Safety is key in the demanding world of mining, where the working environment is often hazardous and requires long shifts operating heavy equipment.
Leading vehicle automation provider ABD Solutions is aiming to transform safety in the mining industry by removing drivers from harm’s way.
Leading vehicle automation provider ABD Solutions is aiming to transform safety in the mining industry by removing drivers from harm’s way.
Addressing the safety issue
According to research from the US, powered haulage accounts for the most fatalities in all mining.
Western Australia’s Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety has also reported that there were 425 reported incidents involving vehicle rollovers between 2017 and 2022, citing traffic management, human and organisational factors as key contributors.
The automation of vehicles mitigates a lot of this risk.
In 2017, the World Economic Forum predicted that automation and digitalisation in mining will decrease deaths by 10 per cent and reduce injuries by 20 per cent over the next 10 years. This is where ABD Solutions and its autonomy technology, Indigo Drive, is aiming to make a big impact on the sector.
Who is ABD Solutions?
ABD Solutions creates safer and smarter work environments by delivering vehicle autonomy solutions. With expertise in actuation, perception, localisation and safety systems, the company transforms existing machinery and vehicle fleets to become autonomous, and partners with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to deliver novel solutions.
As part of the global AB Dynamics plc Group, ABD Solutions has a heritage of driving vehicle safety and has operations around the world, including in Australia.
Introducing Indigo Drive
Indigo Drive is a full-stack, self-driving system that delivers safety-enhancing autonomy by significantly reducing the exposure of personnel to dangerous environments.
The system is vehicle-agnostic and enables a limitless number of mining vehicles to be automated. It includes user-friendly software for route-planning, the hardware to move the vehicles (such as drive-by-wire and driving robots), communication (radio, V2X, GPS/GNSS), obstacle detection (LiDAR, camera, radar) and vehicle health and diagnostics (OBD2, telemetry, sensors).
A safe and reliable system
Safety and reliability have been at the heart of the development of Indigo Drive, which is evident in its functionally safe and robust build.
Designed to meet the rigorous safety standards of IEC61508: 2010 and ISO17757: 2019 as well as cyber security engineering standard ISO21434, it operates on a high-availability redundant architecture and removes single points of failure for reliable and continuous operation, giving mining companies and workers peace of mind.
With a technology readiness level (TRL) of seven, ABD Solutions has demonstrated the viability of its technology in real mining environments and is working on tailored solutions for Australian customers.
Enhanced efficiency and productivity
Beyond safety, Indigo Drive also designed to enhance productivity in mining operations.
It enables an entire fleet to be synchronised and managed on one platform to maximise efficiency. Its task-planning software ensures that vehicles take the most efficient routes, reducing fuel consumption and time to complete operations.
The system also digitises the vehicles, providing critical new data streams that are invaluable to fleet operators to assist with strategic decisions, fleet maintenance scheduling and logistics planning.
Improving safety through autonomy
ABD Solutions describes Indigo Drive as a “game-changer” due to the fact it removes personnel from hazardous environments through functionally safe autonomous vehicle technology.
“The key benefit being that by integrating with existing vehicle fleets, it can keep workers safer, sooner,” the company said.