There’s a new member of the ControlMaster® family and it is automating surface drills.
Classic red in colour, this creation came about thanks to the Polyus project, but it looks to be a permanent member of the family when it was redesigned to be rolled out across all models of surface drills.
Although RCT has remoted surface drills in the past, the decision was made to reinvent the existing drill console.
“The original consoles were very big and took up a lot of space so we jumped at the chance at redesigning it for the Polyus project,” said RCT Custom’s Design Technician Jayden Rickert.
“RCT are constantly innovating and improving its solutions to ensure we are ahead of the curve and this project was no exception.”
Concept
The concept stage is one that involved extensive research and had Jayden reviewing numerous sources for more information.
“The Atlas Copco DML Series drill that the console would be installed on wasn’t available to me here so I had to improvise which was by far the hardest aspect of the project,” he said.
Jayden had to ensure the console would mimic all the functions of the model drill to ensure the progress was a success.
“RCT’s main goal with projects like this is to enable operators to control the machines with the same functionality as if they were sitting in the cab of the machine,” he said.
“There were a lot of factors to be taken into consideration with this project.”
“As technology has advanced, so has the ability to condense our ControlMaster® technology into a smaller console and still have the same functionalities we had previously.”
Once Jayden had drawn up the required specification in a detailed document and he was certain that they were in order, and then the Custom team knew exactly what was needed to carry out this project successfully.
“This included knowing the hardware required to fit out the new drill console, number of joysticks, display, inputs, parts etc.”
Jayden described the surface drill project as somewhat unique for RCT.
Outcome
The redesigned console consists of multiple joysticks and HMI (Human Machine Interface) which can be used over four different modes to perform 70+ functions.
It was an important requirement that the icons met ISO Standards and that they would translate well to into Russian but also have a universal meaning for future projects.
“Everything that we implemented on this console was to serve a specific function; it was important that we covered
for every eventuality, also to ensure that we had catered to every function and requirement that the operator would need.”
To further ensure operators have the same vision, if not a better view of the operating area, Jayden and the team added a full camera system which includes 5 fixed cameras and pan-tilt-zoom camera which are capable of remote directional and zoom control.
Although Jayden was the brainchild behind the project, he recognised the project was a team effort and it wouldn’t have been possible without the assistance of the Custom, Drafting and Marketing departments.
“In particular, RCT’s Technical Document Coordinator Clint Wilmot and his team – his Auto CAD drawings are so precise, which is exactly what I needed in order to make these concepts a reality,” he said.
“RCT’s Graphic Designer Gemma Twidle helped to create the drill ISO icons and designing a user interface for the console to ensure a seamless user experience, which turned out exceptionally well. It was easy to communicate what we wanted and Gemma had some great ideas.”
Of course, RCT’s Custom team were also heavily involved.
“I had an amazing team working with me to achieve this task which included Embedded Software Engineer, Tam Nguyen, Senior Embedded Software Engineer Nick Stanley, Design Technician Michael Godfrey and Apprentice Auto Electrician, Blake Laidler."
The end result was a modernised console that met all the criteria for this particular drill project but also lay down the foundations, to be adapted to various drills for years to come.
Installation
As well as leading the design and manufacture of the console, Jayden literally went the extra mile and flew to Polyus’ site in Russia to ensure the successful deployment of the console once it was installed on the drill. Jayden played an integral role in this project from start to finish and his exemplary diligence and capabilities were noticed. This project was a great example of a team member that went above and beyond to deliver our client the best solution possible.
The end result of this project was that the operator was able to match/improve on manual production times. From a safe, clean control station environment free from rock falls, explosives, constant machine vibration, diesel fumes, and dust and extreme weather conditions.
RCT’s long-term employee Michael Godfrey was recently recognised as Polytechnic West’s 3rd Year Auto Electrical Apprentice of the year.
Michael, who started with the company in 2004 in manufacturing, now resides in the bespoke project department, RCT Custom where he has been for the past four years.
This department is renowned for thinking ‘outside the box’ and being able to adapt solutions to suit specific requirements and it was here that Michael’s thirst for knowledge grew as the challenges kept presenting themselves.
Coming from an electronics background, the most logical next step was for him to undertake an apprenticeship in a field he saw himself excelling and working in for years to come. In 2015, with support from his managers, he enrolled at Polytechnic West in Carlisle, WA.
“An apprenticeship seemed like the logical next step to broaden my capabilities in my field,” said Michael.
“I was in a role I really enjoyed, however, I craved that deeper understanding about how things worked.”
“RCT Custom revolves around designing and manufacturing components to work on machines so it’s great to have more intricate knowledge of the ins and outs of how everything works.”
Michael, attended campus full-time for a three week period every six months.
“It was great that this option for study was available, I found that I could really get stuck into the course without any other distractions; everything was always fresh in my mind to execute,” he said.
Due to his previous experience, Michael was made exempt from a number of units, which he said was great to be able to concentrate on new and exciting content and material.
“I was surprised to discover how much I really enjoyed the air conditioning components of the course, I found it fascinating.”
Michael said he breezed through the apprenticeship for numerous reasons including, the fact he had a hunger to learn, he worked in an environment that encouraged his professional growth and supported him every step of the way.
“I feel very fortunate that RCT encourages further learning and education,” he said.
“The apprenticeship really allowed me to hone in on my fault finding skills, it’s something I really enjoy doing now.”
The award nomination came as a surprise to the 33-year-old; still to this day, he’s not sure who put his name forward for such a prestigious recognition and is still buzzing from the win.
“I was amazed, just really happy! It’s a good feeling to excel at something you love and then to be recognised for it.”
Michael was presented with his award at a special dinner held at the Bentley Pines. Not only was the award bestowed upon him, but he also received an Amorphous cell solar blanket for a prize and RCT was acknowledged for its contribution to supporting apprentices making it an exciting achievement for both Michael and the RCT team.
“He was one of five nominees and winning this lays testament to his dedication and hard work which he has applied to his apprenticeship over the past couple of years and continues to do so on a daily basis within the Custom Department,” said RCT Custom’s Projects Manager, Steven Appleton.
Michael said he would highly recommend an apprenticeship through TAFE for those who have a desire to learn and achieve more in the field they are in.
The now, qualified Auto Electrician said “It was a great experience for me and one I’m very proud of. We undertake meticulous projects in RCT Custom so it was great to further my knowledge; I definitely get more job satisfaction from having completed my apprenticeship.”
When Michael isn’t hard at work, helping to make the impossible, possible in RCT Custom, you can find him fixing Hifi, brewing his own beer or rocking out on his guitar and drums.
RCT’s Smart Technology solutions are helping to improve safety at Newcrest’s Lihir open cut mine in Papua New Guinea.
The company’s ControlMaster® Teleremote solutions were installed on two CAT 6050 (Terex RH200) hydraulic shovels and two CAT D11T dozers. While RCT’s dealings with dozers are extensive, it is believed to be the first time a company has remote controlled a CAT 6050 (Terex RH200) on Teleremote. The solution removes the operator from the cab of the machine and relocates them to an air-conditioned cabin located outside of the open pit operations, enabling them to carry out work away from the mine face.
Lihir is not only one of the largest gold deposits in the world; it is also located at Luise Caldera: an extinct volcanic crater that is geothermally active. Therefore Newcrest selected RCT’s technology to safeguard operators during the mining process.
In this instance, Newcrest has installed a Control Centre, designed and manufactured by RCT’s Custom department. The station consists of two operator chairs, one equipped with shovel controls and the other with dozer controls to ensure that the machines can be operated simultaneously. Providing operators with a comfortable environment to work in also reduces fatigue and increases productivity. They are still armed with all the functionality and vision they would have if they were actually in the driver’s seat.
“RCT’s level of support and response to our needs during the installation phase, and then afterwards, has been impressive.
This was a pioneering project with many challenges, and this technology has successfully delivered improved levels of safety for our employees,” said Newcrest’s Group Manager Mining Technology, Tony Sprague.
This project is just the start of an overarching mining technology strategy for Newcrest Lihir, and RCT is excited to be part of it.
“It wasn’t a standard installation by any means. It’s a great example of RCT’s extensive capabilities and flexibility when it comes to projects,” said RCT’s Account Manager, Wayne Carrington.
RCT is proud to announce its latest project with Tasmanian-based Caterpillar OEM, Elphinstone for its client in Indonesia.
This project will be carried out by bespoke department, RCT Custom who were engaged to implement a ControlMaster® Portable Teleremote solution for an Elphinstone-manufactured WR820 Articulated Underground Water Truck.
RCT’s Portable Teleremote solution works by utilising cameras on board the machine to relay vision of its movements to the operator; who can then oversee the machine via remote control.
The machine’s tramming and the articulation of the water cannon mounted on the crane will be controlled by RCT using looms and hydraulics installed and manufactured by Elphinstone to RCT specifications. This wasn’t a straightforward installation, hence why RCT Custom was tasked with the job.
This is the second project where RCT Custom has applied this technology to a water cart for the same clients.
Stay tuned for more on this project…
RCT is proud to announce its latest project with a leading diamond producer in Botswana to help improve safety and productivity at its mine sites.
RCT’s ControlMaster® Teleremote solutions will be installed on two Komatsu D475-5EO dozers to safeguard operators utilising the machines on site by removing them from the cab of the machine; allowing them to control the dozers from the safety of mobile Control Centres.
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.
Stay tuned for more on this project…
RCT is proud to announce its latest project with Russia’s Caterpillar dealer, Vostochnaya Technica and Polyus.
This extensive project will see RCT’s Custom department design, manufacture and install eight ControlMaster® solutions for five Caterpillar trucks, a shovel, dozer and a drill.
Polyus will be utilising these machines equipped with RCT’s Smart Technology at its Olimpiada surface mine, near Krasnoyarsk in Russia. This project is the crucial turning point for the mine’s transition into an autonomous machine operation.
RCT’s Custom department’s unique capabilities are often called upon to provide bespoke solutions to Vostochnaya Technica and clients in Russia.
Stay tuned for more on this project…
Roy Hill’s multi-billion-dollar iron ore project is now home to the first dynamic multiple Geofence package to have been successfully interfaced to fixed and mobile asset elements within the boundaries of the Coarse Ore Stockpile (COS), and RCT is proud to have played a big part in this momentous achievement.
The Geofence technology was successfully and safely interfaced with two D11T CAT dozers and the radial stacker infrastructure, including the boom which can be maneuvered in multiple directions.
Both dozers were equipped with RCT’s ControlMaster® Teleremote solutions which removed the operator from the machine and relocated them to an operator station, equipped with vision package from the area; allowing them to control all machine functions from an ergonomic, safe environment.
In addition to the five cameras on the dozers, six PTZ cameras were installed at the site on the COS stacker, tertiary crusher infrastructure, and two mobile communications trailers to give operators greater spatial awareness during operation.
The decision to install a virtual perimeter around the dozers stockpile area was to safeguard operators and to ensure the machines can operate in the same area seamlessly without any risk of collision with the fixed stacker infrastructure or the dozers falling into vaults or driving off the stockpile boundary.
The interfacing of all the dynamic elements on the one site was achieved in partnership with SITECH’s Collision Detection technology – Trimble GNSS and RCT Custom – a team dedicated to creating and delivering adaptable, bespoke integrated solutions from the company’s existing technology.
There were a large number of factors that had to be taken into consideration for the Geofence to work effectively.
Multiple workshops and risk assessments were carried out, both independently and most importantly collaboratively to define the Geofence boundaries or virtual perimeters within each element. This included the two dozers, the movement of the stacker boom and the five vaults. The boundaries were also designed to be configurable with the correct level of authorisation in the system, allowing flexibility for the operators.
The SiTrack software was designed to provide the Geofence boundaries, monitor all interactions and provide alerts within the boundaries allowing the RCT system’s semi-autonomous control over the two dozers. This was achieved by using High Precision (HP) GNSS equipment to measure and detect the proximity of the moving assets in the potentially hazardous stockpile to an absolute accuracy of around the +/-25mm range. While the software utilises the accuracies of these solutions, it had to be teamed with a bespoke software solution to provide the operator with the ability to control the dozers, semi-autonomously operating with RCT’s ControlMaster® Teleremote system in order to avoid the possibility of collision between the two dozers and other dynamic elements.
RCT Custom worked with SITECH and Roy Hill to develop and deploy the dynamic Geofence system to interface with the ControlMaster® Teleremote solutions to ensure machine functionality is inhibited by the ControlMaster® system at different levels of detection on the SiTRACK system.
The integration resulted in the creation of a variety of configurable Geofence boundaries within the site to prevent fixed assets and the dozers. Each boundary has different zones to alert the operators of potential danger (green, blue, orange and red).
RCT Custom’s Project Manager David Wright described the project as both challenging and rewarding.
“A number of factors had to be considered throughout the duration of the project. This included integrating Roy Hill’s technical architecture and communications system and designing and creating a number of engineering solutions to meet the requirements,” he said.
The installation, implementation, commissioning and acceptance of the project all involved RCT liaising with numerous departments at Roy Hill including, engineering, operations, mining, maintenance and IT communications teams.
“The process was made easier thanks to everyone’s willingness to work together in a collaborative manner,” said Mr Wright.
With vision being fed from numerous PTZ and dozer cameras, the dozer pitch/roll machine dashboard information and the Trimble tablet display, Roy Hill decided bigger screens were required to cater to the extensive vision available to operators.
As a result, the operator station went from having two, 24-inch screens and a 17-inch Trimble tablet to, two 40-inch curve screens, with a 32-inch display for the Trimble screen. A Trimble tablet was also relocated to the side of the operator chair.
“The bigger screens provide the operators with a better resolution of what they are seeing; giving the dozer operators a more advanced level of information to assist in daily operations,” said Mr Wright.
Carrying out dozer functions via Teleremote control from the operating stations eliminates the risks operators are exposed to at the coarse ore stockpile and processing plant, reduces operator fatigue and as a result increases productivity. In addition, the Teleremote solution allows for multiple views from the dozer, which in turn allows them to be more efficient throughout the duration of their shift as well as minimising machine damage and overall general wear and tear. The downtime associated with shift changes decreases which further aids productivity as there is more time spent in the “driver’s seat.”
In addition to the deployment of the solution, RCT delivered training to ensure the operators maximise the solution’s potential and appropriate site personnel are familiar with how it works. Operators are now trained in Line-of-Sight (which was deployed at the beginning of the project), Teleremote and the Geofence solutions.
A Roy Hill spokesperson said that Teleremote dozers using the Geofence collision avoidance system exemplified what can be achieved through collaboration.
“The Teleremote project had several challenges to be overcome. In particular, the vision package had to be installed within the planned process plant shut intervals – every little step was critical to be rigorously planned for,” the spokesperson said.
“The Geofence system has been customised to suit our requirements at Roy Hill. We established the dynamic boundaries for dozers, fixed stacker boom, cone of throw and COS through several risk assessments with key stakeholder’s engagement, and RCT was very collaborative throughout this process.
“We engaged dozer operators and trainers throughout the development process. Their feedback has been a key to Teleremote dozer’s success.”
“We’ve had very positive feedback from Roy Hill and I’m very proud of what our team was able to achieve,” said Mr Wright.
RCT will continue to work with Roy Hill to further develop and upgrade technology for years to come.
The majority of mine sites today utilise a mixed fleet in their operations; acquiring machines that best suit their needs at different stages of the mining process.
As companies look towards bringing automation and information gathering into the forefront of their operations; it is important they recognise there are alternatives to replacing big-ticket commodities such as mobile machines in order to do so.
“Retrofitting fleets with autonomous and information solutions is the most economical means for mining companies to get the most out of their existing assets,” said RCT’s Executive Director and CEO, Brett White.
“It’s not necessary to purchase new fleets already equipped with automation systems to reap the benefits of automation.”
Smart Technology company, RCT has 45 years of experience in the industry and today it boasts a vast range of profit-boosting solutions; spanning four proven brands that can be installed on any machine – regardless of make or model.
“As companies make the move towards automation in the effort to further drive efficiencies and increase productivity and profitability, it’s in businesses best interest to leverage the maximum value from its existing assets.”
“This is why it makes sense to transition to remote and autonomous control with RCT – we have both the experience and capabilities.”
“RCT’s agility and adaptability to the individual requirements of mining and application to mobile equipment is the biggest point of difference between us and the Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM),” said Mr White.
“While OEM’s can produce automated machines, RCT can take an existing machine and automate it with our ControlMaster® solutions; ensuring the ergonomics of the OEM remains the same, in order to keep the same feel and functionality of the machine’s controls.”
Utilising an existing fleet is not only a cost-effective solution but a sustainable option, which is why RCT’s capabilities are in demand today.
In addition to providing off-the-shelf solutions the company has a dedicated projects division – RCT Custom which has the resources and expertise to design, manufacture, install and deliver ongoing support to bespoke solutions that directly meet clients’ specific needs.
“To date RCT Custom has delivered numerous state-of-the-art projects including retrofitting a Caterpillar D8R with remote control technology – a feat deemed virtually impossible by other remote technology companies,” he added.
RCT Custom has also integrated our technology with existing systems and collaborated with other technology companies to roll-out projects requiring geofencing to ensure machines operate free from potential collisions and damage from other machines and mine infrastructure.
RCT’s solutions range doesn’t stop at automation; the company has provided engine protection solutions, industrial remotes and a communications suite.
The latest Communications Solutions offering complements RCT’s automation solutions to help clients enter, expand or completely digitise its operations by integrating solutions to a new or existing network.
“RCT can cater to individual site needs and provide analogue, a stepping stone to digitisation with RCT Bridge, roll out the full communication package with RCT Connect or simply integrate our solutions with an existing network,” said Mr White.
Furthermore, the company has also provided leading-edge fleet management solutions for the last 10 years. This proven technology is now available across both the industrial mining industries with RCT’s SmarTrack® and EarthTrack® Fleet Management systems.
“These solutions provide real-time, relevant information on machines to ensure machines are serviced only when required, that issues are picked up before they turn into costly repairs and helps to deter machine damage and misuse.”
“Again, these, like all of RCT’s solutions can be installed on ANY machine, regardless of make or model,” he said.
RCT is a global company with a solid reputation in the industry. With branches all over Australia, in Russia, America, South America, Africa and Canada, RCT is able to provide clients with support on a local level.
“RCT offers the full-service to our clients and this is definitely what sets us apart from the competition,” said Mr White.
