COLLISION AVOIDANCE
Hexagon ' s CAS 10 consolidates a lot of powerful sensor technology into just two hardware components
Acting on awareness
The evolution of collision avoidance technology , both surface and underground , is gathering pace , both in terms of the capability of the systems themselves , particularly on direct vehicle intervention , but also in terms of the mining industry ’ s maturity in understanding its place and its power in an active mine setting . Paul Moore reports
In the conference call for its Q3 2022 results , Kris Smith , Interim President & Chief Executive Officer of oil sands giant Suncor Energy Inc , said that work continues across the company to improve safety and operational excellence , with a particular focus on its mining and tailings operations . “ My priority has been to remove distractions from the organisation and to focus our employees on safe , reliable operations and our biggest opportunities .”
A big part of that is mining equipment fleet safety , following a fatality at its Base plant mining operations on January 6 , 2022 when one heavy haul truck rear-ended a second heavy haul truck while they were both driving up a mine haul ramp . This has resulted in an accelerated collision avoidance and fatigue management deployment across all of its mine mobile equipment .
Smith said that industry leading technologies for collision awareness are being deployed on over 1,000 pieces of mobile mine equipment across its operating assets to mitigate a key risk in its mining operations . It is one of the most extensive rollouts of CAS ever in mining and the company confirmed to IM that its technology partner is Hexagon , which supplies the HxGN MineProtect Collision Avoidance System , now on version 10 .
Smith adds : “ I ’ m pleased to say this initiative is progressing well , and two-thirds of Syncrude ’ s Aurora mine equipment will be outfitted by year end , and installations on the remaining equipment at Aurora are expected to be completed by January 2023 , nearly two months ahead of schedule .”
Deployment schedules for the remaining mines are on plan , with Syncrude ’ s Mildred Lake Mine and Fort Hills going live in mid-2023 and Suncor ’ s Base Mine being complete by the end of next year . “ As well , our fatigue management system installation , as discussed in previous calls , will be completed across all mines by early 2023 and is already fully installed and functioning at Syncrude ’ s Mildred Lake and Aurora mines . This technology has so far demonstrated the potential to reduce fatigue related events by up to 80 %.”
This major CAS development is indicative of an acceleration of demand for this type of extra safety layer in mobile fleets across all the major mining markets .
CAS and the Power of One
The Suncor and Syncrude deployments for Hexagon follow some other high-profile installations including at Codelco ’ s Radomiro Tomic operation on over 100 trucks . Hexagon ’ s CAS has also been rolled out at Anglo American ’ s Dawson coal mine in Australia following a close partnership with Anglo on CAS at the Sishen and Kolomela iron ore mines in South Africa .
It also follows the announcement in 2022 of a significantly improved version of its collision avoidance system . Version 10 of HxGN MineProtect Collision Avoidance System – consolidates a lot of powerful sensor technology into just two hardware components : a smart
antenna and a 5 inch LCD display . The smart antenna integrates GPS , RF , Wi-Fi , LTE and Ultra- Wide Band Time of Flight technology . The incabin , touch-screen display features modern UI / UX consistent with Hexagon ’ s other on-board solutions . This creates “ a better driving experience , reduced deployment and training time , reduced supply chain complexity and increased operator adoption .” This consolidation is representative of Hexagon ’ s Power of One approach , to offer a holistic , life-of-mine smart solution connecting sensors and software , infield apps and cloudware to empower digital transformation .
Besides collision avoidance , MineProtect integrates systems for operator alertness , object detection , personal protection and vehicle intervention by sharing the same hardware . CAS connects to a web-based reporting and analytics platform that adds a powerful layer of safety to MineProtect . It monitors and controls critical risk events by connecting data sources via dashboards , visualising all aspects of CAS and making safety preventive rather than reactive .
Michael Hatfield , Head of Product for Hexagon ’ s Safety solutions in Mining division , comments : “ HxGN MineProtect CA offers 360- degree awareness and alerts for equipment operators , as well as insight and analytics about site risks for operations and safety personnel . Collision warning systems are fantastic at stopping collisions from happening in the very moment they are detected , but even more impressive still is that trending data from the system also provides insight into how to proactively prevent accidents . Our customers understand that to take zero harm seriously , they also need an enterprise solution to transform safety data into actionable intelligence ; backed by a proven change management methodology to ensure a meaningful safety culture prevails .”
He adds : “ The single multi-functional smart antenna for CAS also supports other Hexagon solutions including operator alertness , fleet management and operator assist . The single display for CAS also integrates information from radars and HxGN MineProtect Personal Alert , the industry ’ s first accident-avoidance device worn by field personnel using the reliability and precision-location technology .”
To get the latest news on Hexagon ’ s CAS evolution , IM met with Rob Daw , Chief Innovation Officer ( CIO ) recently at the IMARC mining event in Sydney , Australia . “ Over the last three years , we have seen Level 7 and Level 8 CAS technology expanding a great deal beyond South Africa , which has been a focus are due to the soon to be mandatory situation there . Operations globally ,
30 International Mining | JANUARY 2023