“Handheld is proud to have achieved an industry-leading position for dependable, ruggedized mobile computers that can be trusted to work in the most hostile environments” said Jerker Hellström, CEO Handheld Group, “To achieve this extremely high-level of performance, we only select components with the highest reliability on the  market. GPS positioning is one of the most important functionalities of our products. For this mission-critical feature, we chose u-blox.”

Handheld’s lineup of rugged PDAs and mobile computers is specifically developed for use in tough environments in industries such as geomatics, logistics, forestry, public transportation, construction, mining, field service, utilities, maintenance, public safety, military and security.

This plot shows the dramatic performance increase for a drill rig over a one week period at the Newmont Boddington Gold Mine. (Click to enlarge.)

The Leica Jps (the Jigsaw Positioning System powered by Locata) integrates GNSS and Locata’s ground-based GPS-like networks. The result is a seamless and a completely new “GPS everywhere” experience for Leica’s customers, the company said. This new capability is now in use at Newmont’s Boddington Gold Mine, northwest of Boddington, Western Australia. The mine has published an independent article describing the LocataNet and Jps systems deployed for the mine’s drill rig fleet. It reported that drill rig up-time and efficiency have skyrocketed to unprecedented levels since the Jps system was commissioned.

Locata-enabled nonstop positioning brings benefits to machine automation in mining because Locata fills in the many gaps in GPS signal availability experienced in an open-cut mine, Leica said. The Leica Jps ensures a reliable and transparent experience for users with demanding machine guidance applications because it uses all available signals, satellite-based or Locata, without interruption.

“The Locata-based Jps is therefore the world’s first system which can justly be considered as ‘a backup for GPS’,” reads a Leica Geosystems statement. “Real-world operational performance, which is being reported by Jps customers, can only be described as ‘spectacular’.”

“Since deploying the Locata-powered Jps at Newmont Boddington Gold, there has been an increase in operational machine guidance availability of almost 23 percent – from 75 percent up to 98 percent,” said Brendon Lilly, product manager, Leica Geosystems Mining. “Newmont Boddington Gold is so happy with the results that they have turned off their GPS-only solutions altogether, and now rely solely (and successfully) on Jps alone. They have already installed Jps on 11 drills and intend to equip their entire high-precision fleet.”

“The ROI we offer our clients through the Jigsaw Positioning System is extraordinary. Market trends indicate CAPEX is in decline, so the parameters mines use to justify expenditure have become far more demanding,” said Stefana Vella, global marketing manager, Leica Geosystems Mining. “The unprecedented production levels and machine control uptime that result directly from using the Locata-powered Jps very quickly justifies the purchase of the system. Furthermore, it aids the justification of expenditure on the high-precision machine guidance systems themselves, for, when operated with the Jps, the ROI increases exponentially. Even in today’s market, it isn’t a difficult decision to make.”

Many mines around the world use machine guidance systems for drills, shovels, excavators, dozers, graders and more to execute the site plan work in real-time. This tight automation dramatically improves efficiency and productivity. At the core of these machine guidance systems are GPS-style receivers that provide vital positioning information, using the satellite signals to calculate a 3D position.

Unfortunately, in most open-pit environments satellite signals become obstructed, which slows or temporarily halts production. As pits become deeper the problems become worse, drastically reducing the number of satellites the receiver can “see” to achieve GPS-style positioning. In the past, mines and other machine automation users had no choice other than to resort to much less efficient alternatives, such as manual surveying. Reduced satellite visibility therefore negated the considerable investment and operational efficiencies gained from modern machine guidance systems. The key to virtually eliminate these issues is Locata’s new “GPS-backup or replacement” capability, Leica Geosystems said.

Locata’s Locatalite device is a ground-based transmitter that generates a GPS-like signal. LocataLites deployed around the pit rim can ensure almost 100 percent positioning coverage. Locata signals “fill-in” the GPS holes with a signal that is processed by the Jps in exactly the same way that GPS signals are. Locata is the only technology in the world that can do this. By backing up their GPS-based systems, mines have an always-on positioning network that works if satellite signals are unavailable in the pit due to physical or man-made obstructions. Jps LocataLites can be permanently positioned on site or moved at will, ensuring a mine’s Jps Locata network can be set up where and when needed.

“We all rely on electricity from public sources, but in areas where outages occur companies invest in backup generators,” said Nunzio Gambale, CEO and co-founder of Locata. “It’s exactly the same scenario for mining companies, where they are dependent on GPS. Locata gives you a GPS backup ‘generator’ – a world-first capability which is clearly a game-changer for the whole industry. Before Locata became available mines simply had to suffer through a slow-down when GPS-based systems became flaky. Leica Geosystems had the vision early on to recognize the enormous benefits provided by our technology advancements. They threw their corporate weight behind intensive product development, carefully integrating Locata technology into their world-first Jigsaw mining solutions. It’s a marriage made in heaven, and Jps customers will be the ones who really reap the rewards of Leica’s outstanding first-mover effort. There won’t be any ‘GPS doesn’t work here’ excuses in the future.”

John Carr, senior technical specialist at Newmont Boddington Gold Mine, puts it this way: “Look, it’s really this simple. If Locata had not invented the technology to help fix the GPS issues in a deep pit scenario I may as well have gone back home, started breeding pit ponies and sharpened up the picks and shovels… Open Cut Mines, just like everyone else that depends heavily on satellite navigation, are already hitting the wall at the outer limits of GPS technology. With Locata, we’ve virtually eliminated everyday GNSS signal challenges. And now we also have our own backup in place in case of a more significant or longer-term failure.”

Hemisphere GPS Vector S330.

Today, Hemisphere GPS introduces the Vector VS330 and Vector VS131 GPS compass products that provide high performance heading, position, heave, and attitude data. The new Vector products are designed for professional marine applications such as hydrographic and bathymetric surveys, dredging, oil platform positioning, and buoys that demand a high level of 3D positioning accuracies.

Based on Hemisphere GPS’ Eclipse GNSS technology, Vector VS330 uses the most accurate differential corrections including RTK, L-band, SBAS, and beacon. The smart intelligence from our MFA firmware  provides differential solutions by automatically switching to the next best differential source if the original source is no longer available, Hemisphere GPS said.

Vector VS330 is Hemisphere GPS’ flagship receiver and computes heading information with better than 0.01 degrees accuracy when using a 10-meter antenna separation. Positioning accuracy is better than one centimeter in RTK mode or four centimeters when using OmniSTAR HP corrections. Vector VS330 also provides five-centimeter RTK heave and 0.01 degree pitch and roll accuracies.

Combining Hemisphere GPS’ Crescent Vector and LX-2 receivers with two separate antennas, the Vector VS131 computes heading information with better than 0.03 degrees accuracy when using a five-meter antenna separation and better than 50 centimeter position accuracy when using L-band, SBAS, or beacon corrections. Vector VS131 accepts most differential correction signals for unparalleled flexibility to obtain sub-meter positioning in all regions.

The ruggedness of the new Vector enclosure also makes it suitable for more harsh environment installations like machine-control applications, including agriculture, heavy construction equipment, mining equipment, unmanned vehicles, cranes, and other machinery or industries that require very accurate heading and positioning solutions. The Vector’s versatility for providing heading, position, heave, and motion makes it directly compatible with the most popular hydrographic and side scan survey packages. Vector VS330 and VS131 include an intuitive and easy-to-follow user interface to facilitate fast installations.

“Vector VS330 and Vector VS131 are premium additions to Hemisphere GPS’ Vector series product line,” said Phil Gabriel, vice president and general manager, Precision Products, for Hemisphere GPS. “As the demand for more rugged and precise GPS equipment increases, we are meeting this demand by exceeding the accuracy of competitors’ products while being significantly more affordable.”

Vector VS330 and Vector VS131 will be featured by Hemisphere GPS in hall 9, stand B.62 at the INTERGEO Conference and Trade Fair in Hanover, Germany, from October 9-11. Both products will be available for shipping in November through the Hemisphere GPS Precision Products global dealer network.

Today, Hemisphere GPS announced the new S320 network rover and XF2 handheld data collector. With support for network RTK corrections, the S320 network rover is an integrated solution that simplifies land surveying applications by eliminating the need for a base station and radio modem, the company said.

A variety of public and private organizations post RTK network corrections on the Internet. The S320 GSM cellular communication connects users to Internet-based corrections and processes the data to achieve centimeter-level positioning performance. As a result, users do not need to purchase and operate their own RTK base station and radio modem connection. Users also have the option of using satellite-based L-band corrections for high-precision mapping jobs.

Hemisphere GPS’ XF2 next-generation data collector combined with Carlson SurvCE software provides a familiar and proven interface to the S320. The two products communicate through a Bluetooth wireless connection and attach to a standard survey pole making the system portable and simple to operate, Hemisphere GPS said.

“Hemisphere GPS’ S320 network rover and new XF2 provide a very powerful and cost-effective surveying and mapping solution,” says Phil Gabriel, vice president and general manager of Precision Products for Hemisphere GPS. “The rugged design and versatile performance of our S320 makes it a great fit for a variety of applications.”

Launched one year ago, S320 combines the advanced GNSS receiver performance of Hemisphere GPS’ Eclipse technology, precise geodetic antenna, wireless communication and batteries in a portable, rugged unit. Compatible with a variety of existing surveying equipment, S320 is a  multi-GNSS positioning system designed for applications in GIS, mining, construction, mapping, land, and marine surveying.

The S320 network rover and XF2 will be featured by Hemisphere GPS in hall 9, stand B62 at the INTERGEO Conference and Trade Fair in Hanover, Germany from October 9-11. The products are available through the Hemisphere GPS Precision Products global dealer network.

By Rob Lorimer

Open-pit mining (also called open-cut, open-cast, and strip mining) has historically been an early and innovative adopter of new positioning technologies. Some of the earliest examples of fitting GPS to heavy earth-moving machinery occurred in the U.S., Australian, and Canadian mining industries in the 1990s. Miners were also quick to adopt the first GPS/GLONASS systems. The trend continues today with trials of new radio positioning technologies such as the Novariant Terralite XPS and the Locata system.

Phase 2 of a global mining boom is underway, driven by an apparently insatiable appetite for primary resources from developing economies such as China and India. Indeed, according to one study by Access Economics, to meet projected demand the production of some commodities such as nickel and zinc will need to double in the period 2000-2020; others, including coal and iron ore, will need to increase by 40-60% over the same period.

The response from the mining industry is two-fold. First, increase the productivity of existing mines; second, explore and develop new mining territories. Both these responses increase the demand for positioning systems, but we will focus here on first response.

Increased Productivity. Increasing the productivity of existing mines can take several forms, including extending the life of the mine and extracting the commodity more effectively. The former is generally driven by higher commodity prices (previously marginal deposits become viable); the latter is driven by adopting improved practices and new technologies, including those incorporating positioning components.

Productivity gains from new technology are multiplied by the scale of the mining operation, so it is no surprise that the largest mines were the first to experiment with and adopt new position-based systems, particularly in earth moving and commodity handling. The scope for productivity improvement is huge — there are more than 100 open-pit mines that move more than 1 million tonnes of material per week, about half of which are in Australia, Canada, and the U.S. Another 600-700 open-pit mines worldwide move between 10-50 million tonnes/annum, and a further 1,500 or so move 1-10 million tonnes/annum. On top of these there are tens of thousands of smaller mines and quarries, although to date most of these do not use innovative practices or technologies.

Just as new practices were usually adopted first in the super-mines and then progressivity smaller operations, there was a similar trend to apply new positioning-based solutions first to the largest earth-moving machines and then to progressively smaller machines and vehicles. As this process unfolded during the 1990s and 2000s, a number of companies emerged as global technology suppliers for mining, including the Caterpillar/Trimble Joint venture, Modular Mining (owned by Komatsu), and Leica Geosystems. However, there remains a vibrant small- to medium-enterprise (SME) positioning-based solutions sector in mining, most of which is focused on technology niches (for example, Novariant, APS, and Accumine.

Collision Avoidance. As positioning-based solutions progressively made their way onto heavy machinery (such as draglines, excavators, and dozers), and haul trucks and auxiliary equipment (drills and explosives trucks) for production purposes, another set of suppliers were eying up positioning technologies for a different reason.

As mines increase production from existing operations, site traffic increases and so does the risk of collisions. Of particular concern are collisions between heavy and light vehicles, which have a high probability of serious injury or fatality. There are many safety issues to be addressed: mining machinery and haul trucks have extensive operator blind spots, haul roads are unsealed and need constant maintenance, blind corners are common and intersections change frequently. Add to these issues 24-hour working, driver fatigue, frequent poor visibility caused by dust or snow, and the requirements for safety systems becomes apparent. The second wave of suppliers adopted GPS, RFID, lasers, radar, and other technologies to develop a range of driver adherence, situational awareness, proximity detection, and collision avoidance systems. These companies include Caterpillar, SafeMine, AMT, 3DP, and others (see the Professional OEM newsletter from July 2009 for a fuller discussion on GPS-based safety systems in mining).

When we add together the positioning requirements for both production and safety systems, we start to get a feel for the variety of positioning solutions applied on large open-pit mines today as illustrated by the table below. Indeed, on some of the most advanced mines virtually everything that moves, or can be moved, is fitted with some sort of positioning device for production, operational, logistics, or safety reasons.

TABLE 1. Positioning options for open-pit mining. GPS remains a popular choice.

As the table illustrates, despite its limitations in deep open-pit mines, GPS remains a popular choice for positioning and can be found on most platforms from people to heavy machinery. GPS/GLONASS (GNSS) receivers have largely replaced GPS-only receivers for heavy machinery, haul trucks, and auxiliary equipment (such as drills) as it delivers improved availability over GPS. However, the cost of GNSS receivers has meant they are not as popular on the more numerous light vehicle fleets. With low-cost GNSS chipsets coming on the market, we can expect this situation to change quickly over the coming years.

Both high-end (HI Inertial) and low-cost (LO Inertial) technology are deployed in open-pit mining, usually in conjunction with GPS or GNSS. High-end inertial systems tend to be in machine control systems; the low-cost devices, including electromagnetic compasses and accelerometers, are more often used in vehicle and personal safety devices.

In the table above, I have distinguished between radio positioning and radio location technologies. The former are dedicated positioning systems such as the Novariant Terralite and Locata, which deliver precise positioning from planned networks of transponders on site. The latter derive location from communications systems, and are generally accurate to a few meters (for example, the 3DP systems built on a Motorola Motomesh backbone).

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) location is well established in the mining industry for both underground and open-pit operations. Although not used for high-precision machine control applications, RFID can be found on all platform classes for safety, operational, and logistics purposes.

Both Electronic Distance Measuring (EDM) and laser technology are used to position machines and haul trucks. As these are line-of-sight systems, they tend to be deployed in close proximity to work areas. Laser technology is used with roadside beacons to locate and navigate trucks along haul roads.

Finally, radar is used in several safety systems for proximity detection and collision avoidance, but can also be used with roadside beacons for navigation and location.

Positioning Mix. The reali
ty is no single technology has the right mix of precision, availability, and cost to meet all the production, operational, logistical, and safety applications within open-pit mining today. System integrators are experimenting with different combinations, with many claims and counter claims about which mix is superior. What may well be a deciding factor for success is which positioning technologies (or technology combinations) are scalable to non-mining applications; that’s where GPS, GNSS, and RFID have a distinct advantage today.

To learn more about positioning technology in mining, including a more detailed look at one of the new radio positioning technologies, tune into my webinar at 1 p.m. PST May 20, or download it post event.

A deeply cut open-pit mine. (Image courtesy of Brendon Lilly.)

Digging for Accuracy

By Geoff Roberts, Leica Geosystems

A reality of open-pit mining is the challenge of GPS positioning coverage as the mine is cut deeper into the earth, and with the price of minerals rising, miners are digging deeper than ever before. Reduced sky view to satellites, especially where machinery is working near pit walls, can cause signals to become obstructed. With high-precision machine-control systems heavily utilized on mining equipment, a loss of positioning signal affects mine productivity. For years, Leica Geosystems has addressed sky-view issues by offering hybrid positioning for its high-precision mining machine control systems, using GPS and GNSS signals. While this has seen great advantages, GPS and GNSS share the same weakness as the pit is cut deeper or when operating against a high wall.

Recent developments aimed at making systems less dependent on satellite signals has resulted in the successful integration of a “local positioning constellation,” through technology developed by Locata Corporation. LocataLites are positioned around the rim of the pit and transmit to machinery-mounted receivers integrated into Leica Geosystems’ high-precision machine-control system, acting as local satellites with the advantage of being visible to machine-control systems, independent of GPS/GNSS coverage.

With this integration, blast-hole drills, dozers, and shovels can continue operating to centimeter accuracy when GPS/GNSS is unavailable. LocataLites self survey using GPS at the surface level where coverage is trouble free, and can easily be moved around a site to cover holes in coverage. Locata positioning becomes more accurate as the pit is dug deeper due to gaining sufficient vertical geometry for 3D positioning, a great advantage as the pit grows down. Rigorous testing of Leica Geosystems’ Locata integrated system has been conducted at one of Australia’s largest mines over the last six months. Results have proven reliable and accurate, while delivering significant productivity gains through reduced downtime caused by GPS/GNSS coverage holes.