Earth moving made easy task by intelligent dozer

Moving earth is a fact of life in mining and construction – It was decided to trial the stretches 64km, this can be
a painstaking and time-consuming task. Leica Geosystems, Leica Dozer 2000 package at very time consuming.“
in partnership with Tritronics (Australia) Pty Ltd and assisted BMA’s Blackwater Mine.
by their Australian Distributor, C.R. Kennedy & Company Pty Using Global Positioning Integrated Mining System
Ltd, however, have developed just the solution – the Leica System (GPS) technology,
DOZER 2000T. Without even stepping out of the office, the the Leica Dozer 2000 is able In February 2001, BMA
mining engineer and surveyor have direct radio contact with to clearly indicate the posi- introduced Leica Sales
the machine operator who is working with the bulldozer. tion of the earth moving Representatives to Queens-
Digital Terrain Models (DTM) are relayed directly to the machine relative to the land Company Tritronics
machine, guiding and verifying earth grading by real time desired “design“ surface, (Australia) Pty Ltd, world
GPS and completing this task more efficiently, in less time, enabling the operator to leaders in the design,
and with considerable savings across the entire project. move left or right, and to cut development and installa-
and/or fill accordingly. tion of mine machine
The success of a recent trial by mining giant BMA (BHP monitoring and information
Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance) at their Blackwater coal mine in Better data transfer and systems.
Queensland, Australia, has led to an order of 15 Leica Dozer integration
2000T integrated systems for the Blackwater Mine. A further For the past six years, the
19 units have been ordered for three other mines within the Although the Leica Dozer Blackwater Mine has been
BMA operation – a significant sign of the considerable poten- 2000 worked well during the using Tritronics’ Fleet
tial that this revolutionary technology has for the industry. trial, there was still a requi- Management System –
rement for better data trans- a communications network
fer. “In particular we were that allows mine production
looking for productivity to monitor machinery
improvement because at throughout the whole mine
that stage there was no way by use of GPS receivers.
to bring data back to the offi- BMA has invested signifi-
ce automatically,“ said Ian cantly into this system with
Rogers, Technology and the upgrade of 75-80 pieces
Communications Manager of equipment with new
for BMA. The normal Leica high-speed radios in order
Dozer 2000 setup meant that to incorporate them into the
data had to be transferred new system software
via a PCMCIA card from Integrated Mining System
the office computer to the (IMS). The IMS combines
on-site machine. powerful reporting and ana-
lysis software with reliable
The Leica Dozer 2000T guides For some time, BMA have “BMA wanted to simplify radio telemetry to deliver
and verifies earth-grading by wanted to improve the the radio networks and ob- accurate monitoring and
real time GPS. process of relaying instruc- tain the production data in reporting. “Tritronics were
tions from the office to the real time,“ David Williams well established and well
various machine operators from Leica’s Australian trusted,“ Anders Mangen,
on site. After an assessment Distributor, C. R. Kennedy & C. R. Kennedy’s National
of all dozer systems on the Company Pty Ltd said. “The Survey Division Manager,
market, BMA approached Leica Dozer 2000 is a stand said. “They had proven to
Leica Geosystems at the end alone system as the memory BMA that they could deliver
of 1999 to further investigate card needs to be returned a good system – particularly
the Leica Dozer 2000 machi- back to mine office for trans- for a complicated big mine
ne guidance package. ferral of data. On a mine that like the one at Blackwater.“

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“With the IMS system we complicated. The biggest The integration of the IMS
can locate drills, water problem was the file transfer and Leica Dozer 2000 has
trucks and other vehicles system – ensuring that large demonstrated a consider-
over the entire 64km mine files can be transmitted able increase in productivity.
strip on a computer back in over the radio system. This According to Ian Rogers, the
the office,“ BMA surveyor is especially difficult when company envisages consi-
Brad Payne said. “Informa- there are often breaks in derable savings. “We
tion such as the job descrip- transmission such as when believe the trial showed
tion, production statistics the dozer is turned off some productivity gains and
and current machine opera- during a download.“ though it’s hard to say how
tor can also be provided.“ much at this stage, we are
Productivity, security and looking for pay back from The GPS Base station transmits
Following discussions with savings the system within three data to the Rover.
Tritronics, it was decided years.“
to incorporate the Leica Consequently, over the last
Dozer 2000 package into the six months BMA Blackwater Most of these savings are
Tritronics Integrated Mining has been trialling the Leica generated by eliminating the
System. Dozer 2000T integrated need for survey staking and
system – which has opened reducing the re-handling of
“We were asked to do the up a radio link, providing the spoil.
integration between the engineer with direct contact
GPS systems and the data by radio to the machine ope- For Operators such as Les
telemetry system and also to rator and allowing complete “Pfeffy“ Pfeff, the Leica
connect the dozer into the computer designs in the offi- Dozer 2000T has made the
reporting system,“ said ce to be sent directly out to job easier. “It’s a lot easier to
Geoff Baldwin, Manager of the dozer. do the job now because you
Tritronics. “It wasn’t overly follow a plan,“ he said. As

The cab holds a ruggedised

touch-screen computer.
Leica Dozer 2000 computer loaded with the calculation of the offset
Leica Dozer 2000 software, from a road centreline and
The Leica Dozer 2000 com- and a radio receiver. The the volume of earth that has
bines a Machine Guidance radio receives the GPS data been moved during each
Global Positioning System transmitted from the Base work period can be
(GPS) receiver with Com- Station where it is pro- provided. The ‘Leica Site
puter Aided Design (CAD) cessed in the Rover GPS Manager’ then enables the
software, to allow deter- receiver, displaying the conversion of these files to
mination of the exact posi- position of the machine on configure the Leica Dozer
tion of the vehicle in “real the Computer. 2000. The information is
time”. A screen display in then ready to be transferred
the cab clearly indicates Once operating, the Rover from the office computer to
the position of the earth GPS receiver measures the the site computer and back
moving machine relative grade 10 times per second again.
and the Leica Dozer 2000 The bulldozer operator is in
to the desired “design”
software displays cut and The Leica Dozer 2000 direct contact with the office.
surface, enabling the ope-
rator to move left or right, fill amounts along with product can be purchased
and to cut and fill views of the dozer. as a standard Leica Dozer
accordingly. 2000 stand-alone system
In the office, surveyors and with data transfer via a
For high accuracy, a GPS engineers need to prepare PCMCIA card, or it can be
Base Station is established data files to the Leica Dozer purchased as the Dozer
on site, consisting of a 2000. Mine design software 2000T system integrated Mine design software is used to
GPS receiver and radio (such as Vulcan) is used to into the Tritronics IMS provide details of cut and fill.
transmitter to transmit create these files with text system. The Leica Dozer
differential GPS signals to of final design plans 2000 system was intro-
any number of rovers detailing the cut and fill duced to the market by
within 10km range. The from a design surface. In Leica Geosystems, in
Rover is mounted on the addition, the location of cooperation with Carlson
Dozer, consisting of a GPS equipment relative to Software.
receiver (Leica MC500), a existing features (buildings,
ruggedised touch-screen existing roads, bridges etc),

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 for training and operation,
Pfeffy said that it really is
just a matter of pushing the
buttons on the touch screen.
“You haven’t got to be a
whiz kid to understand this
sort of thing.“

Work is also safer, especially

The Rover GPS radio receiver is
at night when visibility is
mounted on top of the Dozer.
poor. There is now less need
for the operator to get down Operator Les “Pfeffy” Pfeff: “The Dozer 2000T has made the job easier.
from the cab to check the It’s just a matter of pushing the buttons on the touch-screen.”
equipment or stakes. The
Leica Dozer 2000T also re-grade a road we used to dozers and one dragline
provides a warning alert have to work five to six assist dozer and were imple-
when the design plan is not hours on the weekend just mented during July and
being followed correctly. to build up the ramp and get August. Another eleven
it right. Now we get it right have been ordered for the
“Here on the mine its just the first time – there is no Peak Downs mine, six for
lots of dirt and as quick as cause for errors.“ the Saraji mine, and two for
you can,“ Bevan Reibel, the Goonyella mine.
Senior Stripping Foreman Working smart will also
said. “However, near save machinery from wear- “Ultimately, this is part of a
enough is not good enough and-tear as well as reduce larger program,“ said Andy
– by doing it accurately maintenance and fuel costs. Davidson. “The Leica Dozer
the first time, it is quicker package is a key element of
because there is no There have also been our long-term success
re-handle and re-work. This discussions to install the strategy. Demonstrating real
system gives live informa-
tion and therefore it is an aid Blackwater coal mine
in the machine to help the
The BMA Blackwater coal mine produces up to 14 million
operator to do his job.“
tonnes of coking and thermal coal per year and has been
operating for over 35 years. As an open-cut operation,
The Leica Dozer 2000T communi- “Ultimately this allows the
draglines and truck/shovel fleets are used for overburden
cations components are mounted operators to feel more in
removal and coal seams are mined by front-end loaders
outside the cab. control,“ Andy Davidson,
or hydraulic excavators.
Engineer for the Business
Website:
Improvement Group said. http://bmacoal.com/bccom/export/operations/blackwater/index.html
“Information between shifts
is shared, promoting more device in the supervisor’s benefits from machine gui-
efficient work towards a vehicle. “There is no reason dance technology promotes
common goal and elimi- why this won’t work,“ Bevan acceptance, which ultimately
nating time wasting. We are Reibel said. “We could then starts to change the culture
empowering operators to do just drive up and check the of the business. This is a
their job better, and with shovel for grade control. classic example of working
million dollar equipment Inspection vehicles are smarter – not harder. You
involved, involving the becoming just as important have to do different things,
operators is a crucial part as the dozer.“ to get different results.“
of adding value to the
process.“ The future looks extremely And Tritronic’s Geoff
bright for the Leica Dozer Baldwin considers the Leica
Brad Payne was also keen to 2000T following the order of Dozer 2000T project as the
highlight the productivity a total of 15 of the systems beginning of a long partner-
saving during the re-grading for the Blackwater mine, ship with Leica Geosystems.
of roads. “The slope of a making it the largest single “We are looking to forge a
grade is really important – sale of the Leica Dozer tighter alliance with Leica
and it is best for the 2000T to any single mine in Geosystems and hope to
Surveyor Brad Payne: “Now we
machines to stay in second the world. These will be promote the use of GPS-
get it right the first time – there
gear to get up the hill, other- fitted to six dragline dozers, based guidance products in
is no cause for errors.”
wise the transmission is four stripping dozers, two the mining industry long
strained. In the past, to mining dozers, two pre-strip into the future.“ Bt

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