Could simulators become mandatory in mines?

Mining is taking a leaf from the aviation industry’s book and starting to make wider use of training simulators.

Meanwhile, the simulator game is set to become more competitive with the two South African players gearing up to challenge industry leader Immersive Technologies.  Immersive claims about a 95% market share of the surface mining market.  Both 5DT and ThoroughTec, which also have systems that physically simulate the operation of mining equipment, want a piece of that.

There is also software-based simulator maker Simlog pushing for greater market share.

Training departments are also starting to use feedback gained from the simulators to show that instead of being a cost centre, they are actually profit generators.

For years the aviation industry has been making use of training simulators to improve the performance of pilots.  Indeed, in some cases pilots have to log a certain amount of simulator hours to maintain their flight status.

SIMULATING SUCCESS

•    There is a belief that the use of training simulators may become mandatory in the mining industry.

•    Besides improving safety, simulators can help boost productivity.

•    Two South African players are aiming to take a piece of Immersive’s 95% claim on the surface mining industry.

•    Immersive is working on an underground simulator and a light vehicle simulator.

The mining industry is starting to catch up.  Initially simulators were seen as a way to train up new operators to ensure they could operate the equipment effectively and safely.

This use has been extended to improving the safety and efficiency of experienced operators.

Newcrest Cadia mining trainer Malcolm Macdonald said operators had to log simulator hours to maintain their company certification.

He said this had become a widespread practise in the industry and is was quite possible simulator time would become mandatory for mining equipment operators in time.  Macdonald believes this could extend to truck and coach drivers.

One use of simulators is to test operators’ abilities to handle emergency situations, which is straight form the aviation industry playbook.

Macdonald said operators had usually been given a safety procedure to read.  The benefits were greater, he said, if the operator could physically apply the procedure in an emergency.  It boosted muscle memory and made responses to emergencies automatic.

Immersive Technologies executive vice president business development Oye Obe tells the story of a trainer in the US who put an experienced operator through a brake failure scenario in a simulator.

Obe said the scenario took place on a corner that he had negotiated countless times.  One feature of this corner was that it had a steep drop next to it.  The operator failed to negotiate the corner on this occasion and drove his truck off the edge.

With that lesson fresh in his mind the operator was able to learn to correctly apply the brake failure safety procedures automatically.

Macdonald, who also consults to other mine sites, said Cadia used to take its simulator to Telfer to train experienced operators there.

“We saw safety practise application improve by 82% within a three hour period,” he said.

MINE PREPARED

Immersive, ThoroughTec and 5DT all have systems that allow their machines to simulate the conditions on any mine site.  This can be a boon at mines where there are numerous dumping points.  Operators have a chance to learn where to take each load without the risk of costly errors.

An Immersive simulator was used to train 250 mainly “green” operators at the Equinox Minerals’ Lumwana copper mine before any mining equipment had arrived on site.

ThoroughTec has simulated a DeBeers diamond operation in Canada and operators are practising negotiating the workings. The twist? The mine had not been developed yet.

Beyond training new operators and making experienced operators safer, simulators can also bring financial benefits to a company.  It may be through operators learning to avert potentially machine threatening situations, ironing out bad habits or through improving their  productivity.  A Caterpillar study showed that a 5% improvement in operator efficiency led to a 5% increase in productivity.

When an operator receives a low oil pressure warning they have seconds to respond correctly.  Failure to do so can result in a $450,000 engine seizing.  Macdonald said correctly responding to two low oil pressure situations would pay for the simulator.

A simulator such as those offered by Immersive, ThoroughTec or 5DT costs about one fifth the replacement cost of a large haul truck.

Immersive simulators, for example, can be set to record when a driver is cornering too aggressively or doing other things, such as driving too close to windows, which can damage truck’s tyres.

This feature was something requested by a number of Immersive’s customers.

Obe said the company sought continual feedback from its customers, using that data to improve its equipment.

Immersive has been in operation for 15 years and has always had a mining focus.  In that time it has sold 330 advanced equipment simulators modules – more than a third of those were sold in 2007.

Obe said the company had exclusive alliances with original equipment manufacturers Caterpillar, Hitachi, Komatsu, Liebherr and Bucyrus.  This includes machine technical information that he said the OEMs did not provide to anybody else.  “That information is vital to getting an accurate simulation of the machines,” Obe said.

It sells a base that provides the motion for the simulator and a large screen that accurately reflects the view an operator would have.  For dozer operators there is a rear screen too.  

Customers can choose from more that 30 modules that simulate various trucks, excavators, wheel loaders, dozers and other pieces of mining equipment.  Those modules attach to the base.

Immersive also has a version that fits into a sea container for easy transport.  The company has products in 22 countries, 150 staff and offices in Perth, Salt Lake City, Johannesburg, Amman and Santigiago.

Some of those staff are former mining equipment operators who put each simulator through its paces, pointing out any errors they feel are in the system.

Macdonald said the accuracy of the Immersive simulators had led to Newcrest’s decision to go with them four and a half years ago.  He said the company looked at the ThoroughTec offering, which was impressive.

“ThoroughTec was great” Macdonald said.  “had some great positives but there were some issues with some of the surface mining equipment that wasn’t as realistic as could be.”

With its dominance of the surface mining market clear Immersive is expanding into the underground market.  Obe said the first such simulator would be released in “the near future”.

It is also working on a light vehicle simulator.

NEW COMPETITORS

ThoroughTec started its life providing simulators for the South African military.  A number of miners had served time in the military and been exposed to the ThoroughTec simulators there.  They asked for something similar for the mining industry.  Along with mining equipment, ThoroughTec also fields a range of construction equipment, light vehicle and crane simulators.

After providing simulators for both surface and underground equipment to the South African market it is looking to take on the world.

Managing director Rob Letschert said the company was launching globally in 2008. “We have concentrated on South Africa,” he said.

“We have a couple of units in Canada and we’re doing one deal in Australia but we’re doing one deal in Australia but we’re looking to internationalise.  We’ve cut our teeth in our local market and now its time to look wider.”

The Australian deal is with OEM Sandvik.  The ThoroughTec system boasts a six degree of freedom motion base that includes things such a yaw – which helps provides a more accurate simulation of equipment such as excavators.

It also has simulators for underground equipment, including boggers, trucks, jumbos and production drills.  There are also two surface drill simulators.  Its simulators are designed to be easily transported to different mine sties.

Like ThoroughTec, fellow South African equipment producer 5DT’s motion base also has six degrees of freedom.  The company, which claims dominance in the underground coal industry, enjoyed a record year in 2007 and expects 2008 to be better.

CEO Paul Olckers said major simulator contracts for the 2007-08 period including the Australian Mining Skills Centre and Fortescue Metals Group in Australia; the Kentucky Community and Technical College System, Peabody and BHP Billiton in the US; and Vale (formerly CVRD) and Servicio Nacional de Aprendizaje in South America.

“More than half of these contracts constitute repeat business,” Olckers said.  “Our existing customers responded very positively to our six degree of freedom motion base, our big classroom and reverse screens, the competitive cost of our simulators and the fact our machine consoles can be swopped in less than two minutes without the use of a crane.

“They were further impressed by the fact we operate in the surface and underground mining arenas and that we offer a full training solution that includes computer-based training as well as visualisation systems.”

Olckers said 5DT had produced training simulators for machines by Joy, Fletcher, Caterpillar, Terex, O&K and Komatsu and was producing simulators for Bucyrus, Liebherr, Atlas Copco, Sandvik, Scania and Fermel equipment.

We work closely with these OEMs to develop high fidelity training simulators,” he said “To ensure this we use real parts that we procure from the OEMs.  Our competition is creating the impression that their so-called ‘exclusive agreements’ with OEMs would prevent 5DT from developing high fidelity simulators.  This is simply not true.  The quality of our simulators and our close cooperation with OEMs speaks for itself.”

In 2008 5DT will launch a trailer-mounted and a sea container-mounted simulator.

Simlog is also intensifying its push into the market.  Its simulators are much cheaper than Immersive, ThoroughTec and 5DT offerings.  Instead of a motion base and module system, the Simlog system is purely computer based.

Simlog’s Paul Freedman said the Canadian company had also created a version for Caterpillar that used real Caterpillar controls, rather than the generic controls Simlog supplies.

The Simlog model is more aimed at preparing new operators before they get into real equipment for their training.  Another key application is to test operators’ skills when they apply for employment.

It provides simulators for a range of surface and underground equipment.