HxGN MineProtect Collision Avoidance System Archives

Hexagon’s Mining division says it has deployed a fleet management and safety implementation project with Minera San Cristóbal S.A. for the mining company’s open-pit operations in Bolivia.

As part of this project, Hexagon deployed 65 HxGN MineOperate OP Pro systems, nearly 40 HxGN MineProtect Collision Avoidance Systems (CAS) and 30 HxGN MineProtect Operator Alertness Systems (OAS) to the San Cristóbal operations in Lipez, Potosí Department.

The San Cristóbal mine, one of the largest zinc, lead and silver deposits in the world, features low-grade mineralisation in vast volume, the company says. It produces zinc-silver and lead-silver concentrates, and is currently the largest mining operation in Bolivia. It also boasts the title of the sixth largest producer of zinc in the world and the fourth largest producer of silver in the world.

Minera San Cristóbal is familiar with Hexagon’s Mining division’s solutions, as it already uses HxGN MinePlan’s Engineering and Geoscience suites for 3D geological modelling, mine design, and production planning at the San Cristóbal mine. Deployment of HxGN MineOperate and MineProtect solutions was completed in the June quarter of 2023.

“We pride ourselves on carrying out our operations with the use of state-of-the-art technology like Hexagon’s mining solutions,” Luis Escamilla, Mine Manager of Minera San Cristóbal S.A, said. “Alongside the qualifications of our workers, we put a strict focus on health and safety, the preservation of the environment and the sustainable development of communities.”

Ricardo Gutierrez, Senior Managing Director of EMEA & previous General Manager of Mexico for Hexagon’s Mining division, said:“We are excited to expand our relationship with Minera San Cristóbal and we appreciate that they are including their workers’ safety in their digital transformation journey. The implementation of our fleet management system will allow insight into valuable data they have been wanting so as to gain in operational efficiencies, including the ability to visualise ore and waste polygons, as well as dig lines to truly see mining progress.”

MineOperate OP Pro, Hexagon’s Mining division says, offers open-pit mines high-precision guidance for dozers, drills and loading equipment, and low-precision guidance for haul trucks, primary vehicles and auxiliary equipment. OP Pro improves bench elevations, reduces dilution and decreases rework to improve site safety, efficiency and profitability. OP Pro was installed on wheel loaders, hydraulic shovels, drills, haul trucks, primary vehicles and auxiliary equipment.

Hexagon’s CAS is being deployed on haul trucks to reduce speed-related incidents and on hydraulic shovels and bulldozers to reduce the number of incidents between them. It offers protection to mining vehicle operators, vehicles and assets via a smart antenna and an unobtrusive cabin display unit, according to the company. The system reduces the risk of collisions by alerting vehicle operators to equipment and vehicles up to 500 m away without a direct line of sight.

The MineProtect OAS is an integrated fatigue and distraction management solution that, the company says, helps keep operators of heavy and light vehicles safer by alerting them to micro sleep, fatigue, or distraction events. Both the CAS and OAS systems will help keep drivers and operators safer while working in the mine.

Hexagon’s Mining division, on the day HxGN LIVE Global 2023 kicks off in Las Vegas, has introduced a new autonomous portfolio to its planning, operations and safety technology portfolios, signalling its intent to continue to solve the mining industry’s biggest challenges.

HxGN Autonomous Mining is a portfolio that protects people and equipment while addressing the challenges of operational productivity and decarbonisation, Hexagon’s Mining division says.

“By helping to autonomously manage vehicle traffic, improve fleet situation awareness and introduce drill automation, the new portfolio empowers mines to future-proof operations with the foundational building blocks of full operational autonomy,” it explained.

These building blocks include tools providing autonomous world perception, path planning in both manned driver-assist and autonomous operation, and machine intervention up through control on mining vehicles and drills primarily in open-pit environments and haulage operations.

HxGN Autonomous Mining unites Hexagon’s Power of One hardware with its core computing platform, connecting a unique ecosystem of sensors and software, according to the company. “The portfolio can help mines to succeed today while preparing for tomorrow,” Andrew Crose, Vice President, Autonomous Mining, Hexagon’s Mining division, said.

The Power of One platform is a holistic, life-of-mine smart solution connecting sensors, software, in-field apps and cloudware. The aim is to connect the mine to the boardroom via a single on-board ecosystem comprising a smart computer, antenna and display.

Nick Hare, President of Hexagon’s Mining division, told IM on the side lines of the Las Vegas event, hosted at Caesar’s Forum, that the company has rapidly moved from concept to reality with the Power of One platform.

He explained: “At MINExpo 2021, we announced the Power of One concept. Last year at HxGN LIVE Global, we told everyone it was now available and ready to implement. This year, we’re able to talk about real deployments that will start from the next quarter.

“We’ve moved from concept to deployment in just under two years, defying the supply chain issues that have affected everyone in this industry.”

The building blocks that are part of HxGN Autonomous Mining include the World Perception suite of detection solutions; mining’s first Level-9 collision avoidance technology, Hexagon’s collision intervention system, HxGN MineProtect Vehicle Intervention System; HxGN MineOperate Reverse Assist for optimised shovel and truck spotting; HxGN Autonomous Mining VIS Analytics to analyse and compare information such as locations, equipment and more; the intuitive drill automation platform, HxGN Autonomous Mining Drill Assist; HxGN Autonomous Mining Platooning Solutions to maximise the safety of ore haulage, boost cost-efficiency and reduce carbon emissions; and HxGN Autonomous Mining Mission Manager Solution to empower pit controllers and dispatchers to optimise the movement of autonomous and non-autonomous vehicles, and mine production activities through one interface.

The company’s “unparalleled” technology stack – as Crose refers to it – can currently automate around 80% of the processes involved in open-pit haulage, according to Hare.

In an on-the-road scenario, the company can already automate the majority of functions, as it is proving out with Mineral Resources Ltd on its autonomous road train project. In pit haulage, it is also working on an autonomous haulage system (AHS) solution to compete with the likes of Caterpillar and Komatsu’s own AHS platforms. Parts of this are likely to be seen operating later this year. In terms of autonomous drilling, the company is getting even closer to the fully-autonomous benchmark through work it is carrying out with Phoenix Drill Control.

While not all Power of One users will leverage the entire technology stack from the off, Hare said he is expecting many companies to quickly add building blocks to their deployments as they familiarise themselves with the platform.

“We have significantly improved upon the industry standard when it comes to the Power of One and this new automation platform,” he said. “For example, when integrating fleet management – under our HxGN MineOperate solution – and collision avoidance (the HxGN MineProtect Collision Avoidance System within the World Perception Suite), we can reduce the number of interfaces operators have to interact with. Depending on the scenario, we can highlight an optimised route to the crusher for a truck or make them aware of an impending collision on just one screen. This significantly improves the user experience, reduces the likelihood of incidents and improves productivity.”

Another significant enhancement the company has achieved with its Power of One platform is consolidating the numerous antenna fitted to open-pit trucks into a single antenna able to receive and, depending on the network and software settings, process the same amount of information.

“From a perception perspective, we have also moved up the tiers with our sensor solutions, going from a 2D radar-based system as was used for our initial collision avoidance systems to a 4D radar-based platform able to distinguish between people, berms, trucks, light vehicles, etc,” Hare said.

Add to this upgraded software to process all the valuable data coming off the sensor and the company believes it now has as close to an off-the-shelf commercial solution as can currently be obtained.

The platform is expected to bring immediate productivity benefits for customers – Crose mentions better blast outcomes with drilling automation to improved equipment performance and production via autonomously managed vehicle movement – but the reduction in hardware is also expected to lead to significant cost savings for clients.

“We are confident that this portfolio, under the auspices of the Power of One platform, will provide return on investment for clients,” Hare said. “While it is being integrated into a standardised offering that aids deployment cost and time, the starting point for every project is how to solve the problems the mining client is experiencing. We will take time to understand what issues they are having on site and ensure the system rules and algorithms are built in such a way as to prioritise solving these. At the same time, we will highlight as many opportunities to optimise their operations as we can.

“This is how we ensure that value is generated immediately from day one.”

Hexagon’s Mining division also introduced HxGN Underground Mining, an integrated sensor-software portfolio built for the unique challenges of underground environments, at the same event.

Hexagon’s Mining division deploys fleet management, safety suite at San Cristóbal in Bolivia

Hexagon’s Mining division highlights Power of One progress with new autonomous solutions launch