COLLISION AVOIDANCE
Wabtec on CAS market maturity
Collision avoidance technology and especially Level 9 functionality is anything but putting on some hardware and walking away – arguably it can rival the challenges of setting up AHS , involving not only the technology , but touching on operations and site culture as well . And mines have to know how and why to implement it . But the market is also getting more mature . IM spoke to Mitch Tanzer , Wabtec Key Accounts Director , Digital Mine . “ The technology continues to improve , however , in the past 12 months we have continued to see an increase in the maturity of our customers . What I mean by that is as a technology provider we have the engineering expertise , so we understand what sensors we need and the technical requirements , but the functional requirements are driven from the customer point of view . We are seeing more of an understanding of how they want a collision awareness system to function . A lot of this maturity is being driven by EMESRT and their approach , which Wabtec is proud to endorse . They are challenging the industry to think more broadly . Instead of taking a top down approach and going straight to Level 7-9 , they are going right back to basics and first understanding where the gaps are in their Level 1-6 processes . This then drives their requirements for how CAS operates at Level ’ s 7-9 .”
Tanzer says this is a great thing for Wabtec as it is now getting a better understanding where the gaps are and where their biggest risks are . “ When you fill those gaps and mitigate the risks you are left with the discreet scenarios that you really need a CAS solution to deal with . Going through this process is challenging . The larger miners have operations across different countries , some using different methods . Therefore , getting a baseline across their sites is hard and requires leveraging a skillset they may not currently have across their business . It has to be a cross functional effort . You need buy-in and executive sponsorship . There are users that have gone straight to Level 9 that have had a lot of technology and operational challenges , making sure the system is operating the way that they need it to , and even then they are still having near misses and incidents . CAS is not a silver bullet , you can ’ t just install it , walk away and think the problem is solved . It is an ongoing , evolving journey . Even after the system is in , the configuration and change management is done and you start to see success , it requires an ongoing relationship to continue between the technology provider and the user .”
Looking at CAS regionally , Tanzer agreed that South Africa is furthest ahead in terms of the EMESRT levels , both surface and underground , due to the pressure of an imminent Level 9 mandate . “ Beyond that , Australia is a mature market with a reasonably good understanding of their requirements . There is an acceptance that if you have a good understanding of your baseline , you may not need Level 9 , or , if you do , it may only be required for certain scenarios . In Latin America there ’ s also now a better understanding of the roadmap to Level 9 . At this stage , the miners there aren ’ t pushing for it just yet , but they do want to know that there is a way to get there .”
Tanzer did say there are some operations that have managed to get the baseline and change management right and implement CAS – including one of the main Pilbara iron ore Tier 1 miners , which is using Wabtec ’ s Level 7 solution across most of its operations and are looking at Level 8 and 9 going forward .
Looking at the commercial side of the market , Tanzer said : “ There have been solutions put into the market by leading technology providers that have been withdrawn as the technology wasn ’ t quite ready or fit for purpose . That may change going forward but today the market appears to be dominated by just two OEM-agnostic technology providers , of which we are one . If anything , the way things are going , it looks like there will be more partnerships between the OEMs and CAS specialists . Short wave comms like V2X could also change the market and OEM participation is gradually improving as evidenced by our recent announcement of successful L9 testing with Komatsu .”
So what ’ s Wabtec ’ s unique offer to the industry and why has it been successful in CAS when others haven ’ t ? “ All of the major CAS offerings out there have a User Interface and multiple layers of sensing technology . We offer a high integrity , robust solution with a full colour display that boasts true 360 degree awareness , plus real time self-testing which also acts as redundancy . We are told by our customers that these are the reasons why our solution is preferred . CAS is hard to get right , the barrier to entry as a global player is very high . Operating in challenging mining jurisdictions requires you to have people on the ground , local entities set up plus local service and support . Even working with a local partner or dealer is very tough as successfully embedding CAS in an operation is a highly technical and skilled process that needs specialists to be able to support the sales and post sales process . Wabtec has local people in all of the major mining jurisdictions with decades of experience , ready to support our customers when they need it the most .”
What about autonomous fleets ? Is there now a twin track market with AHS fleets on the one hand , and equipping conventional fleets with Level 7-9 CAS on the other ? And is there still a CAS market in a mine with a primary AHS fleet for the non-AHS vehicles ? “ Actually , I would argue collision avoidance and autonomous haulage have a symbiotic relationship . Setting up an autonomous circuit to enable autonomous operations is quite a technically challenging and resource intensive exercise . In a single site you may have a pit with an autonomous circuit , but have other pits where this simply isn ’ t possible . We see autonomous operations as an opportunity for CAS and we are having those conversations with customers today . CAS has the potential to allow the autonomous circuit machines and manned vehicles to interact , which they do not do today – if you like it is the glue that brings those two worlds together . The reality is that most sites will not be able to go 100 % autonomous , so what do you do in that scenario ? CAS can sit in the middle and significantly reduce risk . In my view this will happen sooner than later and in fact will become a requirement .”
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IM
62 International Mining | JANUARY 2022