedised connectivity solutions often for remote
sites. It is based off the 802.16 standard which it
has manipulated and proprietised it to create
uniqueness and value for mining and other
industrial markets. Then there is its LTE portfolio –
again here Redline has a turnkey offering
including its own Evolved Packet Core (EPC) that it
developed; it has our own radios or eNodeBs; it
also has both a microcell and a small cell; and has
a USIM option that allows it to create unique SIM
identifiers for every single industrial customer it
works with. And it has reseller agreements with
complementary portfolios like the ultra rugged
Sonim phone. Plus Redline resells ESChat as a
push to talk application. This is all part of its
ability to provide a turnkey solution under the
Redline brand. It also utilises the
SEPTEMBER 2020 | International Mining 31