Health & safety
the roads, unexpected holes and boulders, and wildly unpredictable weather patterns, to name but a few everyday risks. At the same time, someone testing a new piece of technology on one mining site could drive around for hours without encountering a single problem – testing on-site is therefore notoriously inefficient. Running this system successfully is not easy to do – according to an American Automobile Association report, ADAS fails every eight miles. The problem is that automated systems, be it a simple ADAS function or a full-blown autonomous mine system, must have every possible scenario accounted for and tested before they can be deemed safe. Foretellix is using its unique language, which has since become the industry standard, to specify abstract scenarios (“dump truck driving and crossing the path of another truck” is an example Atzmon offers) and then automatically generate all the possible tests variants of this scenario in the specific mine map. Different locations, actors, speeds, angles, weather, lighting and visibility conditions are all created to test ADAS and AV technology on a specific vehicle or a full mine, and ensure that it is safe and efficient, ready for commercial deployment.
Lessons from the past
Atzmon grew up watching the turbulent coal mining situation in England in the 1980s, where workers led a year-long strike in objection to mine closures and poor working conditions. While the fruits of their labour may not have been ripe as the industry became increasingly unprofitable, the exposure of the industry’s shortcomings have had a lasting impact. “We talk to different companies and OEMs but the majority of them are very safety-focused, and we have to be honest, this is a dangerous industry,” Atzmon comments. Almost all companies are interested in using ADAS and autonomous technology, particularly because of how it can improve the safety and efficiency of their operations, Gulbrandsen says, adding: “Almost all companies we’re talking to are interested in adopting collision avoidance systems.” There are sites where it is difficult to get people to work and roles that are simply too dangerous to accept. An obvious solution in modern times, then, is to implement technology like ADAS and autonomous vehicles where many of the risks are mitigated. In these instances, the truck is equipped with a computer, an array of sensors such as cameras and often makes use of radar or LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) that, together, help the computer identify the environment it is in and provide the relevant input required for supporting the human driver to make decisions.
While many of these mistakes can cause minor or major injuries – both to the drivers, those involved in a potential collision or wildlife in and around the
World Mining Frontiers /
www.nsenergybusiness.com
site – in worst-case scenarios they can be fatal. In September 2019, a male driver was killed at a mine in Goldfields in Western Australia when the mechanism failed while he was in the process of closing the truck cover. The rotating arm of the hydraulic motor is reported to have struck the driver and killed him. Discussing the effectiveness of safety management systems in response to this incident, mine safety campaigner Helen Fitzroy told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) that “the effectiveness can be quite piecemeal […] people are still dying, people are still getting hurt”. The urgent need to make the industry safer and more automated comes at a price. A study published by McKinsey in 2021 revealed that validation costs – including those related to simulation tools; data collection and storage; simulations using cloud technology; and the testing of the full software system in controlled environments and in the real world – will make up a third or more of total investment costs in all instances in autonomous vehicle deployment. When talking about fully autonomous trucks on a complete journey, the bulk of investment on validation is worth almost two-thirds. While a parallel study for the mining industry is yet to be conducted, Gulbrandsen thinks validation investment is worth at least 50%.
The bigger picture
ADAS has, in some form or another, existed since the 1950s – with the invention of the mechanical anti-lock braking system (ABS) – and has seen tremendous growth in the past ten years due to software-based solutions such as adaptive cruise control and blind spot warnings. While its value is evident, many mining companies and industry stakeholders are looking to take things even further. As we move towards advanced autonomy features, ADAS is just one part of a larger system that aims to completely replace the driver. “That’s
33% Canalys 37
A line of haul trucks taking hundreds of tons of rock from an open pit mine.
Percentage of new vehicles sold in the US, Europe, China and Japan that had ADAS features in 2021.
Christopher Halloran/
Shutterstock.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45
