Mining is an inherently difficult industry that is ripe for automation.
The profession is inherently hazardous, and many of the earth's easy deposits have already been mined while demand continues to rise.
Operators of mines are forced to dig ever deeper below the earth's surface to undergo underground drilling to access valuable commodities.
When you add price volatility to the market equation, ensuring profitability and maximizing total output become equally imperative.
Technology has stepped in to solve many of today's operations and exploration challenges, including information and automation software.
Together, these modern tools assist mines with everything from planning and design to managing operations for all phases of a mining company's processes.
These technologies apply to both open pit and underground mines.
The Purpose of Automating Underground Mining Equipment
Mining automation delivers massive benefits to mine owners and operations. The digitization of data and the ability to remotely control equipment combine to increase productivity while enhancing safety.
This technology helps manage exploration activities, and mineral production, optimizes human activity and mining equipment use and helps to ensure compliance with health, safety, and environmental and regulatory approvals.
In addition, it lends an element of precision and cost-efficiency that has historically been missing from mining companies.
As a result, automating equipment makes mines safer, more efficient, and profitable.
You're probably already familiar with how software and automation solutions can benefit the mining industry. The challenge comes in comparing them side-by-side.
Which system is right for your organization?
In this guide, we'll compare Epiroc's and Sandvik's intelligent automation and information systems.
You'll learn what features come standard and which ones are lacking. As a result, you'll be armed with information to find the right mining software for your company.
Epiroc Software
Epiroc's market solution for mines is aptly called 6th Sense. The name suggests that instead of mining relying on gut instincts or a "sixth sense," a data-driven approach can make underground mining smarter, more efficient, safer, and more profitable.
This underground mining software has three components with various applications included in each:
1. Insight
2. Control
3. Optimize
Together, these three products work to connect machines, systems, and staff through automation with the goal of higher production and lower costs.
Epiroc Insight
6th Sense includes eight applications designed to allow a mining company to collect and analyze data in real-time.
By accessing both current and historical production information, mining companies can make better (and more profitable) decisions, realizing a positive return on investment.
Within 6th Sense Insight are eight different products:
My Epiroc:
With the tagline of "track everything," this solution allows you to access data, reports, and documentation from machines, even if you're offline.
Analytics:
Data can be overwhelming and difficult to interpret. 6th Sense's analytics tool is comprised of easy-to-read dashboards to enhance decision-making.
Telematics:
Get instant performance data and insights about equipment, ranging from production drills to haul trucks and more.
Rig Remote Access:
This application functions as your eyes and ears from any location. Operators can access and transfer plans and log files for underground drill rigs.
Measure while drilling:
Underground hard rock mining requires a lot of data to be successful. This application records a variety of data points to understand mining and rock conditions better.
Underground Manager 2.0:
This tool is an integral part of the underground mining planning processes, including CAD capability.
Mobilaris Situational Awareness:
Both underground and above-ground mining teams will know precisely what the conditions are with this situational awareness tool. Triggered conditions can alert teams of dangerous situations to ensure timely evacuations and adherence to other safety precautions.
Mobilaris Onboard:
Another situational awareness application, Mobilaris Onboard gives underground teams advanced insights, which are particularly helpful for navigation. Vehicle operators can avoid traffic congestion and other hazards. Zero infrastructure is required to maintain functionality.
Epiroc Control
Insights are vital to productivity, safety, and growth, but information without action is only marginally helpful.
With Epiroc Control, a company can outshine competitors by improving processes and controlling the equipment at surface mining and underground mines.
Applications include, but are not limited to:
Radio remote control:
Operators can take advantage of remote visibility tools to get things done without being in a danger zone. This functionality is available above ground or inside the mine.
Truck automation:
This application gives an entire fleet of mining trucks full autonomy. You can also pre-program routes and dump functionality.
Collision avoidance:
This technology is highly sought after in a variety of industries, and it's been available in the industry for years. It detects both people and machines to alert the operator to act independently to adjust speed, apply brakes, or change directions.
Boom control:
Optimize the efficiency of new equipment with an application that allows for automatic drilling based on digital plans. The activity can even continue during shift changes, decreasing cycle time by up to 6%.
Dynamic tunneling:
Drilling needs to be precise and is dictated by pre-determined drill plans. With the dynamic tunneling feature, drill rigs can create or modify a drill plan that's specific to the face of the tunnel.
Epiroc Optimize
The third and final piece of the 6th Sense puzzle is the optimization element. Optimization takes the data and control of the other two legs of 6th Sense.
It allows them to increase production capacity from the same equipment at a high level, blowing any current level out of the water.
High growth is possible by utilizing equipment and staff to the full potential, and a lucrative return on investment on exploration efforts is much more likely.
In addition to software-based functionality, Epiroc also has a team of consultants on standby (called an application team) to help with the analysis and integration of the various solutions available.
Sandvik Software
As discussed in Part 1 of this guide, both Epiroc and Sandvik are Swedish-based companies founded in the late 19th century.
Sandvik mining solutions are notable because Sandvik has been on an acquisition frenzy, purchasing Connecticut-based CNC Software, Inc., along with Cambrio, a CAM software company.
The company has a strong purpose: to "remove people from hazardous environments whenever possible."
Their solutions also show that they can meet the current requirements of the surface and underground mining industry while also anticipating trends and future needs.
Like Epiroc, Sandvik has also developed different tools to address underground mines' information, control, and optimization elements while getting the most out of the machines and drilling equipment available.
The suite of tools is divided into three types of applications:
AutoMine
Designed for remote underground mining equipment operation, the purpose of AutoMine is to provide autonomous mining.
Compared to Epiroc's 6th Sense, AutoMine has a reputation for being easier to operate, with less onboarding required for installation and training.
It also has different pricing and function tiers to allow mining companies to scale and automate at their own pace.
The premise of AutoMine is that the equipment navigates on its own and senses its environment from all directions.
Its precision control plus obstacle detection and avoidance gives operators remote control access from the control room.
As a result, teams can manage mining operations using both on-hand data and artificial intelligence. Moreover, this power is available even when teams have no infrastructure or Internet access.
AutoMine is also being upgraded with plans for fully autonomous mobile mining equipment. However, so far, that idea is still in the conceptual phase.
OptiMine
With the tagline "knowledge is power," OptiMine software functions similarly to Epiroc's suite of insight tools.
Like Epiroc, Sandvik software can integrate with both Sandvik and non-Sandvik underground drilling equipment to give actionable insights to a real-time view of mining operations.
What makes Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions a market leader is that it is powered by IBM's Watson IoT (Internet of Things) platform.
This multi-disciplinary tool gives you the power to manage various connected mining equipment devices for both real-time and historical data from multiple sources.
Using this platform, operators and management can get insights into current conditions, analyze trends, and gather insights in a centralized dashboard that all authorized personnel can access.
Practical applications include calculating mining equipment efficiency and predicting component failures.
OptiMine also includes location analytics to identify operational bottlenecks and other problems.
You can even use OptiMine as a scheduling tool that allows you to define timeframes for development, production, and maintenance.
Like Epiroc's mining software, Sandvik's OptiMine can be used in a control room, underground, or from any connected device.
Other notable OptiMine functionalities include 3-D visualization tools for drilling plans and results and real-time productivity tracking.
Its open system architecture also allows for real-time integration between other companies' mining infrastructure equipment.
iSure
Short for Intelligent Sandvik Underground Rock Excavation, iSure is comparable to Epiroc's 6th Sense Control family of products.
It offers drill plan creation, accurate drilling, and blasting control at a high level, boasting an up to 8% increase in pull-out ratio.
With real-time feedback, operators can make fast and well-informed decisions.
Further, iSure gives users detailed graphical interfaces showing what tunnels and mines look like for confident navigation – a proprietary technology called PERFECT SHAPE.
The Bottom Line
Both Epiroc and Sandvik are leading Swedish-based companies with similar product offerings.
However, they are direct competitors. Both watch each other closely, often emulating each other's innovations to attract a bigger market share.
As a result of this intense market competition, both companies have emerged as powerhouses in both software technologies and equipment.
By the numbers, Sandvik outpaces Epiroc in revenue and is more focused on underground mining equipment innovation.
Still, these leading competitors have a full suite of intelligent automation and information products developed for underground mining.
For information about other underground mining equipment and production systems, take a look at some of Underground Miner’s other blog posts.
This article was written by An Underground Miner