World-leading autonomous solutions provider RCT remains open for business and will continue to support its customers, suppliers and stakeholders around the world while carefully monitoring the unfolding COVID-19 pandemic.
RCT will continue to deliver a high level of support to all customers and is currently assessing the best way to work with all clients while also undertaking a number of precautionary measures aimed at protecting company employees.
Going forward, RCT branch technicians and specialised teams will engage with mine site personnel through digital platforms and conduct regular servicing activities including checking, configuring and diagnosing equipment and assessing machine performance levels.
RCT has a comprehensive parts list at all its warehouses and will be able to meet parts requests from all customers to ensure their equipment works.
The company’s parts and warehouse teams are working to ensure that all orders are delivered on time to satisfy our customer’s needs.
RCT’s specialised training programs can be accessible to mining company employees through webinars and other digital forms of engagement with the company’s training team.
Even through this period of change to normal business, RCT will continue to deliver service that will minimise the disruption to all of its customers.
The company requests that all physical visits to the head office and service branches around the world be limited to two people and be pre-planned with staff who can take health precautions.
RCT Executive Director & CEO Brett White said the company is making efforts to operate as normal.
“We will continue to monitor medical advice from the World Health Organisation, the Australian Government and local health authorities around the world and adjust our policies as necessary,” he said.
“The company will continue to provide a high level of service to our customers while safeguarding our staff by implementing high standards of hygiene and social distancing strategies.”
“COVID-19 has become a global issue and it is important that we all work together to manage the risks to our staff and find an effective way forward for our industry.”
Leading autonomous solutions specialist RCT is cementing its position as the world leader in implementing vehicle control solutions across a wide array of automated surface mining equipment.
RCT is building on its 45-year history of creating, installing and servicing various automation and control solutions for the global underground mining sector.
The key to RCT’s success in vehicle control solutions rests with its cutting edge engineering capabilities to deliver market-leading drive-by-wire packages which interfaces directly with machine systems to control steering, braking, speed and system control across any machine make or model.
RCT’s drive-by-wire package underpins the existing ControlMaster® product range which is currently used by mining companies across 71 countries around the world.
While RCT has decades of experience implementing control solutions across all types of surface mining equipment —such as bulldozers or haul trucks—the company is taking a greater focus on managing entire surface fleets.
RCT prides itself on listening to the unique needs of each customer and developing bespoke vehicle automation and control packages designed to improve personnel safety and mine site productivity.
The company’s Vehicle Control (VC) solutions are designed to be interoperable with various packages and can integrate into any third party Vehicle Intervention Systems (VIS).
RCT’s vehicle control solution monitors machine operations and passes information to the VIS which monitors the surrounding mine environment through GPS and other sensor technology in real time.
Based on this data the VIS will send commands which will affect the machine’s operations to avoid a potential hazard such as another machine in its path, mining personnel or environmental factors.
The result is a state-of-the-art Collision Avoidance System (CAS) for surface mining equipment.
RCT’s Automation and Control Product Manager, Brendon Cullen says RCT’s experience with machine integration packages is second to none.
“We have over 45 years’ experience installing technology on various generations of mining equipment sourced from any original equipment manufacturer and our ability to innovate and solve problems is where we excel,” he said.
“As we develop vehicle control for surface fleets we are able to take a much bigger role in managing the integration of various third party vehicle intervention systems to deliver collision avoidance technology to active mine sites.”
“CAS in surface fleets are becoming a critical aspect of modern day open pit operations and we are proactively applying our proven expertise in this area to provide safeguards for site personnel and underpin productivity gains.”
RCT provides ongoing after sales support, industry leading training and onsite technical support.
The mining industry is turning to digitisation in order to optimise efficiencies to increase productivity and profitability. RCT’s latest Communications Solutions offering ensures it can help clients enter, expand or completely digitise its operations by integrating solutions to a new or existing network.
RCT’s point of difference is its versatility with its extensive range of solutions to individual requirements and fortunately, it is just as agile with its Communications Solutions suite.
“We understand that not every site is the same; so it was important that we can cater to different mine sites and their impending needs, while still being able to accommodate any future developments,” said RCT’s Automation and Control Product Manager Brendon Cullen.
“RCT’s agility and adaptability to individual requirements are what sets us apart from the competition. It’s the flexibility of our technology offering that allows us to integrate all pieces of equipment and systems to tailor to individuals needs and our communications offer is no exception,” he said.
RCT’s Communications Solutions suite comprises of four offerings – Analogue, RCT Bridge, RCT Connect and Integration – all of which add significant value to clients operating autonomous machines on site.
Analogue is the traditional, simple and economical communication solution that allows for both analogue vision and autonomous machine control on a secure distributed antenna network. While RCT Bridge acts as a stepping stone to full digitisation by integrating with the existing analogue network on site to deliver larger volumes of machine data. For customers wanting the full-scale digital communications solution, there is RCT Connect. This will see RCT roll out a secure WiFi communication network (operating between 2.4 and 5.8Ghz) from the machine’s work area to the operator control station to guarantee autonomous machine performance for existing and future loader and truck fleets.
The fourth option is Integration with site network, where RCT collaborates with the customer to interface the technology into the existing digital network; with the ability to interface Long Term Evolution (LTE), underground WiFi and mesh networks with fibre optics or Ethernet infrastructure for surface or central control regardless if it is controlled by a third party of the site itself.
“The adaptability of the Communications Suite empowers clients to make step-by-step changes, they don’t necessarily have to fully digitise their mine straight away,” said Mr Cullen.
RCT’s Communication Solutions also facilitates real-time feedback and reporting to enable decisions to be made quickly, ensuring targets are met and machine maintenance can be predicted to significantly reduce unplanned downtime.
“Digital connectivity enables RCT to gather data pertaining to machine operating parameters, meaning failures can be flagged before they occur and our service departments are able to remotely diagnose failures and assist with repairs if required.”
“The investment in digitisation is justified by specific outcomes such as fewer breakdowns, decreased and unnecessary maintenance, and improved safety for both machinery and personnel, reduced operating costs and increased productivity,” he said.
RCT has been at the forefront of technology for 45 years and as the mining industry looks towards full digitalisation of it communication operations; the company will continue to be cutting edge.