MINING SOFTWARE sharing ” among its DISPATCH Fleet Management System ( FMS ) and / or the ProVision Machine Guidance System , and related external systems .
RPMGlobal ’ s Beesley acknowledges the company ’ s move into an enterprise software environment as a catalyst for its own technology advancements and innovation in this new , collaborative environment .
“ This has provided a platform to share real-time data among systems , as well as open avenues to cloud-based infrastructure ,” he said . “ There are a number of advantages for customers that occur as a result of the move from desktop application to cloudenabled solutions , particularly in the collaboration and data security space .”
Defining the data paradigm
In this quest for breaking down data and operational silos through integration , not all data is seen as equal , according to Eclipse Mining Technologies .
The US-based company , which has a vendoragnostic integrative software platform called SourceOne™ , has tasked itself with educating the industry about this as miners prepare for whatever new technologies and challenges the future might bring .
Against this backdrop , extra attention needs to be paid to both the quality of data and how that data is managed and handled , according to Rudy Moctezuma , Chief Business Development Officer at Eclipse .
“ If we want to take our performance to the next level using advanced technologies like automation , AI or machine learning , and break down some of these silos , then we need to streamline the data management process and make it quicker and easier to understand what the data is telling us .”
This data also needs to be in an ‘ open format ’ that can be read universally and incorporated into any vendor ’ s solution . It also should have the right context to prove useful – associated data and files that inform users how and where the original data was created and in what environment – Eclipse says .
“ The more context the data has , the more useful it is ,” Alyson Cartwright , Moctezuma ’ s colleague and Eclipse ’ s Chief Innovation and Services Officer , says .
With some systems , the reality of dealing with data can lead miners to make a choice between system performance and data openness , according to Cartwright .
“ For instance , they may choose to load the data in a way that enables good system performance , but then find it ’ s not open enough to use for analytics . Or , maybe they decide to load the data in a more accessible format , but then performance suffers because many off-the-shelf solutions are not designed to handle mining-specific data .”
She added : “ Without good data , it ’ s impossible to understand what is happening in mines , let alone make decision that might improve the operation .”
This is where Commit Works comes into the equation . Its software helps sites coordinate the many silos of “ planned work ” so that frontline teams
With its IIoT devices and solutions – such as the Vigilante AQS™ and Zephyr AQS™ air quality stations to measure environmental conditions in real time – now installed in 34 different countries and over 145 underground mines in less than 10 years , Maestro Digital Mine ’ s success is known the world over .
All of Maestro ’ s products , including its last mile network Plexus Powernet™ , are fully digital and ‘ connected ’ to determine the health of the sensors and the complete system .
To leverage this information , the company has developed MaestroLink™ Server to monitor the equipment and allow easy and quick decisions from a centralised location . The software goes as far as indicating what the action response must be .
As Maestro Director of Marketing and Communications , Shannon Katary , says , “ data is only useful if it helps determine a decision or action ”. Maestro has the capability to provide instruction items around its device maintenance , she added .
“ MaestroLink fits perfectly into our core purpose of enhancing lives by the pursuit of productivity and safety excellence ,” she added .
All of Maestro ’ s industrial IoT devices use embedded web servers along with digital technology right to each individual sensor , enabling remote diagnostics for solving maintenance problems as well as assuring sensor calibration compliance .
MaestroLink Server is a network-based software platform that features a multi-instance webbased interface to monitor and record the health of Vigilante AQS and Zephyr AQS stations along with the Plexus PowerNet underground communication networks . Maestro ’ s research , industry client engagement and experience discovered that once new digital hardware is installed underground , it often does not deliver on its full promise of consistent and accurate data to ultimately
MaestroLink Server is a network-based software platform that drive better business features a multi-instance web-based interface to monitor and decisions . Part of the longstanding problem is with the Plexus PowerNet underground communication networks
record the health of Vigilante AQS and Zephyr AQS stations along assuring the original data is valid , which , in turn , drives end user confidence .
“ The requirement to properly diagnose the equipment in real time becomes essential to keep up with operational production demands ,” the company says .
“ With the addition of new digital solutions , the automation and electrical maintenance department is tasked with solving ever more complex problems with resources that have not increased in proportion to the number of sensors and systems that they are expected to support ,” Katary said .
MaestroLink Server was developed to fill the gap between the requirement of maximising reliable and accurate operational data while reducing the impact and workload of the maintenance and support team , according to Katary .
Once installed , MaestroLink Server reaches out on the network to find and self populate the IIoT devices and network nodes , and begins to monitor both the data and advanced diagnostics of the devices .
The benefits have been seen at a Nevada-based gold mine , which was experiencing ventilation constraints . The mine ’ s ventilation teams meet weekly to analyse MaestroLink Server data and diagnostics . By looking at the data and diagnostics , they can action the maintenance team . They can also determine which ventilation doors have been left open and send a technician to rectify the issue in real time to increase the overall ventilation supply to the working areas .
Such a process effectively makes MaestroLink Server an in-house , factory-trained Maestro technologist and engineer for the mine , working 24-7 and assuring maximum uptime of each digital device , Katary said .
She concluded : “ MaestroLink Server saves time and cost by giving miners the ability to poll the diagnostics , and then turn the data into tangible actions from surface before having to go underground . The support team will go underground the first time with the proper tools , spare parts and equipment to do the maintenance once instead of multiple trips .”
International Mining | FEBRUARY 2021