Issue link: http://resourceworld.uberflip.com/i/990287
J U N E / J U L Y 2 0 1 8 www.resourceworld.com 55 trial. "The purpose of the tests is to validate the Cat Command for Hauling solution for Canadian oil sands applications. We need to take into account the unique operational practices, ground conditions and other climactic factors when apply - ing this technology in Canada," says Davis. "Caterpillar has already completed extensive cold-weather testing and there appears to be no impacts to the system's reliability. We are confident this application of innovation and technology will enhance the safety and productivity of the company's operations." Autonomous trucks can safely interact with manned- vehicles while maintaining optimal operating speeds. "As an emerging technology solution, autonomy can help reduce the impact of some challenges facing mining companies in the industry today, especially with respect to safety and operating efficiencies," says Davis. "Enhanced safety is the largest ben - efit associated with the technology. The increased accuracy of an autonomous vehicle reduces access to hazardous areas and increases positional awareness and predictable operation." Davis states autonomous technology is a key element enabling the growth of the mining sector business and adds, "We are focused on using our technology expertise and work- ing closely with customers to gain a better understanding of their operations to ensure the autonomous haulage solution is aligned with their requirements". Cat Command for Hauling is a fully-integrated suite of technologies, positioning systems and wireless communica- tion that expands to all areas of the autonomous operating zone and part of the Cat MineStar ™ System: Fleet, Terrain, Detect and Health. Fleet is an integrated mine-monitoring system and manage- ment system that improves productivity at mining operations. Terrain is the high-precision guidance system used on manned-loaded tools and dozers. Terrain systems commu- nicate with autonomous trucks to provide information on queuing and spotting. Detect provides awareness and visibility to the environ - ment around manned or autonomous equipment, providing information about location and proximity to other equipment and mine-site assets. Health records and transfers critical machine information to the office, driving proactive maintenance practices for both manned and autonomous trucks. Cat Command for Hauling is currently available on the 793F and 797F. Development work is underway for other models and Caterpillar is also expanding the application to other manufacturers, including the Komatsu 930E. "By partnering with Finning, companies can capitalize on our technology solutions. They can also use our machine and product support experience to get a customized system that meets their autonomous production requirements and opera - tional needs," says Davis. n MININGWORLD smaller package, to move more load. We are actually doing some comparisons against competing diesel machines. These compari- sons are very favourable. For instance, on our four-tonne loader we have three times the horsepower than a similar diesel loader. This directly translates to larger loads in the bucket and faster mucking which increases the productivity of the operator." "You can pack a lot more power capability into a small space with electric drive trains. That is the core of why we started over to design machines from scratch versus retrofitting old die - sel machines with this new technology. Because you can pack so much more power into a small space the entire machine's design needs to be reinvented to take advantage of all that power," said Kasaba. Artisan Vehicles has facilities in Southern California and in Kirkland Lake, Ontario. Kasaba said, "We got started in mining in Kirkland Lake, we are very attached to that community. We want to strengthen that community and actually build some local competency in the technology that we are bringing to that market place. So the Kirkland location is going to grow." Kasaba explained that, in northern Ontario, the location of the mineral-rich Canadian shield, from the Val d'Or region to the east in Québec and all the way through to Thunder Bay in the west, there are a lot of precious metals hard rock mines. "Those are our core customers," said Kasaba. He told Resource World that Artisan Vehicles is creating a Centre of Excellence in Kirkland Lake to create local competency that is centred in that region allowing the company to expand to serve the mines in the province. "It is going to include final assembly of vehicles but it's also going to be a training facility. We are doing a program with Northern College there, in Kirkland Lake, where we can build an education and certification program around our technology. The idea is that we are going to need great expertise that is collocated with our customer base," said Kasaba. One of the other things that Artisan is working on is what they call "The Second Life System". Once batteries are no longer capable of meeting the duty cycle in mining machines they still have capability for stationary applications for power back up and what is called peak shaving. If a mine site is operating at 10 mega - watts on an average basis and they want to go to 12 megawatts but this level peaks above 10 megawatts they can use the second life application using the cells retired from mobile equipment placed in shipping containers to shave the peaks off that demand. Kasaba said, "This is extremely valuable, it reduces the electric bill and it helps keep the overall productivity of the mine site at full capability." "We will be announcing some new additions to our product offerings – probably in June or July. We are planning to continue to design machines from scratch. Our core products are primary movers underground which are the haul trucks and the loaders. We are going to continue to expand in those areas," said Kasaba. n continued from page 52