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THE LEADER VOLUME 18 • NUMBER 6
Hexagon ' s AHS arrival
For some years now , the options for a fleet scale and fully operational open pit autonomous haulage system ( AHS ) have been relatively limited – Caterpillar and Komatsu by far lead the way with their Command for hauling and FrontRunner systems respectively – at multiple operations around the world . Beyond that , OEMagnostic ASI Mining working with Epiroc has proven its system at Roy Hill , and Hitachi Construction Machinery at Whitehaven Coal .
Aside from these players there are a number of companies offering viable AHS , mainly OEMagnostic , using different approaches and technology combinations . But these tend to involve , to date , small groups of trucks and mainly smaller size class trucks . These include SafeAI , Pronto , xtonomy , Auto-mate , Steer , Zyfra and others . China can be considered as a distinct market and as such has several significant tech players , some running larger fleets , including TAGE Idriver , Waytous and EACON .
But the arrival of any new AHS entrants is still big news , and it looks like Hexagon ’ s Mining division will be next – which is significant given Hexagon ’ s existing importance in the global mining sector in areas like fleet management , collision avoidance , fatigue management , and drill & blast integration and optimisation . Plus it has already made announcements about autonomy collaboration , notably with Liebherr . It has also partnered with Mineral Resources in Australia on an autonomous road train project for iron ore haulage , integrating Hexagon ’ s drive-by-wire technology with an autonomous management system to orchestrate vehicle movement .
Hexagon recently told IM : “ Like our autonomous road train project , a complete AHS system is in development . Hexagon is one of the few technology companies with a comprehensive set of competencies from onboard autonomy and by-wire , world perception including autonomous and person / object / human operated vehicles , fleet and mission management , positioning including the industry leading NovAtel systems , and reality capture including the industry leading Leica solutions . We are actively discussing projects to bring these stacks together in a single in-pit autonomous solution .”
IM understands that the Hexagon AHS is already at demo stage at several proving grounds and with some mining customers , with more details to come as it progresses and is given customer permission to discuss it .
The Liebherr collaboration was announced during MINExpo 2021 in September 2021 and stated : “ Hexagon technology , including its autonomous mission management system , will be used in the mine automation options offered by Liebherr to customers . A high level of safety , flexibility and seamless integration are the hallmarks of Liebherr ’ s offerings , which includes its complete autonomous haulage solution .”
Hexagon added : “ The autonomous mission management system will orchestrate autonomous fleet and unmanned mine traffic movements throughout the mine for optimised autonomous haulage . It is fully integrated with our fleet management and enterprise analytics and reporting portfolio products .”
The statement added that integrating the power of Hexagon ’ s technologies with Liebherr ’ s interoperable solutions delivers the next generation of mine automation with enhanced onboard intelligence , reducing dependency on site infrastructure and centralised supervisory systems .
For its part , Liebherr during Bauma in October 2022 said its first AHS deployment will be in 2023 in Australia : “ Liebherr Mining is currently setting the foundation for the first deployment of its autonomous haulage solution , which is scheduled to commence in Australia in 2023 . Liebherr ’ s autonomous haulage solution delivers the next generation of on-board intelligence , with reduced dependency on site infrastructure and centralised supervisory systems . Together with vehicle-tovehicle technologies , Liebherr ’ s smart autonomous solutions provide on-board obstacle avoidance and load area path planning capabilities for optimisation of traffic flow . Liebherr ’ s solutions offer a high level of safety integrity with the introduction of an 8-layer safety concept in combination with the latest on-board perception technologies for long range , high resolution and 360-degree coverage . This makes the Liebherr system a unique offer to the market with important operational advantages when compared to other systems currently operated or offered .”
It added that the deployment in Australia will include both Liebherr ’ s Autonomy Ready Kit , and the Liebherr Autonomy Kit , which will integrate with the customer ’ s preferred traffic and fleet management systems . This follow ’ s Liebherr ’ s philosophy of open and interoperable mining architecture , allowing customer ’ s the freedom of choice in selection of best-in-class base machines , automation , traffic management , and fleet management systems . The Autonomy Ready Kit is available to purchase for the Liebherr mining truck model T 264 , T 274 and T 284 .
In its 2022 Annual Report , Liebherr further stated that the initial fleet of autonomous T 264 trucks will be delivered to complete the final stage of AHS validation within a production environment , scheduled to commence in Australia in 2023 .
Paul Moore Editorial Director paul @ im-mining . com
JUNE 2023 | International Mining 3