Communications, Features, Safety systems and solutions, Software

Multi-dimensional collision avoidance

Hexagon’s thorough approach to safety is keeping mining personnel and assets protected from collisions with vehicles, pedestrians and objects.

Hexagon’s thorough approach to safety is keeping mining personnel and assets protected from collisions with vehicles, pedestrians and objects.

When asked why collision-avoidance systems are so critical to a mining operation, Hexagon will tell you it’s about sustainable mining, which cannot happen independent of safety.

“Good mines are safe, and safe mines are good,” Hexagon senior product manager – safety Christian Schorr told Safe to Work.

“Safety is an investment that protects people and assets, which pays off very quickly.

“In addition to the obvious benefits for personnel, investing in safety technology also brings economic benefits by avoiding production outages associated with incidents, and helps keep insurance premiums to a minimum.

“Fortunately, Hexagon’s Collision Avoidance System [CAS] helps solve these issues.”

Hexagon CAS utilises a global navigation satellite system – also known as GNSS – unit that calculates a vehicle’s speed and path of movement, improving vision and heightening situational awareness to prevent collisions.

“GNSS-equipped vehicles can warn each other against potential threats by broadcasting their position and direction of travel via a radio signal, which is received by other vehicles using the same technology,” Schorr said.

Hexagon CAS provides 360° operator awareness through cabin display units, which improves operator vision, eliminates blind spots, and heightens situational awareness within 500m.

The system is also able to detect people on the ground via a Hexagon Personal Alert tag, which is smaller and lighter than a smartphone and can be easily worn by workers.

“Hexagon Personal Alert tags measure the distance between the person and the vehicle via ultra-wideband technology contained with the Hexagon CAS smart antenna,” Schorr said. “This makes it possible to alert an operator to the presence of a pedestrian.

“Hexagon CAS protects people and equipment from collisions by combining location and positioning technologies in one smart antenna.”

While vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-person detection provides a significant degree of protection, object detection takes it to a whole new level.

“Collision with passive objects, such as a haul truck reversing into a structure, can cause severe damage,” Schorr said.

“Our CAS uses radar to protect against interactions with untagged objects, including people and mobile assets.

“Radar adds a significant layer of protection. It works day and night, and in challenging environmental conditions it continues to signal the operator when a potential collision is detected.”

According to Hexagon, radar reliably works in areas where the GNSS satellite signal is not available, such as steep or deep pits, which rounds out the company’s CAS portfolio.

While preventing accidents is important, regular review and analysis of near-misses is essential to continually improve operations. That’s why Hexagon has introduced CAS Insights to turn unwanted vehicle interactions into actionable data.

“While our other products prevent accidents from happening, CAS Insights aims to alleviate future risks,” Schorr said.

“All the valuable information from the field is collected and provided through dashboards and interactive maps to form the basis of data-driven decisions.”

Hexagon CAS, in combination with CAS Insights, is providing mine sites with well-rounded, multi-dimensional protection. Enhancing safety with the use of radar, wearables and fatigue sensors can make all the difference in mining safely.

This feature also appears in the July-August issue of Safe to Work.

Send this to a friend