California-headquartered Wind River, which describes itself as “a leader in delivering software for the intelligent edge,” has announced a collaboration with leading Chinese open-pit mining automation solutions provider Beijing TAGE Idriver Technology Co Ltd (TAGE). The companies are teaming up on a cutting-edge software platform for the development of next-generation autonomous mining vehicles.
“The open-pit mining industry has massive potential around the globe, and this collaboration brings together best-in-class technology and expertise that is paving the way for next-generation mining vehicles,” said Huang Liming, Chief Technology Officer of TAGE. “We are pleased to have proven software from Wind River that is embedded in billions of devices and systems serving as the trusted core software foundation for the development of our autonomous solution.”
TAGE has developed an autonomous haulage system (AHS) solution based on an edge to cloud architecture, including an intelligent cloud platform, V2X telematics, and intelligent autonomous mining vehicle. Specifically, the software platform powering this solution includes the Wind River industry-leading VxWorks® real-time operating system (RTOS), along with TAGE’s central control unit (CCU) core algorithm module. Wind River said it delivers “an autonomous haulage system platform with the highest levels of security, safety, reliability, and performance.”
The CCU in the autonomous vehicle domain controller is responsible for the implementation of core functions of autonomous mining vehicles, such as motion planning, vehicle control, and fault diagnosis. “These functions have stringent requirements around the security, safety, and reliability of a system’s operation, as well as for real-time performance and deterministic task execution and switching, which Wind River software delivers.”
“As the autonomous world becomes more and more of a reality, the design, development, and deployment of mission-critical systems will only increase in importance, especially when we have the opportunity to drastically increase the safety of mining workers,” said Gareth Noyes, Senior Vice President, Products at Wind River. “Together with TAGE, we are delivering a safe, secure, and reliable software foundation for autonomous mining vehicles that will significantly advance the innovation and development in this market.”
Wind River and TAGE will also work closely on development environments and functional safety certifications to launch practical products and solutions. In addition, given the increasing compute demands of autonomous vehicles, the two companies will develop infrastructure software for next-generation mine vehicles, including advanced high-performance computing, V2X between vehicles and the infrastructure, and secure over-the-air (OTA) update technologies.
