The four-day international conference, which is hosted at the Venetian hotel in Las Vegas, US, “brings together thousands of industry professionals to exchange ideas and explore the latest solutions that are shaping smart change”.
One of the conference’s six tracks is exclusively dedicated to the mining industry (the others are geospatial, geosystems, manufacturing intelligence, process, power & marine and safety & infrastructure).
Ola Rollén, Hexagon president and CEO, commented: “We have an amazing community of customers and partners, and we know this will be an inspiring week for them. Every year, HxGN LIVE becomes more diverse – diverse in the sessions and keynotes we offer, diverse in the technologies we present. We are honoured to have participants from all over the world, and we are excited to introduce this year’s programme, which is focused on unlocking the untapped, limitless potential of data.”
Rollén officially opened the conference yesterday with a keynote address titled ‘Limitless’, which explored the shape of potential and how this transformational change is redefining the limitless possibility for growth, productivity, quality, safety and profitability. He noted: “The true potential of data lies not in having more of it but rather how we leverage it, how we put it to use.”
Mining at HxGN LIVE
Hélio Samora, president of Hexagon Mining, will give the keynote speech for the mining track later today. His presentation, ‘Shaping the Digital Mine’, will discuss the company’s digital strategy to analyse data that emanate from every part of mining operations – this strategy is based on technologies that are designed to empower mines to reduce costs, improve safety and increase productivity. Samora will also talk about how these technologies will eventually connect all parts of a mine, embedding intelligence and enabling visualisation in real time for smarter decision making.
However, the mining part of the conference is already well underway. Yesterday, Hexagon Mining’s HxGN Mine Vehicle Intervention System (VIS) was officially unveiled. Originally mentioned at MINExpo in September 2016, It is a vehicle intervention system that detects and prevents collisions by automatically slowing down or even stopping a haul truck if an imminent collision is detected.
The Mine VIS leverages a number of technologies from Hexagon Mining, and is designed to add an additional layer of safety on top of the Collision Avoidance System (CAS), helping to avoid incidents, injuries, and fatalities at mine sites. Mine VIS manages traffic in the pit and, by reacting when and if operators do not, it ensures safety rules are followed.
This type of technology is already found in cars today, where it stops the vehicle if it senses an oncoming collision, but Hexagon’s version is specific for mining haul trucks.
Rollén stated: “Safety demands more than just partial solutions. Mines can be dangerous places. Heavy traffic, large equipment, and poor visibility all create the potential for accidents. Mine VIS is a significant enhancement to a safety portfolio that can save customers from the costly consequences of accidents. It improves CAS by taking control of a machine if the operator does not react appropriately to a CAS warning.”
CAS provides drivers of large vehicles with 360°-proximity detection at any speed and in all conditions via cabin display units. It is installed in more than 25,000 vehicles in over 60 mines worldwide. However, Mine VIS can take control of the machine in certain defined situations if the operator does not react appropriately to the initial CAS warning. The system can act depending on the situation, either by inhibiting propulsion, activating the retarder, or applying the service brake.
Mine VIS can also be used in conjunction with the company’s fatigue-detection, alerting, and reporting solution, FatigueMonitor. It uses the same sensors and user interface to protect the customer’s initial investment. Hexagon Mining worked closely with an OEM to realise this vision of a last-resort system that mitigates the consequences of a collision.
Mine VIS is being installed in Anglo American Kumba Iron Ore’s Sishen mine in South Africa. Mine VIS is timely in South Africa where government regulations will compel surface mines to implement such systems on heavy machine equipment by June 2019.
The company contacted Hexagon Mining after conducting an extensive risk assessment of its operation to understand major risks. Together with the customer, Hexagon Mining defined a step-by-step approach to develop a solution.
Anglo American Kumba Iron Ore is also being honoured as part of Hexagon’s Shaping Smart Change Customer Recognition Programme, which acknowledges customers and partners for innovative use of Hexagon technologies.
