COLLISION AWARENESS & AVOIDANCE
Wenco says high precision GNSS is making
inroads as an effective means of improving
proximity detection without the complications of
either camera or LiDAR systems
Wenco on low precision GNSS
In a recent white paper, Wenco Mining Systems
looks at the next steps to make sure V2X
technology reaches its full safety potential on
today’s minesites. V2X has dominated
conversations around mine vehicular safety for
years. “This vehicle-to-everything communication
system currently stands as the most promising
solution for reducing the thousands of injuries or
fatalities that occur on mine sites each year. Yet,
today’s most common V2X systems rely on a
technology that actually hinders their full
potential for safety in a live mining environment:
low-fidelity positioning.”
“Low-precision GNSS provides V2X systems
with positional accuracy within 5 m of their
actual geolocation — relatively close, but not
nearly accurate enough to evade the nuisance
alarms that bother operators working in normal
and safe proximities. Users of low-precision V2X
systems routinely complain of these nuisance
alarms, eventually learning to distrust the alerts,
become complacent, or turn the system off
completely. Options are available to resolve this
problem, though. Cameras and LiDAR are two
technologies used in mining V2X that reliably
improve safety outcomes, albeit with drawbacks.
Now, a third solution is making inroads as an
effective means of improving proximity detection
without the complications of either camera or
LiDAR systems: high-precision GNSS.”
High-precision GNSS systems take a different
approach to mining hazard detection from
environmental sensing systems like cameras or
LiDAR. These systems equip vehicles with a high-
precision GNSS receiver that can detect its
geolocation within 50 cm of accuracy. By adding
these receivers to all vehicles on site and
updating their positions at a specific frequency,
system logic can rapidly determine the likelihood
of vehicles colliding with any instrumented asset.
“Although popular for commercial vehicles and
hotly discussed for mining, camera- and LiDAR-
based systems both require an unobstructed line
of sight between the system and any hazards in
order to function properly. They cannot detect
nearby hazards hidden behind a visual blockage,
such as a berm or pitwall – regular occurrences
on mine sites. Vehicles on a collision course
around blind curves or intersections remain
vulnerable, unable to receive protection from
these systems.”
Conversely, high-precision GNSS-based
systems do not require line of sight; they use
peer-to-peer radio communication in conjunction
with highly accurate geolocations and onboard
system logic to calculate potential collisions.
Operators remain consistently aware of other
vehicles travelling nearby, regardless of visibility.
Furthermore, instrumenting vehicles and other
infrastructure with high-precision GNSS is also
significantly less costly than outfitting them with
elaborate technology like LiDAR. The biggest
issue with GNSS-based systems is their inability
to actively sense their environment. Unless a
vehicle or fixed asset maintains a GNSS receiver,
it remains undetectable by the system.
“Obviously, this technological hurdle reduces the
overall level of safety possible in relation to a
LiDAR or camera system working in ideal
operating conditions. Yet, the advantages of
high-precision GNSS still make it a much more
viable option for advancing the quality of V2X
systems along the complexity-safety curve —
and for mitigating vehicular hazards throughout
this generation of technology.”
“Along with GNSS, camera- and LiDAR-based
options form a curve of adoptable safety
technologies for use in mining V2X systems. Each
one builds on previous technologies to add
supplementary layers of safety, culminating in an
ultimate solution that uses high-precision GNSS
for essential proximity awareness and sensing
technologies to detect nearby uninstrumented
objects.”
For most mining operations, Wenco believes
that high-precision GNSS represents the sweet
spot in this curve — the point of greatest return
on investment. It allows hazard detection around
visual obstructions, an essential requirement for
industrial vehicular safety, and its comparatively
low cost and flexibility enable widespread use
across site. “True, these systems do not actively
sense their environment, but instead function at
a deeper level — preventing equipment
operators from placing themselves in situations
that would necessitate environmental sensing in
the first place. When joined with an open
communications protocol like 802.11p, a high-
precision GNSS-based V2X system allows
vehicles to communicate their highly accurate
geolocations rapidly, maintaining constant peer-
to-peer proximity awareness without constant
Wi-Fi network coverage.” IM
JANUARY 2020 | International Mining