MST is back with two key technologies aiming to offer miners even more operational autonomy.
Industry events are essential for bringing together the best and brightest in the resources sector to showcase their latest innovations. These events are critical to driving the industry forward and keeping Australia’s mines on the cutting-edge.
One mining event behemoth – MINExpo International – gathers industry professionals, experts and decision-makers every four years to collaborate, learn and engage with all facets of the resources sector.
The 2024 iteration in Las Vegas saw next-generation software specialist Mine Site Technologies (MST) take to the floor to launch two new technologies.
After the success of its integrated software platform, HELIX, MST has been developing more solutions to help miners get the most out of their data. After all, more data means safer sites for workers.
HELIX Dispatch and HELIX Telemetry are the highly anticipated fruits of these labours.
Dispatch is designed to manage a site’s entire fleet from the production face to the surface and every point in between.
Using automation features, dispatchers and supervisors can oversee shift plans, monitor equipment performance and address issues as they arise.
This means companies can protect workers using live data including location, time and crew information.
“It’s all about collecting data and providing operational insights that will help mines target the specific areas or processes of their mining operation,” MST product manager Nick Rebeiro told Safe to Work. “The key advantage of HELIX Dispatch over other fleet management software is the automated production tracking capabilities.”
Rebeiro said that without any operator input, miners can track all of the material movements that are completed by the scoops and trucks underground or on the surface.
“We can track from the production face all the way to surface crushers and record material quality and quantity information so you always have a picture of how much material is located in your different production areas,” he said.
“By keeping an eye on where fleets are located and keeping workers safe with a complete picture of the work being performed underground, we can cut downtime, increase productivity and maximise the amount of material extracted from the mine.”
MST had a live demonstration of HELIX Dispatch at MINExpo, which allowed attendees to witness the technology’s potential first-hand.
Now a Komatsu technology brand, MST had HELIX Dispatch incorporated into one of the original equipment manufacturer’s (OEM) load haul dumps (LHD). MST then simulated a haul cycle for the LHD.
Using the HELIX 3D map, which provides a geospatial digital twin of a mine, MST created a visual representation of the tracked location of the LHD.
“In conjunction with those movements, the equipment operators could see the material movements automatically captured through HELIX Dispatch,” Rebeiro said. “We also took our viewers through several other features of HELIX Dispatch, including operator task lists and workplace safety checklists like those used to complete digital pre-start checks for equipment and general site safety checks.”
Where HELIX Dispatch provides real-time access to production data, HELIX Telemetry works to gather real-time information that helps operators stay on top of any potential equipment failures that may arise.
This is done through the collection and analysis of sensor and alarm data taken from mining equipment, which is then displayed as actionable insights on dashboards in the broader HELIX platform.
“The whole concept around HELIX Telemetry is preventive maintenance,” Rebeiro said. “By having access to this data live, you may identify something before a problem occurs, helping prevent unplanned equipment downtime and improve operator safety by preventing any failures while the equipment is being operated.”
Rather than waiting for issues to occur, HELIX Telemetry aims to empower miners to plan ahead.
“Generally, downtime caused by a failure is going to result in a longer maintenance period because the cause has to be determined and failed parts may cause damage that needs to be repaired,” Rebeiro said.
“Informed decision-making helps improve your vehicle reliability, because you can schedule maintenance to prevent failures.”
With the data collected by Telemetry, operators receive a snapshot of information in the moment and maintenance technicians can take a deep dive into what is happening to a machine over a longer period.
“You can configure the display of real-time information according to a specific context and geotag all of these sensor and alarm events that occur underground, which helps with root cause analysis for any failures that have taken place in the mine,” Rebeiro said.
A key feature of the HELIX suite is that it’s an OEM-agnostic solution. Despite being a Komatsu brand, Rebeiro emphasised MST’s mission to develop solutions that can be configured to any mine specification or equipment – an ethos shared by Komatsu.
“We have a very flexible configuration that helps our customers really only pull in the specific sensors and alarm data that’s relevant to them,” he said. “Sometimes it can be an overwhelming amount of data, but what we allow you to do is connect to multiple sensor interfaces, so on any machine you could have transmission, vehicle control, unit and engine interfaces, just to name a few.
“Through our sensor hub, data logger and edge device, we can connect to multiple interfaces and combine data from all three according to the operational context that’s desired.”
Dispatch and Telemetry are the latest innovations to join the HELIX suite, which includes HELIX 3D, the foundation of the HELIX platform that offers real-time positioning of personnel and equipment in a 3D map for underground and a 2D map for surface operations, and HELIX IoT, which enables long-range communication of sensors across vast geographical areas – but MST isn’t stopping there.
MST product management and marketing general manager Alex Gawad said HELIX has a major future ahead in hazard avoidance and sustainability.
“We have on our near-term roadmap another HELIX module that will be focused on personnel safety around mobile equipment,” Gawad told Safe to Work. “This new module will allow control centre personnel, as well as machine operators, to view in real-time who is around the machine and take precautions if needed to avoid a potential incident.
“We want to bring that transparency and visibility to mine managers and safety managers alike.”
With safety and sustainability key pillars of the future of the Australian mining industry, MST is looking to give operators a full picture of their sites that they can use to realise that future.
“Electrification is bringing increased safety but also better outcomes for the environment,” Gawad said. “In the future, we want HELIX to provide operators information about the amount of carbon dioxide their equipment is producing, but also data on their electric fleet and how it can be optimised.”
Gawad emphasised MST’s commitment to exploring every avenue when it comes to making mines more productive, energy efficient and, ultimately, safer.
“HELIX is an enterprise platform designed to be interoperable between all of our different products, offering users a mine-wide, one-stop-shop solution to data management,” he said.
“With the launch of Telemetry and Dispatch at MINExpo, and our new developments in the works, we are demonstrating that we will continue to look for potential paths to deepen this integration between our products, boost on-site safety and provide additional value for our customers.”
This feature also appears in the November-December issue of Safe to Work.