Problem
Vehicle congestion at portals, intersections and along declines is common in modern, underground mechanised mines – especially where two-way traffic operates along a one-way road. Congestion negatively impacts cycle times, thereby reducing the overall productivity and profitability of a mine.
For priority vehicles, such as fully loaded haul trucks, moving up and out of the mine, it is critical that traffic along the decline haulage route is optimized to minimize vehicle congestion and cycle time delays.
Solution
Introducing The FireFly Smart Lighting System by IoT Automation. FireFly is a rugged, fit for purpose and intuitive lighting system that can assist in solving many business problems throughout the mine. One application of the FireFly technology is to act as a decline traffic awareness system.
This cost-effective, easy-to-deploy, low-maintenance and simple solution provides vehicle operators with an early indication of oncoming high-priority or non-passable/non-reversible vehicles along the length of an underground decline.
This early warning mechanism is completely customisable, allowing it to be optimised for the type of vehicle, vehicle speed and size. Every decline is a little different. And as such the projected early warning zone is 100% customizable to best match how the mine requires the system to operate.
FireFly Lighting can be used to create a customisable ‘proximity zone’ of illumination around the vehicles as they move along a decline. This zone features adjustable lighting colors and modes, tailored to the vehicle’s type, speed, size and priority level.
When two vehicles enter each other’s proximity zone, the lights will automatically turn red, alerting the vehicle operators to the oncoming traffic, and prompting them to find a suitable passing area. Once both vehicles are no longer in proximity, the FireFly lights will revert to their original colour mode.
Benefits
The early warning indication provides vehicle operators with more time and more real time situational awareness. Armed with more knowledge, vehicle operators can then make smarter and more timely decisions to clear the main decline so that the priority haulage trucks can pass by unhindered.
- Improves traffic flow underground without needing to invest in costly, complex systems.
- Disseminates real-time traffic awareness to vehicle operators on the decline as well as to those in the control room.
- Increases mine safety and incident response effectiveness, and
- Minimises haulage cycle time delays, therefore improving the productivity and profitability of the haulage fleet.