RCT’s latest automation technology has been successfully deployed at the Sunrise Dam Gold Mine in Western Australia. Sunrise Dam is wholly owned by AngloGold Ashanti Australia Ltd, with underground mining operations contracted to Barminco.
Barminco’s Sandvik and CAT loader fleets, which were already operating with ControlMaster® Guidance Automation, were fitted with enhancements including Multiple Machine Selection (MMS) and Multiple Machine Control (MMC). This cutting-edge technology gives an operator control of numerous mobile machines from the one station. This project was a first for all parties involved who collaborated to achieve successful delivery.
“For example, this allows one operator to tram one machine, while digging with another to make the process more efficient,” said RCT’s Automation and Control Product Manager, Brendon Cullen.
“Before the introduction of these features, one operator would only be able to concentrate on the activity of one mobile machine. The new features allow them to attend to multiple machines safely and effectively thanks to Guidance Automation which will keep the machine on the correct path, to avoid machine damage and to ensure faster tramming.”
These latest automation features are made possible by digitising the mine’s work area with RCT’s Bridge, the company’s own communication network; essential in supporting the latest autonomous features.
“RCT Bridge is the stepping stone solution to bring a mine site to full digitisation and is simply integrated into the site’s existing system,” said Cullen.
In addition to this, RCT’s Area Access Control (AAC) units have also been deployed. This relatively new system acts as an extension of the Automation Control Centre and interfaces between the work areas and machines.
“These lightweight, cost effective and portable solutions are
the ideal alternative to installing a cabin on site,” said Cullen.
Operators will not only have all these innovative features at their fingertips, but they will also be utilising them from the comfort of an Automation Control Centre on the surface of the mine which has been upgraded with operator ergonomics in mind.
“The control centre was overhauled to ensure improved functionality with a new operating system which includes the MMC and MMS features to make it more comfortable for operators.”
These additions are designed to help increase the mine’s overall efficiency and to increase productivity.
”This project is a great example of RCT’s interoperability capabilities; highlighting the company’s abilities to integrate with different brands of machines and a site’s information system,” said Cullen.
The implementation of RCT’s state-of-the-art features is part of Sunrise Dam’s technology transformation.
Innovation has been the driving force behind RCT’s success with the company going from strength to strength in the past 45 years. As a result, the company now spans five proven sub-brands comprising of numerous proven solutions.
RCT continues to advance its products and technology through formal market-driven Roadmaps, however, to remain at the forefront of innovation the company realised a need for a dedicated team to test new technologies, ideas and concepts which extend RCT’s product offer.
Consequently, RCT’s Proof of Concepts Works (PoC Works) team was established a year ago, and already they are proving to be a valuable resource for the company; allowing the company to test ideas quickly and inexpensively before feeding these concepts back into the engineering process. Encompassing the approach of innovating, collaborating and creating, the team’s motto is fail fast, learn quickly. With a thirst for problem solving the team uses a blue-sky approach to tackling each challenge presented to them.
PoC Works, work independently from RCT’s development team, however, they do enlist help from other staff members and third parties if and when needed.
To date, the PoC Works team has already produced two new innovative solutions; one of which RCT has just taken to market with, is one component of the company’s new Communications Solutions offering – RCT Bridge. This solution was a lingering project which adds further value to RCT’s proven Teleremote network to ensure more data transfer. RCT Bridge is literally “bridging” the gap for mines wanting to enter the digital world with their existing analogue infrastructure.
Next on the group’s agenda are projects that revolve around underground positioning and new website technologies while looking at existing obstacles and applying both new and old tools to address them.
This relatively new group is proving to be an effective model for major advancement in technology for RCT, enabling the company to continue to significantly impact the mining industry to improve productivity, sustainability and safety.
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.