MINE AUTOMATION
carbon emissions targets – the premise that bigger is better in the haulage fleet is really being challenged .”
He added that while Wenco is working directly with Rio Tinto , it knows other major miners are also adopting or evaluating the adoption of this capability . “ We are looking at a future where you will have mixed fleets of larger haul trucks but also smaller haul trucks as well .”
Pyne argues that the mining industry is facing challenging market dynamics – ESG obligations and ambitions , workforce constraints , access to capital and marrying increased costs with pressure to up productivity . “ Innovation in the mining business model is not optional . Emerging technologies are addressing challenges so that miners can plan in advance and accelerate operational benefit . Open autonomy is a keystone in innovation and an industry-based initiative focusing on creating new value-based haulage models . Open autonomy systems and a convergence with electrification initiatives are enabling a growing trend in mining toward the use of smaller , more versatile autonomous haul trucks to tackle mining challenges .”
Wenco is a leading global fleet management system company with fast growing fatigue management , open autonomy , machine guidance and asset health management technologies . It has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi CM since 2009 – and today has about 100 customers using its Wencomine FMS – “ some of those customers are saying they want to adopt autonomy but in the current domain of how autonomy is deployed , that means we would have to stop using your FMS , and we really don ’ t want to do that , so they asked us what we were going to do about it . Innovation happens when there is a crisis – and our crisis was that our customers were telling us – this trend towards automation in the current way in which it is being delivered by Caterpillar and Komatsu – means
Pronto AHS rolled out at Heidelberg location
Pronto ’ s Autonomous Haulage System ( AHS ) is set to be deployed at Heidelberg Materials North America ’ s Lake Bridgeport quarry in Texas , USA , following a successful pilot of the technology with Heidelberg in 2023 .
The pilot in question was conducted in partnership with Komatsu North America , with the next phase also set to be on a Komatsu platform to include the integration of Komatsu Smart Quarry technologies . The latter technologies will enable enhanced data collection and analysis , as well as improved safety and productivity , according to Pronto .
A Silicon Valley-based autonomy pioneer , Pronto has designed its AHS to be the simplest , fastest to deploy , easiest to use , and most cost-effective solution in the market . It has been deployed in multiple sites across the world . It leverages advanced sensors , cameras and artificial intelligence to autonomously operate haul trucks in complex and dynamic environments .
Last year , Pronto announced a partnership with RAICO SA , a leading mining and forestry equipment sales and rental services provider in Chile , to scale mining and forestry autonomy in the country , while the company has also worked extensively with Bell on integrating the technology into its trucks .
Pronto said : “ Pronto ’ s AHS is the industry ’ s most cost-effective solution to addressing the challenge of recruiting skilled operatives , while also increasing the utilisation of haul truck assets .”
Pronto ’ s Autonomous Haulage System ( AHS ) is set to be deployed at Heidelberg Materials North America ’ s Lake Bridgeport quarry in Texas that we will have to stop using your technology . And we had customers sharing some of the limitations of the established automation solutions . What Caterpillar and Komatsu have done in autonomy is very valuable . So , we are focused on where there is additional value that the industry can gain through the emergence of a new generation of technology providers .”
But what is Wenco ’ s definition of open autonomy ? “ It is a term that one of our engineers came up with in 2018 . It is a contrast to an OEMbased closed stack solution coming from Caterpillar and Komatsu . So , in that generation of technologies , if you wanted to go autonomous as a miner , that meant you were effectively committing yourself to one OEM and – all the truck fleet are one make , all the technology stack comes from the OEM and all the IT / OT integrations are locked to what the OEM decides . You can ’ t have a mixed fleet – and in many cases it would mean you would have to buy new trucks that you hadn ’ t planned to . The change management , adoption and capital cost are all significant . Those companies had built very integrated , tightly coupled systems where all the key building blocks – trucks , situational awareness , autonomous driver , traffic management and FMS , were from one vendor . Very monolithic – but it delivered a value – no question . But the locked value of a single OEM approach and commitment does not represent what the market now is looking to invest in .”
He continued : “ We are not a truck OEM – while we are owned by Hitachi Construction Machinery , we operate quite independently from them in the way we do business . When we embarked on the task of contributing to an Open Autonomy framework , we started by defining what are the logical separation points between the various technology pieces that make up the system . You can have the truck , perception tech and drive by wire from one supplier , for example , then the different implementation and integration services from another , and the FMS and traffic management from another .”
Pyne said that it was clear this had to be an industry led initiative and since it started on this path , one of Wenco ’ s engineers has taken a leading role in a workgroup to define and establish the mentioned new ISO standard – ISO 23725 : Autonomous System and Fleet Management System Interoperability . And this standard Application Programming Interface ( API ) is readily available for anyone that wants to use it . “ There is now a growing number of companies that we have been engaging with that reinforces the industry need for open systems approach . Wenco understands that the ISO standard is expected to be published by end 2024 . And this approach creates the opportunity for new entrants , not deters them .” Hideshi Fukumoto ,
38 International Mining | SEPTEMBER 2024