COLLISION AWARENESS & AVOIDANCE
Stop…go
There is much more attention now being given to proximity
detection & collision avoidance systems in mining, driven very
much by greater automation take-up and a greater safety focus
but also by South African legislation, reports Paul Moore
he terms proximity detection, collision
management, collision awareness and
collision avoidance are all being widely
used in mining though they can mean very
different things. In general proximity detection
and collision management are taken to mean a
system that warns an operator and the FMS of a
potential collision (Level 7 and Level 8), whereas
collision avoidance (and sometimes collision
management) is being used to refer to a system
where the vehicle then takes action itself to
avoid the obstacle – this is what is used on the
AHS platforms running on haul truck fleets but
is not always offered as a solution in its own
right yet. It is also often referred to as a “Level
9” solution.
T
Testing and trials in South Africa
Collision avoidance-wise in terms of legislation,
South Africa is where it’s at, which some may
find surprising but it is really driving all the
activity currently. At last year’s APCOM 2019
conference in Wroclaw, Poland, attended by IM,
Dr Herman Hamersma from the University of
Pretoria’s Vehicle Dynamics Group outlined how
recent changes in Chapter 8 of the Mine Health
and Safety Act in South Africa require employers
at any mine to take reasonably practicable
measures to ensure that persons (including
pedestrians and machine operators) are
prevented from being injured due to collisions
between trackless mobile machines (TMMs) and
between TMMs and pedestrians (see boxes for
Q&A with Dr Hamersma as well as Chapter 8
wording). According to the ICMM, 30-40% of
mining industry fatalities are caused by mobile
equipment and this is given as the reason in 14
(out of 88 total) of the fatalities recorded in
International Mining | JANUARY 2020
South Africa during 2017.
This legislation has resulted in numerous
suppliers of proximity detection and collision
management systems (PDS/CMS) entering the
market, often with products that VDG argues are
not sufficiently tested or developed to address
the significant challenges associated with the
practical implementation of such systems. As a
result, a test methodology was developed by
the VDG in consultation with the South African
mining industry based on machine stopping
performance. The test specifications are based
on the Minerals Council of South Africa’s
(MINCOSA) Mine Occupational Safety and
Health (MOSH) Technical Specification
Guideline.
There are both challenges and opportunities
to introducing CMS solutions in mines. In some
cases initially up to 30% decreases in
production have been recorded and of course it
requires significant capital and operational
expenditure. There are also technical difficulties
and there is often resistance to change. In some
cases, safety has actually been reduced during
implementation. But it generally leads to
improved fleet management, full mining
operator and pedestrian compliance with traffic
rules, increased safety, fleet modernisation and
increases in production.
The test methodology ties into the
recommended technology development path
contained within the MINCOSA MOSH Technical
Specification Guideline and consists of several
stage gates. The stage gates include lab-scale
testing of the PDS supplier at a proving ground
using test vehicles and tests of the whole CMS
solution on actual TMMs at pilot sites that are
representative of the operating environment
Hexagon says its Level 9 VIS CAS system is
now running on over 100 machines at Kumba
Resources’ Sishen iron ore mine
(referred to as single machine tests).
Hamersma presented the test methodology,
describing the specific test configurations,
testing equipment, success criteria and sample
test results. Lab-scale tests are conducted on
light vehicles at a vehicle proving ground,
ensuring highly repeatable results with a
sufficient margin of safety should the CMS
solution not perform as expected. Along with
the third party CMS itself the test used two
light vehicles or TMMs with RacelogicVBOX 3i
Dual Antenna RTK DGPS, a dSPACE
MicroAutoBoxII embedded real-time computer
as well as a brake pedal robot and controller.
The intention of the lab-scale test is to test
the CMS solution in a simulated and controlled
environment and against set criteria. An
additional advantage of conducting the lab-
scale evaluation tests at a proving ground is
that access to TMMs that are used in production
is not required, the space required for testing is
considerably reduced, and the time taken to
conduct the tests is reduced. The test
methodology is, however, not restricted to light
vehicles and proving ground tests and is easily
extended to actual TMMs in representative
environments.
The aim of the aim of the single machine
tests is to test the complete CMS solution on a
machine in a test environment to demonstrate
the successful integration of the CMS solution
with an OEM and the OEM interface. To date,
numerous CMS tests have been conducted
covering multiple different suppliers. Lessons
learnt include that the test area must be
appropriate for tests, including run-up and run-
off areas. CMS trigger distances need to be
known beforehand and speed control during
testing is very important. Communication
between drivers is of vital importance.
Interestingly the expected system performance is
often unknown to CMS suppliers who are also not
mining experts, with limited knowledge of day-to-
day mining operations. That said, reporting needs
to be done for a non-technical audience.
CMS supplier feedback has been that testing
is extremely thorough and that CMS complexity
has been underestimated. The testing has
significantly contributed to improving CMS
offerings and the evaluation procedure has
provided a better understanding of the end user
environment. The evaluation procedure has
been a game-changer in the CMS development
process and CMS readiness levels have
improved.
Going forward, there are plans for global
alignment in collision management goals