Health & safety


A snapshot of a Foretellix-generated simulation, which it uses to assess operational safety.


where things become much more interesting,” offers Gulbrandsen, “but at the same time more complicated.” The development of fully autonomous systems will mean people can be removed from mines, and in turn dangerous situations, altogether. Instead, humans will only be involved in site surveillance and in charge of monitoring the systems themselves.


“Mining operators want to achieve a fully automated site, including several suppliers of different machine types, and they have a mine management system overarching this,” Gulbrandsen adds. “They want that to work in conjunction with extreme high efficiency and extreme high levels of safety.” While this sounds somewhat utopian – or alarming, depending on which way you look at it – developing and validating fully automated systems is hugely complex, and the rollout will be gradual for a while yet.


Foretellix looks at specifying and generating all the possible situations that autonomous machinery may be in and allows them to be tested using simulation to ensure that the technology is safe. “Our system is not installed on the truck, we work with OEMs and mine operators,” Atzmon adds. “Using a map of each individual mining site, our platform is automatically able to calculate and offer a comprehensive list of potential hazards and problems via hundreds and thousands of simulated tests until we can say that this system is safe and we have tested enough.”


50% Canalys 38


Percentage of all vehicles on the road that will be ADAS- enabled by 2030.


For a picture of how thorough these tests can be, Atzmon is a good person to ask. He describes tests where a truck is driving and a boulder shows up on the road, an animal decides to cross the road, then another truck appears out of nowhere, all while the weather is changing and the soil beneath the vehicle becomes damp. “If we find that 50% of the tests that day failed,” which they track each time on a comprehensive chart, “the developer and test engineer will sit down and figure it out and run the


tests again,” he explains. This is trial and error on a gigantic scale until all relevant tests have been deemed successful.


“I want to see what happens when a tree falls and hits a rock, which then damages a digger, which is hitting me,” Atzmon adds, before explaining that this volume of tests can only be done with automation. The other side of what Foretellix does is show companies in clear terms what they have and have not tested based on the data the tests generate – this is otherwise known as ‘measurable safety’. The team can aggregate assets and factories into their platform system, which they are then able to reuse from site to site. Gulbrandsen says: “For example, we did not have tumble weeds on our system, then we encountered one and added it as an asset, now we can use it in every type of site that has tumbleweed problems.”


An automated future


As for a time when there will be no humans on-site, Gulbrandsen is reluctant to put a date on it. Some mining companies, including BHP, have released statements declaring that they will run fully automated sites within one and a half years, which the VP deems “aggressive” but serves as a clear indication of where the industry is heading. Most plan to be there in less than five years, so an autonomous future is not as far-fetched as it may sound. Atzmon is quick to add that Foretellix’s “systems are in place already. We are ready to help our clients now.” The idea of a safe, fully automated mine without human workers is hard to imagine, but the industry has been preparing for a more digital future for years. Gulbrandsen, for his part, attended the Euro Mine Expo in Sweden in June 2022, where the entire first day was dedicated to discussing the digitalisation of mining. “This is what everybody is doing now, everybody is looking at how technology will affect the future of mining.” ●


World Mining Frontiers / www.nsenergybusiness.com


Foretellix


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