Empowering Machines to Speak: Innovation in the Mining Industry
Open-cast mining is home to some of the largest machines the world has ever seen. These mechanical giants are designed to dig, lift, and transport earth on an immense scale. Despite being built to withstand tremendous stresses, they are susceptible to a less obvious, yet menacing threat: the cumulative effect of repeated mechanical shocks. These slow and silent injuries gradually erode the reliability and efficiency of these machines from within.
Unplanned Maintenance: An Expensive Affair
One of the leading causes of unplanned maintenance in Electric Rope Shovel (ERS) machines is impact events. These events transmit heavy, localized force through the shovel’s front end or the HydraCrowd system, often when operators accidentally contact the ground while swinging or returning to tuck. Though common, these actions can lead to costly failures if not addressed. According to ABB’s 2023 “Value of Reliability” survey, unplanned equipment downtime costs industrial operations an average of $125,000 per hour, with over two-thirds of businesses experiencing at least one outage per month.
Listening to the Machines: A Revolutionary Approach
What’s surprising is, until recently, we didn’t have a reliable way to understand what these machines were experiencing. This is where Avadh Nagaralawala, a control systems engineer working with a global heavy equipment manufacturer, stepped in. His recent project focused on impact detection and feedback for ERS machines, opening new possibilities for mines to understand and mitigate the physical toll of daily operations.
Intelligent Machines: The Future of Mining
The concept behind Avadh’s project is simple yet ingenious: embedding accelerometers within the HydraCrowd assembly to detect high-impact events in real-time. The challenge lay in execution. Classifying an impact, distinguishing between harmful shock and normal operational vibration, and providing this information to operators in a way that encourages safer behavior rather than causing confusion or alarm, required a great deal of technical legwork.
However, the solution Avadh helped shape addresses both types of concerning events. One set of data pertains to operational accidents, such as non-digging impact events. The other concerns are digging-related shocks, which occur when the dipper strikes dense material or poorly fragmented rock. Both types of impacts contribute to long-term fatigue in the shovel’s structure, shortening the life of key components.
Bringing Awareness to Automation
Avadh summed up the problem in plain terms, saying, “The machine needed a way to say, ‘That hurt.’” Giving the machine this voice required collaboration with multidisciplinary teams to refine PLC logic and integrate sensor data into usable feedback for operators. The team managed to reduce errors in PLC programming considerably, due to both technical improvements and closer alignment with input from multiple stakeholder groups.
The system’s results have been promising. In test deployments, it has helped operators identify patterns of behavior that contribute to repeated impacts, often without their awareness. More importantly, this feedback has provided an opportunity for new adjustments. Real-time feedback for mine operators equals less wear and tear, fewer unexpected shutdowns, and more transparency in day-to-day activities. This development marks the rise of intelligent machines, not just automated, but aware.
Contributions Beyond the Factory Floor
Avadh’s work has found recognition outside the factory floor as well. He has been invited to speak at local chapters of the Society for Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration (SME), delivered technical webinars through the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy, and Petroleum (CIM), the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM), and has served as a peer reviewer for mining and automation journals.
His contributions are part of a larger shift in engineering, away from quick-fix solutions towards innovative systems. In the mining industry, it’s no longer just about digging deeper or faster. Sometimes, it’s about listening more closely to the silent wear of machinery and designing ways to let the machine speak before it breaks. This advancement, though quiet and technical, is deeply human, marking a significant evolution in mining technology.
Source: Here
