Hexagon is introducing its underground collision avoidance system as part of its efforts to increase safety in the industry.
As mining goes deeper and deeper underground, the need for smarter and more robust safety measures continues to increase.
Hexagon, a leading digital reality solutions provider, understands this situation well. The company’s approach to mine safety – ‘everyone gets home safely’ – has seen it develop some of the premier solutions in the mining sector.
But Hexagon isn’t content to rest on its laurels. The company is continuously developing new technology to make mining even safer, and its customers will soon be treated to a new kind of technology in underground safety in the Hexagon Underground Collision Avoidance System, or UG CAS, providing 360° operator awareness for surrounding vehicles and equipment.
“Safety is a core pillar at Hexagon, and we are always working on innovating and improving in the mining safety solutions space,” Hexagon head of product – underground Mateus Quintela told Australian Mining.
“Right now, there is a huge opportunity to increase safety in the underground mining market. UG CAS was developed to enhance safety and efficiency in mining operations, even in the most challenging environments.”
While UG CAS deployments are still in progress, Hexagon is looking forward to sharing success stories about the system soon.
“Hexagon is well established as an expert in mining safety, with over 60,000 Hexagon CAS installed in surface mines worldwide,” he said. “Now we’re bringing our extensive safety expertise underground.”
Hexagon’s UG CAS works by providing vehicle operators with 360° awareness via non-intrusive cabin display units when travelling at any speed and in all conditions.
Operators see other vehicles’ locations and where they are heading. The system incorporates path prediction and leverages auditory and vibration alarms that alert drivers to collision risks.
This innovative technology is easy to install and quick to configure.
UG CAS isn’t the only new Hexagon solution turning heads in the industry. The company acquired HARD-LINE in July 2023 in a bid to strengthen its mine safety, automation and underground offerings.
The acquisition added more than 28 years of global experience to Hexagon’s already substantial pedigree in the industry.
“Combining Hexagon UG CAS with HARD-LINE’s solutions for underground mining allows us to offer premium integrated safety solutions that help ensure everyone goes home safely from their shift,” HARD-LINE commercial director Joe Gladu told Australian Mining.
“Our flagship products TeleOp, TeleOP Assist and TeleOp Auto allow customers to relocate operations away from the underground working face and, in many cases, the mine altogether.”
By acquiring HARD-LINE, Hexagon also obtained the company’s automation capabilities – innovation necessary to achieve fully autonomous mining in the future.
“Remote-control technology has been around for a long time, but when HARD-LINE started its business in 1996, there were little reliable remote-control solutions for underground mining,” Gladu said.
“HARD-LINE saw the opportunity to develop a solution robust enough for underground mining that could provide simple, easy-to-use controls that felt natural to operators and, most importantly, provided reliability and the highest level of safety.”
This drive to improve the lives of those working in the industry has led to some stand-out developments, including line-of-site radio remote controls and non-line-of-site TeleOp remote controls linked to a remote operator station.
“In underground hard-rock mining, loaders are used to muck or bog blasted material from stopes,” Quintela said. “Operating past the brow line of a stope is extremely dangerous, which is where remote-controlled loaders are used.
“Using teleoperated equipment, operators can safely bog from the comfort of an operator station mounted in a climate-controlled underground cabin or from a similar environment on the surface, well out of dangerous conditions.”
Hexagon’s focus has always been to make the industry safer. But, as Quintela explained, the company can achieve this goal only by collaborating with clients to ensure they’re getting the most out of the technology.
“Hexagon works with our customers to understand the problem they are looking to solve, recommending the best solution to help them achieve the desired outcome,” he said.
“We align our project delivery teams with the relevant stakeholders on the customer side to deliver the solutions and ensure that our end users are set up for success.”
This feature appeared in the September 2024 issue of Australian Mining.
