Tag Archives: ControlMaster

RCT’s Kalgoorlie branch makes quick work of automating Sandvik LH621i LHD

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RCT says it has successfully installed its autonomous technology on the recently released Sandvik LH621i underground loader for one of its clients in Western Australia’s Goldfields.

Earlier this month, RCT’s Kalgoorlie branch received the loader and commissioned the ControlMaster® Guidance automation technology package only weeks after the machine was first released to the Western Australia market.

The ‘i’ series represents Sandvik’s latest iteration of its underground loader range and, according to Sandvik, is the LHD of choice for rapid mine development and large-scale underground production. It is a matching pair with the previously introduced 63-t payload Sandvik TH663i truck.

ControlMaster Guidance Automation means machines can automatically tram between production level locations at higher speeds while also providing real time, graphical machine information to operators situated in remote automation centres, RCT said.

RCT Kalgoorlie Branch Manager, Rick Radcliffe, said the company could install and commission the Sandvik LH621i loader and deliver it to site within a relatively short lead time.

“Now that we have documented the new LH621i, all future ‘i’ series loaders can be commissioned in exactly the same amount of time as traditional Sandvik 621 loaders,” he said.

“This work follows on from a previous project where we commissioned two Sandvik LH517i loaders in the Kalgoorlie workshop for clients in the region.”

Alkane to kick off Tomingley UG gold operation with RCT autonomous solution

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RCT says it has entered into a project with Alkane Resources to commission autonomous technology at its Tomingley gold operations in New South Wales, Australia.

The work involves installing and commissioning ControlMaster® Guidance Automation on two Caterpillar R2900G LHDs to operate at the company’s underground gold operation at Tomingley, just south of Dubbo.

RCT will also supply a Tele Cabin including operator chair, LCD monitors and laser guard containment control with the option to operate from the mine’s surface via the ControlMaster® Fibre Optic Control Station.

“Guidance Automation removes operators from machine cabs, which improves safety while the technology enables faster tramming speeds and eliminates machine damage from operator errors, thereby significantly reducing unplanned maintenance works,” RCT said.

The technology will be installed by mid-2019 with operator training to be held simultaneously.

Back in September, the Alkane board approved the development of underground mining operations at Tomingley. This would see 93,000 oz of gold recovered over a 40- month development, with development commencing in early 2019 and first ore expected in mid-2019.

RCT helps train up Northern Star and Gold Fields apprentices

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RCT says it is working with Gold Fields and Northern Star Resources to provide hands-on training opportunities to apprentices in Western Australia’s Goldfields.

This month, RCT’s Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, branch hosted Gold Fields apprentice Auto Electrician, Michael Schoeppner (pictured on the right), who carried out repair and maintenance work on remotely-operated mining equipment under the guidance of RCT’s experienced workshop staff.

Gold Fields Executive Vice President Australasia, Stuart Mathews, said: “Gold Fields is committed to team development, and we are delighted our apprentices have the opportunity to work with our business partners to receive valuable training, mentoring and experience.”

Following his training experience, Schoeppner will be able to apply his new skills to benefit Gold Fields’ projects in the region, where there is a continued emphasis on the use of remote technologies to improve safety and productivity in its mines, RCT said.

RCT also has a similar arrangement with Northern Star Resources, which saw apprentice Ben Ashby mentored by the company’s bench repair technicians at the Kalgoorlie branch earlier this month.

Ashby’s experience centred on unit repairs and diagnosis with particular focus on repairing remote interfaces and elements of RCT’s ControlMaster® Teleremote and Guidance products.

Northern Star Resources Maintenance Manager, Aaron Armstrong, said: “RCT has a wealth of in-house skills related to mobile plant equipment and electrical systems in the mining sector and we are happy they will share their knowledge with our tradespeople.”

RCT Kalgoorlie Branch Manager, Rick Radcliffe, said: “These training opportunities enable staff from both companies to familiarise themselves with each other’s procedures and technical knowledge providing a strong base for future working relationships.”

RCT committed to developing fully-autonomous technology options, CEO says

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RCT CEO and Executive Director, Brett White (pictured), thinks interoperability will, in the future, prove crucial in allowing mining companies to yield the full benefits of autonomy in their operations.

Speaking in an opinion piece that looked back at the company’s history to chart just how far the company has come in its own automation journey, he said RCT continues to differentiate itself from its peers by offering these vendor-agnostic solutions.

He said: “‘What benefit can Automation technology deliver for us?’ That is the type of question being posed in boardrooms and among senior management in mining companies these days. There is a strong focus on identifying productivity constraints and inefficiency and finding ways to overcome them, which is where RCT differs in the market.

“RCT’s automation technology is built to be scalable and agnostic to any machine make or model that you may find on a mine site anywhere and based on the data and feedback from customers our technology provides them the quickest benefit.”

The company’s automation journey started many decades ago at a time when serious injury and even fatalities occurred regularly throughout the mining industry, according to White.

“During the 1980s the company’s founder Bob Muirhead worked with the CSIRO to pioneer remote control technology for the Australian mining industry as a way to protect mine workers from very hazardous situations,” he said.

“Over the years, the company has seen many major milestones including being the first company to install its ControlMaster® Line-of-Sight solution on a bulldozer for a mining company in 1988 and the first company to deliver an off-the-shelf Teleremote solution.

“The technological packages were in keeping with Bob’s ethos that if an activity is inherently unsafe it should be remote controlled and if it is repetitive then the activity should be automated. The health and safety benefit to having workers removed from the hazardous mining areas is extremely significant. Furthermore, a lot of processes in an underground load/haul/dump sequence are repeatable so being able to automate such a cycle offers many benefits such as increased and consistent tramming speeds, reduced machine damage and component wear, resulting in less unplanned machine downtime and maximising operational productivity.”

Many years of work at RCT culminated in the commercial release of ControlMaster Guidance Automation solution in Perth, Western Australia, in 2009. This was the first Australia-designed-and-built automated system delivered to the domestic market and had a significant impact on mine design to support and maximise the benefits the technology offered and drive further productivity efficiencies including surface operation during shift change and mine re-entries, according to White.

White said: “At present Guidance Automation is proving to be the product that best meets the demand of mining industry executives who are interested in how they can get the most value out of their fleet and personnel by leveraging technology.”

Based on the company’s data and customer feedback, Guidance Automation can alleviate production bottlenecks and provide a quick return on investment, which, in terms of the latter, is in some cases a matter of weeks.

More recent product developments include Guidance Expand or Multiple Machine Control enabling a single operator to control multiple machines, including mixed machine types at the same time from one operator station.
White said: “A major key to RCT’s success has been our ability to provide an agnostic solution and deliver meaningful technology suitable for today’s mining operations but with roadmaps that will take them to the next horizon. This means our clients have the freedom and flexibility to choose mining equipment from a diverse range of original equipment manufacturers to suit their mining operational needs, safe in the knowledge that RCT’s industry leading solutions will interface to provide operational excellence.”

The RCT Bridge solution highlights the company’s reputation as an innovative and adaptable technology manufacturer, allowing clients to use existing teleremote communication (analogue) infrastructure to provide a cost-effective pathway to mine digitisation, White said.

White estimates that, over nearly half a century, RCT has worked with 90% of the Australia market. The company has also made significant investments in international markets with branches in Utah, US, and Sudbury, Canada.

“We have also worked for mining companies and contractors in 68 different countries installing various different automation products including Line-of-Sight, Teleremote and Guidance Automation as well as delivering large-scale complex customised automation and integrated solutions,” White said.

In 2019, RCT will be “solidifying its presence in South America” with the opening of a new branch in Santiago, Chile, White said. This will better enable its regional staff to support customers, he added. “We are also planning to open an office in Russia to better support clients in the region and bolster our existing support team throughout Africa. These offices will underpin our strategy to have greater on-ground support for all clients,” he said.

White concluded: “Our in-house engineers are currently testing RCT’s surface autonomous solutions as part of the company’s long-term development strategy. While the company has always been active in surface applications for individual pieces of mine equipment through remotes and teleremote options, we are committed to developing our fully-autonomous technology options for fleets of surface equipment utilising technology which has a proven record in the underground mining environment.

“RCT is committed to developing its autonomous technology for application on all mobile equipment from heavy mobile production equipment to ancillary type fleet equipment. This will ensure interoperability and allow autonomous mobile equipment to seamlessly integrate to all mine operational platforms including dispatch, management systems and fully autonomous traffic management.”

RCT bolsters ControlMaster automation solution with Multiple Machine Control

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RCT has released the latest advancement to its ControlMaster® automation range in the form of Multiple Machine Control (MMC), which enables a single operator to control more than one mining machine at a time.

This entirely new operating system, also known as Control, is transforming the mining process in terms of productivity, efficiency and safety with a single operator able to remotely control more machines from the same operator station in a central location at a mine site, RCT said.

RCT’s Automation and Control Product Manager, Brendon Cullen, said: “It allows for an operator to send multiple machines to their destinations on ControlMaster Guidance Automation and concentrate on performing specific tasks with another machine.

“For example, the operator can supervise digging, dumping and loading functions before sending the machine to its destination on auto tramming and taking control of the next machine.

“The mining industry is striving to further streamline efficiencies and having one operator control multiple machines is allowing these efficiencies to be realised,” he said.

MMC meets a need in the industry as it helps clients to safeguard operators by removing them from the cab of mobile machines and, in some instances, from the hazards at a mine site. It also improves productivity and, in turn, profitability, according to RCT.

RCT said: “MMC can be implemented across surface and underground fleets and differs from other solutions available on the market today for a number of reasons including its usability and functionality.”

Cullen said: “The system can integrate into any site’s current operations and can be installed on any mobile machine, regardless of make or model. Being agnostic is a big advantage, as mine sites utilise more than one brand of mobile machines in their fleet.”

Another point of difference with MMC is there is no need for mine sites to upload mine maps before using the technology.

“This further ensures fast deployment between work areas as well as the opportunity to expand the system if and when required,” Cullen said.

While MMC operates on a digital network, RCT can provide technology—called RCT Bridge— that can interface with a mine site’s analogue communications network.

Cullen said: “The MMC solution can be operated locally at the work area, at a central location such as the office buildings on a mine site, or relocated to a central operating station location off site to a city (near or far).

“The system has the ability to change the way customers operate; some of the benefits associated with this change in mining practices include the possibility of introducing three eight-hour shifts from two 12-hour shifts.

“This provides better work/life balance for operators and, in the face of the labour shortages the industry is facing, the job role can be opened up to more people who weren’t able to travel to site to work in the field due to family commitments or perhaps even a disability.”

He concluded: “Moving operation centres from sites would also eliminate the need for lengthy and often costly inductions as well as the cost associated with transporting and housing operators on site.

MMC has already been deployed at several sites around the world, RCT said.

RCT to talk up automation benefits at Mining Indaba

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RCT says it will be promoting the benefits of using autonomous technology to safeguard mine operators and boost productivity when it attends the 25th Mining Indaba in Cape Town, South Africa next month.

The event, taking place at the Cape Town International Convention Centre from February 4-7, attracts senior executives from major mining companies such as Anglo American, AngloGold Ashanti, Barrick, Rio Tinto and many others, RCT said.

RCT CEO Brett White and Business Development Manager Mike Thomas will be at Austrade’s Australia Lounge to engage with conference delegates about the benefits of implementing autonomous technology, the company said.

Thomas said: “There are heightened levels of interest throughout the mining industry on the African continent around the Fourth Industrial Revolution, which is seeing breakthroughs in the areas of sophisticated wireless technologies and fully autonomous equipment.

“RCT has significant experience in the automation field, and we are available to share our many years of learnings and knowledge.

“We are keen to speak to delegates about how our ControlMaster® products can deliver significant gains by relocating equipment operators from cabs to secure operation centres, thus bolstering productivity.”

RCT’s ControlMaster automation solutions encompass surface and underground mines to help increase productivity and profitability on site.

Teck goes for RCT teleremote solution at Coal Mountain in British Columbia

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RCT’s ControlMaster® Teleremote solution has been selected by Canada’s largest diversified mining company, Teck Resources, for use at one of its steelmaking coal operations in British Columbia’s Elk Valley region.

The ControlMaster Teleremote solutions were installed on a Cat D11T dozer and a Cat 390D hydraulic excavator, operating at the open-pit steelmaking coal truck and shovel operation at Teck’s Coal Mountain Operations.

The technology supports safe production at the operation, as equipment can be operated remotely in areas that are deemed unsafe for human operators, RCT says. The solutions also help increase productivity and profitability on site.

RCT, which recently announced a broadening of its automation offering, integrated a communication network into the Teck’s existing wireless network to facilitate the remote functions of the machines. In addition, the RCT Custom department played a part in the project as it was the first excavator of this model the company has completed an install on.

RCT’s VP of Business Development for Canada, Vern Deveau, said the solution provided to Teck met the client’s requirements and operators were impressed with the custom teleremote solutions.

In addition, RCT’s solutions “effortlessly connected” to Coal Mountain’s network infrastructure, making the remote features seamless, he said.

The project and training were delivered ahead of schedule with positive feedback received from Teck staff on site, RCT added. Customer support will be provided locally by RCT’s Ontario branch, which will carry out servicing and any support required by Teck going forward.

RCT says Teck is also assessing the viability of implementing the same technology at other operations.

Teck’s Coal Mountain Operations produces metallurgical coal, which it exports by sea to the Asia-Pacific region and elsewhere. The current annual production capacities of the mine and preparation plant are approximately 2.7-3.5 Mt of clean coal, respectively, Teck says.

Three tiers for RCT’s ControlMaster automation packages

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RCT has looked to broaden its automation package with three products suited to various levels of technology adoption that can be tailored to mine-specific installations.

The company’s ControlMaster® automation solutions encompass surface and underground mines to help increase productivity and profitability on site.

In the past year, its solutions have broadened extensively to directly meet industry demands and will continue to do so into the future, the company said.

“Unlike other automation solutions on the market, RCT’s offering is unique in that it’s agile across all mobile machines, regardless of make or model; making it ideal for site’s operating mixed fleets and those not wanting to replace existing infrastructure,” RCT says.

RCT’s Automation and Control Product Manager Brendon Cullen said: “RCT knows there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach when it comes to automation. Different mine sites are at different stages and the majority of them are operating diverse fleets.

“We wanted to ensure we are able to supply various levels of automation to suit client’s equipment and requirements while empowering them with the options of making staged upgrades if, and when required down the track.”

Part of this journey was the ability to adapt and deliver new features to the market to ensure clients get the most out of the company’s autonomous equipment, RCT said.

Starting its automation journey is RCT’s Guidance Automation package; driverless technology that allows the operator to control machines from the comfort of an Automation Centre (pictured).

Cullen said: “Guidance Automation has already proven to combat operator fatigue considerably as less concentration is required to keep mobile machines from hitting the drive walls allowing operators to focus on the important tasks like digging.”

The Guidance Automation package includes Point-to-Point; which allows a machine to tram from one point to the other with the simple push of a button.

“It will stay on the optimal path, with no intervention needed. This feature improves tramming time, reduces machine damage and improves productivity and profitability,” Cullen said.

In addition to this, the package addresses the demand for more relevant information with – Guidance Dash (G-Dash). This additional screen empowers operators with real-time information on their machine and surroundings, according to the company.

Used in conjunction with RCT’s ControlMaster® Guidance, G-Dash gives operators a graphical representation of the machine displaying its articulation angle, waypoint, locations, machine’s speed, RPM and pitch and roll. This ensures it’s placed in the best position for the ideal dig every time, RCT says.

RCT’s Guidance Expand is the next package, offering additional optional extras to further enhance Guidance Automation to suit specific mine requirements.

“This allows clients to add certain features that are necessary to improve the autonomous process,” Cullen said.

“Clients might only have the need for one or two additional features and this option allows clients to select the options they deem necessary to suit their purposes.”

Expand comprises of Select, Control, AutoNav, AutoLoad, DigAssist and G-Data, all of which empower operators with more information and enable them to further increase productivity, RCT says.

“These advanced options allow sites to implement step-by-step autonomous advancements,” Cullen said.

Rounding out the release is RCT’s Infinite package, which combines all the “latest technology available to deliver the full mining solution; allowing clients to stay at the forefront with our technological advancements”, RCT says.

At present this includes Automation, Traffic Management, Telematics, Network, People and Asset Tracking, Integration and more.

“We are constantly innovating at RCT and our clients on the Infinite package will be the first to experience our advancements,” Cullen said.

Botswana diamond producer looks to RCT for teleremote operation

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RCT is helping a leading diamond producer in Botswana improve safety and productivity at its mine sites through the use of its teleremote solutions.

The ControlMaster® solution will be installed on two Komatsu D475-5EO dozers to safeguard machine operators by removing them from the cab and allowing them to control the dozers from the safety of mobile Control Centres using multiple cameras and sensors

RCT says its ControlMaster teleremote solution for dozers improves operator safety in high risk operating conditions, maximises dozer utilisation, ensures greater overall operator vision for more effective operation, provides an improved ergonomic operating environment for increased operator comfort and is easy to operate and maintain in unstable conditions.

“This particular job is being carried out by the company’s specialised bespoke department, RCT Custom, and is expected to be deployed in August 2018,” the company said.

Earlier this year, RCT created a bespoke solution to improve safety at Kumba Iron Ore’s Thabazimbi iron ore mine using ControlMaster.

RCT did not name the customer and said it would provide more information on the project in due course. De Beers, via Debswana, is currently the biggest diamond miner in the southern African country.