COLLISION AVOIDANCE
The iProxmity 5G system being developed by indurad includes both radio and radar sensors to provide a highly accurate solution
measurement rates delivering the accuracy of a ‘ underground GPS .’ The industry demands assurance that production levels could be maintained but with safety ensured at the same time .”
The rollout of iProximity 5G at Jansen will commence in 2023 with a step-wise approach and will be applied on a range of machines including Sandvik Mining battery electric LHDs , trucks , a range of other utility vehicles and the large borer miners themselves . iProximity has already been used at a large scale at an underground nuclear waste repository in Germany and other mine sites in Germany and South Africa including on Sandvik LH514 , LH517 and LH621 LHDs but this will be the first large scale Level 9 implementation with the Generation
5 technology .
The hardware includes pairs of antennas at key access points to track ID and direction of travel of all vehicles , equipment and personnel . Nearby personnel , equipment and infrastructure tags are located through an array of ultra precision , time synchronised on-vehicle antennas . A simple interface provides operator feedback . Battery powered tags in cap lamps or belts worn by miners allow personnel to be tracked by large vehicles and base gates . Everything is underpinned by a complex software system developed in-house . indurad accepts it may not be the lowest cost system on the market but argues it is certainly one of the most capable and advanced .
Riedel went into some of the attributes of each technology . “ iProximity sensors using the sub 1 GHz radio help you to see around corners and in other non line of sight applications . The passive 2D radar is good for line of sight . Both have their strengths . For safety the combination is also good in terms of redundancy .” Operators can use either static CAS zones , or those that bend with the steering directions , or zones that are adaptive based on a known mine map . There are three CAS zones - green ( detection ), yellow ( warning ) and red ( braking ). The brake procedure is managed by the vehicle controller ( PLC ) based on target / obstacle distance and trajectory information .
UWB-based iRTT has also been extensively proven underground in hard and soft rock mining on drill rigs and feeders ; but in other industries it has been used for very complex applications such as across an entire shipping container terminals with over 1,000 antennas and tags to track all personnel , vehicles and cranes with advanced safety features . In addition to the CAS aspect , it also functions as a real time localisation system . “ It offers multiple features in a single system , with high accuracy 2D or 3D localisation . It has extremely high accuracy giving both distance and orientation , with fine control of detection zone shape and size , reducing false alarms in busy mining areas . It can also be used both underground and on surface .”
The Level 9 ready system actually uses dualfrequency radio - Short Distance Radio at sub 1 GHz and UWB at 6.5 GHz . Distance calculation is achieved by using Angle of Arrival ( AoA ), Time of Arrival ( ToA ) and Time Difference of Arrival ( TDoA ). Riedel argues that this is levels above most of the basic PDS based systems used today
Matrix – surface and underground solutions
Matrix Design Group has both surface and underground CAS offerings . The OmniPro collision avoidance system for surface mines uses Visual Artificial Intelligence ( Visual AI ) and machine learning to enable line-oftravel , crosswalk and blind-spot pedestrian and vehicle alerting for smallto medium-sized mobile equipment . Consisting of up-to-three 120 ° fieldof-view cameras , the OmniPro system works without personal wearable devices or tags . OmniPro not only “ sees ” and identifies people and hazards , alerting with visual , audible and / or tactile alerts , it also photographs and reports zone breaches . “ OmniPro has the ability to work effectively without requiring tags on workers or equipment , reducing cost and hazards posed by lost or broken tags ,” said Brian Jones , Vice President of Business Development . “ It has also been designed to minimise nuisance alerts which can desensitise workers to zone breaches .”
Through its Visual AI object recognition technology , OmniPro has been taught to identify and report on a library of “ objects ,” including people , vehicles , equipment , stop signs and pedestrian signs . The user can select what objects will be included and whether to integrate with the machine or operate as alert-only . Additionally , depending on the mine ’ s needs , OmniPro ’ s wireless solution can trigger a stop sign , pedestrian light , voice alert or crossing arm . Especially when a worker is inexperienced or tired , this camera system provides a safety backstop that can help prevent accidents . All incidents are recorded and can be reviewed to provide insights for additional safety training as needed . “ OmniPro ’ s cost-effective and customisable solution can be adapted to match any operating
environment through its programmable field-of-view zone grid configuration tool , which enables it to meet the safety requirements of different mines . Each system operates independently and is easy to install .”
For underground mining , Matrix ' s IntelliZone proximity detection system automatically warns personnel if they are dangerously closed to active mobile machinery or entering an unsafe working area . It allows users to create customised Caution , Shutdown and Operator Zones around all mobile equipment . Its control system interfaces with machinery , providing the ability to slow down or stop a machine should personnel move into the zones designated around it . The system is intended to enhance miners ’ awareness of potentially dangerous areas around working machinery and instil safe operating practices .
Unlike bubble-zone systems , IntelliZone ’ s patented shaped-zone technology minimises nuisance alerts and allows long-range , throughcurtain detection , enabling increased productivity for mines . “ Mines adopting proximity detection technology have two choices – advanced machine-shaped zone systems or ‘ simple ’ bubble zone systems ,” said Jones . “ Both generate warning and shutdown zones , but only IntelliZone offers reliable , proven technology that helps protect workers without slowing down mine production .”
Originally introduced to the American market in 2009 , it says more than 90 % of all US underground coal mines operating with proximity detection systems use Matrix technology . It has both MSHA and IECEx global certifications and is also sold in South Africa and Australia .
38 International Mining | JANUARY 2023