HIGH PROFILE so I think the retrofit market will continue to grow to allow miners to leverage existing fleets and to allow them to continue to leverage mixed fleets . The future also has to include a higher level of interoperability . I see in the future equipment rolling off assembly lines “ autonomous ready ” for drive by wire and able to operate in fleets with other OEM autonomous ready machines . Also that traffic management and FMS platforms going forward should be able to “ slot in ” different autonomous machines - not just one type .
Q Do you remain involved with autonomy projects you have started or at some point are you able to walk away ? Has the typical project changed ? A We become less involved – moving from the project implementation to ongoing support with a smaller team . But generally we have maintained some level of continued involvement . A focus at Sedna is further developing our suite of training products to facilitate bringing engineers and technicians up to speed – for us this is strategic as it allows both for our continued growth and for customers to be as independent as they would like to be . Remember this retrofit market is relatively new – our two largest projects , Roy Hill iron ore mine in Australia and Ferrexpo Yeristovo iron ore mine in Ukraine are both in advanced implementation but are not yet full production fleets . The production trials phase of these projects has gotten quicker thanks both to our partner ’ s technology evolution and experience combined with our experience and learnings – that ’ s also why we are still in this business . We don ’ t get as many queries now about a few trucks in a trial to see how it performs – today the customer is saying we are going to do this , here are the KPIs and it will culminate in the full fleet . Now we are seeing about 6-8 months of operational readiness phase followed by first machines moving fairly quickly to full fleet . But the approach depends on the conversation between ASI and the customer – ASI has several potential routes to get to that point . It could include a partial installation on all the haul trucks to allow for some period of mixed manned and autonomy operation . Whatever way you skin it , you can ’ t afford to stop production for six months to phase it in , it must be concurrent with normal operations .
Q The market is really taking off and things are changing on the corporate side . Where does Sedna go from here ? A Today we fill a big niche in a small market . We expect the market to grow and there to be some consolidation , such as ASI ’ s partnership with Epiroc , which will bring greater scale to the retrofit market . For Sedna , we see our role as facilitating
Sedna team with the first Ferrexpo haul truck fitted with ASI autonomous technology
scalability , by empowering end users and installers through knowledge transfer and training . We don ’ t see the future of Sedna as involving hundreds of people , rather a core group of technical people who are able to partner closely with customers to ensure their success . As the market evolves , we are seeking out new technologies and approaches to unlock productivity . For example – we recently signed a channel partner agreement with Nokia – Sedna going forward will market , distribute and service Nokia ’ s DAC private wireless and digital enabler platform . IM
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Paus North America Inc . Tel .: + 1 ( 775 ) 293-8050 Mail : sales @ paus-na . com visit us on www . paus-na . com
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SEPTEMBER 2021 | International Mining 81