FLEET MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
Micromine Pitram training at an underground operation
managed than surface mining as delays can have more significant impacts on the schedule . On the surface , they can often just mine a different area of the mine . Also , automation is more prevalent in surface mining due to the ease of using GNSS . Underground automation , apart from LHDs in a block cave production level , is still generally limited to teleremote operations due to the complexity of underground positioning and the cost of communications infrastructure .”
Surface FMS is also focused on optimising trucking ; therefore , speed monitoring and trucking dispatch cycles where multiple routes and inputs can be captured in real-time and passed to complex solvers are important . “ Underground solutions should predominantly act as a mine control system providing visibility of locations , equipment , and personnel status in near real-time . This is the key objective of a mine control system , allowing supervisors to make intrashift decisions based on real-time information . Micromine Pitram is not simply a digital form / plod , Micromine is pushing towards automating data collection across the mining cycle . The automation of data collection direct from onboard systems , positioning solutions , and integration with other proprietary systems enable Micromine Pitram mine control to focus on and measure what matters most within a specific shift .
Some distinctive aspects of Pitram FMS functionality include a propriety tagging solution , integration with mobile asset health , and integration with the OEM onboard systems . “ The push towards automated data collection and edge computing allows Micromine Pitram to operate and compile data outside of network
coverage , whether surface or underground . This approach enables operators to focus on their tasks and provides mine control to validate progress against and adherence to the shift sheet .”
Micromine Pitram ' s Vision solution can run on autonomous LHDs collecting data for every bucket and every cycle . And Micromine Pitram ' s Asset Health solution pulls key data from the equipment regardless of OEM . Autonomous mining cycles within the underground are being delivered , and Micromine Pitram is aiding the automation through data collection irrespective of other systems optimising or automating the process across the operation . “ Micromine Pitram is ready to work with command-control platforms through our API by providing the dispatch instructions and then collecting the actual activity , such as buckets and cycle times for reporting .”
GroundHog on surface versus underground
IM also caught up with Satish Penmetsa , CEO of GroundHog Apps , which has built up an impressive customer base for its FMS underground around the world . On the differences between FMS on surface and underground he first emphasised fleet size plus maximising availability and utilisation . “ Open pit mines move hundreds of thousands of tons every day . And they typically have very large fleets - some sites have 300 + haul trucks . So , you really need an FMS to maximise the availability and utilisation of your fleet to drive down cost per tonne . Underground mines typically move a lot fewer tonnes — a large underground mine may move about 5,000 t to the surface in a day if it is a high grade mine . And even the large underground mines may only have 20 haul trucks . It is hard to justify the millions of dollars for a complex FMS for these underground mines .”
Then he raised the point of network connectivity . Open pit fleet management systems were primarily built to optimise load-haul cycles and meet a plant ’ s blend plan . Dynamic dispatch is also a key feature . “ To enable these use cases , you must always know the GPS coordinates back for most of the optimisation algorithms to work - which requires a good network . It is pretty easy to deploy a network in an open pit - or use satellite communications . And the topology does not change frequently - so it is
Above right : Satish Penmetsa , CEO , GroundHog Apps , Above : In underground areas where there is no network , GroundHog automatically creates peer-to-peer networks so supervisors have near-real-time visibility of everything going on at the face
International Mining | MAY 2023