AUTONOMOUS SURFACE MINING
open and customised in terms of power source , but also in terms of autonomy . The big miners will likely stick with the established OEM AHS systems for new mines and new fleet replacements . But for existing fleets , mixed fleets , ancillary machines , new projects involving smaller class trucks , they are likely to also consider other options – both the OEMs and the new players .
But too much diversity across different operations even within the same company is also likely to create inefficiencies – these new technologies have to introduced only where it makes economic and operational sense to do so . The reality is that there remains a lot of uncertainty as to how the mining industry will look by 2030 and that applies to autonomy , power source , battery strategy ( charging or swapping ) if using battery , the right size of truck … the list goes on . For some mines there is no doubt that a better option may be to go truckless with IPCC if it is economic . For others the solution may be different set-ups at different operations .
A new level playing field
Wenco International Mining Systems , owned by HCM , is one company that is confident of the new value proposition level 5 open autonomy brings to mining ’ s new level playing field . President and CEO Andrew Pyne told IM : “ We committed ourselves to drive meaningful change to the autonomy paradigm back in 2017 because our Wencomine FMS customers wanted to start their autonomous journey but didn ’ t want to be forced in to using another FMS . We decided to go down the open autonomy route in a way that was right for the industry and would allow us to compete on our merits . We set out to be an innovator and disruptor , and some major miners that had little interaction with us have already told us they see us as a next generation autonomy provider . While it might seem altruistic , we believe we will be rewarded in time by focussing on new value creation for the customer . What started as a concept has moved on to some intensive engineering collaborations , but this is new technology so the projects will take time to mature .”
Its active projects also include the ASI / Epirocled project at Roy Hill , as Wencomine is the inplace FMS , which has provided invaluable experience as part of the world ’ s most advanced mixed fleet and OEM agnostic AHS project to date .
It has also been closely involved in testing and trials relating to the option of using larger fleets of smaller trucks in West Australian Iron Ore mines . Pyne told IM : “ The value proposition is that for the next generation of their iron ore mines , the big players need to either build more overland conveyors , extend railheads with added crushing infrastructure , or long haul the ore from the mines . And for the latter option , switching to a fleet of smaller trucks that are capable of electrification and have a level 5 autonomy system on them could represent very significant cost savings .”
Back to open autonomy and Wenco continues to work closely with Oxbotica , with whom it signed a partnership agreement to work on open autonomy solutions for mining back in 2020 . Pyne told IM : “ We perceive , based on quite a lot of research , that they still have the most technically capable autonomous-vehicle software , but also the right group of experienced people , to deliver something that is truly transformational .” He also referred to the fact that these emerging autonomy systems designed for smaller trucks and ancillary machines , retrofittable to any brand , as well as incorporating more AI , will still have to get regulatory approval when used outside of established AHS hubs like WA . Then there is the fact they will have to handle climate extremes including dust , fog , snow , temperature highs and lows etc .
But Pyne is also well aware that Wenco is just one of a group of next generation autonomy solution providers but argues that the capabilities of new options are being somewhat overstated . “ I think despite what you read from companies in this space , we are all still a couple of years away from saying – ‘ yes we can operationalise a large fleet with this technology .’ Why is this ? First off while it is relatively easy to automate one truck and trial it , this is leagues behind orchestrating an autonomous fleet . Plus there are more specific aspects . Look at the excavator operator that currently calls in and kicks out the large autonomous rigid trucks – that role is already very challenging for them and it isn ’ t widely known but in some mines they are using two operators on one shift as it is too much for one operator to handle the AHS panel and their other tasks . The big OEMs are already being asked to semi-automate parts of the loading
Wenco continues to work closely with Oxbotica , with whom it signed a partnership agreement to work on open autonomy solutions for mining back in 2020
cycle – increasingly the digging part will remain manual as that ’ s where the operator feel really exists , but the swing and load elements will be automated .”
In terms of the number of trucks increasing to many hundreds of smaller class machines , Pyne also believes that the use of mobile surge loading – in the form of the patented MMD Fully Mobile Surge Loader – will become more important , to decouple the excavator from the smaller trucks . This will of course allow mine operators to keep their existing large excavator fleet , while avoiding excessive queueing and represent more of a continuous loading process . What about the fleet management layer ? “ This is a big part of it – replacing 60 trucks with say 300 is a very different mine to manage and control . We need to re-architect our system so we can horizontally scale up in hardware terms – the cost per unit per truck has to come down for example . And when they become battery powered instead of diesel , how do we build that into the dispatching algorithms to account for battery charging or swapping ?”
Based on what Wenco has done already and commitments that customers have already made , Pyne said he is confident that there will be major mines running larger fleets of smaller class autonomous trucks , certainly by 2030 and maybe even earlier – but probably not before 2026 . While NDAs mean details cannot be released , Wenco and Oxbotica have an autonomy pilot running at a major mine in North America , currently on a 220 t unit and going through multiphase testing but with a view longer term of using it on smaller class electric machines . Pyne said the value proposition was the ability to retrofit and get the benefits of autonomy from existing fleets , but also to be able to keep control of your mine and allow you to buy whatever truck you want . “ It also provides the customer with a lot more data than they are
58 International Mining | SEPTEMBER 2022