RIEGL is adding increased user optionality for its VZ-i Series of 3D terrestrial laser scanners with the development of three new mining apps for everyday use, especially in critical situations.
Based on reliable real-time data, these apps allow users to make necessary decisions quickly with sound knowledge of the situation at hand.
RIEGL’s 3D terrestrial laser scanners can be integrated into any network infrastructure by using LAN, Wi-Fi, and LTE interfaces, enabling fully remote operation of the scanners. With the installation of these new customised apps for automatic data acquisition and data processing, the user gets automatic real-time results without any manual interaction.
The Slope Angle App, Design Compare App and Monitoring App are designed for work at remote mining operations.
Thomas Gaisecker, RIEGL Manager Mining Business Division, said: “To optimise their work, the operators of mining machines need to get measurement results in real time. Apps make this possible. The new RIEGL mining apps ensure that they get the data acquired by the scanner immediately, as well as relevant, reliable and accurate deliverables to make prompt and appropriate decisions.”
RIEGL Slope Angle App
Using this app, slope angles are calculated automatically from scan data. Critical slope angles can be highlighted and sent to the user, eg the loader operators. The real-time information helps them keep the slope angles of stockpiles and dump areas within defined limits. Users receive the information on a web browser on every device, which is connected to the mine network. No software installation or processing of the data is necessary. Everything is processed automatically within the app on the scanner, RIEGL says.
RIEGL Design Compare App
The RIEGL Design Compare App allows overcut and undercut measurements to be displayed for the given design model. While undercut is, for miners, a waste of money, overcut can involve major safety risks. With the use of this app, the operation of heavy equipment such as excavators can be optimised to streamline the mining process.
RIEGL Monitoring App
Use of this app is focused on change detection based on a given reference scan. The app allows the detection of movement of eg highwalls long before it is visible to the human eye. The interpretation of the movements through a time series of scans allows the prediction of a possible slope failure. That can truly save lives.
Such predictive powers can ensure the operation has enough time to evacuate people and to remove machinery from endangered areas.
Additionally, RIEGL says it has further optimised its RiSCAN PRO and RiMINING software packages.
The new LIS GeoTec Plugin enables geotechnical analysis of scan data by providing statistical tools within a graphical interface. Besides the calculation of dip direction and dip angle of rockfaces, this allows for the analysis of discontinuities by creating pole plots and colourising the scan data by clusters of similar orientation. This gives specialists a better understanding of stability, joints and faults of the analysed rockfaces, RIEGL says.
“We are ready for the mine of the future,” Gaisecker said. “And what particularly distinguishes our hardware and firmware architecture is that it is open for developers. Using the provided RIEGL documentation, every software programmer can develop his own apps written in Python programming language for the RIEGL VZ-i Series scanners.”