Sitting on a Gold Mine:
Aquila and QNX Change the Future of Open-pit Mining

Evan Hansen, Sherri Labour, Martin Politick, Aquila Mining Systems Ltd.

Mining has always been competitive - extracting ore from the ground faster and cheaper has always been the goal of any mining operation. But in many countries, the larger, high-grade ore bodies are becoming depleted, so mine managers must find ways to maximize yields from existing or marginal sites.

To stay competitive, mine managers also strive to streamline daily operations. Decisions affecting the efficiency of a mine depend on timely access to production statistics, geological information, and other data.

Realizing the need for integrated data acquisition and processing in the mining industry, Aquila Mining Systems Ltd. has developed a range of automated monitoring and control systems specifically designed for surface mines.

Both large and small operations can use Aquila monitoring and control systems to track and adjust drilling and blasting operations. Because these systems output detailed production statistics that can be processed in real time, managers and operators can rely on them to position equipment, verify the productivity of a site, and adjust mining operations accordingly.

Automating mine operations

A mine's computer system stores huge volumes of information used by mining equipment in the field. This data includes mapping information such as design surfaces for ore bodies, hidden surfaces (underlying strata of ore bodies), ore grade maps, and the current ground surface. To make use of this information, Aquila equips drills and shovels with an onboard computer and an operator interface. By building systems right into mining equipment, vast amounts of data can be collected and processed in real time to control drills, shovels, and other equipment in response to that data.

Coordinates showing where holes should be drilled are loaded into the drill's onboard computer. Shovels receive an ore grade map, which clearly shows boundaries delineated by color or tone to distinguish ore grades. As drilling or digging proceeds, the system updates the data on the onboard computer and guides the drill or shovel operator.

Updated data can be transferred to the computer system in the mining office any time during or after the operation. The data is made available online, so mine managers can see what is happening as new ground is broken. This gives managers and engineers the opportunity to make informed and timely decisions affecting the efficiency of the mine.

GPS guidance

An optional Global Positioning System (GPS) further refines the level of control and guidance offered by Aquila's drill and shovel systems. Terrain data needed by drills and shovels is transmitted from the mining office to equipment in the field through a radio communications link. As drilling or digging proceeds, the system guides the operator while continuously transmitting updated terrain data back to the mining office.

The GPS management software communicates with the office computer for efficient file transfer, and manages the flow of radio traffic and data to and from the field. The GPS software also monitors many of the general activities at the mine, such as tracking the movement and productivity of drills and shovels to help mine managers increase overall efficiency. Since the system assumes partial responsibility for assisting equipment operators, the cost and complexities of operator training can be reduced.

Guiding shovels

As the shovel operator digs and alters the topography, the onboard display changes to reflect new information. The colors or contrast used in the display change as material of a different grade is exposed. Given the ability to monitor the ore grade, a shovel operator can avoid wasting good ore. And while material is being moved, the operator can determine when the terrain is nearly level.

In addition to this information, the screen displays numeric data along with directional information. As an option, a graphical "moving map" actually shows the shovel operating on the site from a bird's eye view. The moving map maintains a fixed background image of the area and animates the position of the shovel with respect to other objects on the screen (such as shapes that indicate ore grade or digging limits).

Guiding drills

In addition to the same GPS technology used on shovels, the drills require interfaces to sensors that monitor the drill. GPS helps drill operators navigate to hole positions without the aid of survey stakes, and it can also be used to determine the correct depth to drill.

The terrain data provides drilling instructions along with a digital map showing drilling coordinates. The system combines GPS positions with the terrain data, then renders each drilling location on the operator's display to guide the operator to the correct location. Three-dimensional terrain features and hole positions are displayed on a moving map, allowing the operator to navigate to within 8 inches of a drilling location. As drilling proceeds, depth information on ore and waste units is monitored by the system and can be corrected by the drill operator.

The Total Mining System

Our "Total Mining System" concept allows a network of standalone, functional modules to be readily integrated with minimal effort. Our drill and shovel product lines are based on a common platform, the Aquila Advanced Monitoring Platform (AMP). Modularity, both in the hardware and software, was the key to providing one platform to target both large and small operations.

The AMP can be fitted with an operator interface, additional cards and/or sensors, all the way up to GPS technology - whatever is needed to develop site-specific product solutions for our clients.

Advanced Monitoring Platform (AMP)

The AMP is a 32-bit QNX-based system comprising:

• an aluminum housing for electronic cards
• a lightweight, 11.5" x 9" x 2.5" color-display panel
• a rugged, hand-held terminal

The housing design is based on the STD-bus architecture, which allows for the mixing and matching of electronic cards to make up any of our products. For example, we can combine a drill monitoring package with a drill guidance system with relative ease.

Depending on the product, the AMP is configurable with Intel 80486- or Pentium-based SBC cards and can accept any of the following additions:

• 8M to 16M of RAM
• 15 differential analog inputs
• 3 encoder inputs
• 4 analog outputs
• 32 digital I/O interfaces
• 20 RS-232 ports
• a solid state disk with 40M to 80M capacity

The AMP can interface with Allen-Bradley PLC5/11/25/40, SLC-500/03, or Modicon E984/685 PLCs, and it supports a SLIP-based, unidirectional dispatch interface from Modular Mining Systems Ltd.

The right combination

In choosing an operating system for our products, we considered Unix, DOS, Windows NT, and QNX. We felt Unix was too "heavy" for our requirements and didn't offer the realtime processing capabilities and flexibility of QNX. DOS wasn't multitasking or real time, and it was hard to write low-level software. Windows NT wasn't always stable, and too much of the kernel and tools are hidden - we didn't have access to the guts of the OS.

QNX provided us with the right combination of stability, realtime performance, and functionality. Its multiuser operation and multitasking abilities enabled us to develop an application consisting of many independent processes that run simultaneously - QNX performs all data acquisition, processing, communication, and display functions within the AMP.

QNX"s x86 support - including its unrivaled variety of peripherals, buses, and network configurations - combined with its ability to handle multiple connections simultaneously, gave us the flexibility to collect and share information between multiple subsystems. And because QNX is expandable, additional services can be added at any time.

We took advantage of the rich selection of development tools and peripherals available for PC-based systems, thereby avoiding the costs normally associated with custom hardware and software development.

Our products can run standalone or be readily interfaced with existing onboard PLCs or GPS-based surveying systems. The systems can be retrofit to existing mine equipment or installed in the factory at OEM plants and configured to operate with most existing radio or dispatch communication interfaces. In short, QNX lets us develop, maintain, and upgrade customer systems quickly and easily.

Developing the target

Our "target" system consists of a core set of QNX processes with a standard API and a graphical user interface. Each server process handles the driver for a specific piece of hardware. Since all server processes access the standard API, one driver can be replaced easily by another without affecting any part of the application.

The client processes are specific to the application. We try to isolate every one of our product options in a set of self-sufficient modules. This makes it easy to upgrade the functionality of our products by enabling/configuring the corresponding set of client processes.

For example, the server process handling the display allows more than one client process to update the same pictures, which provides great decoupling capabilities and the required amount of modularity in our product. One generic interface server (menu/state driven) with clients updating their respective interfaces eliminates the need to manage various aspects of the user interface.

Development and testing were easy to manage with QNX, since modules can be worked on "in pieces" by individuals or small teams. We appreciate the fact that each QNX driver runs as a standard process - you can start, test, and stop services without compiling the kernel.

Our development environment is built around four QNX servers. One of them holds the source code and runs automated tasks such as backups and compilation. The other three, used as Photon servers, provide a "home" for our users. All four run TCP/IP and NFS server.

The development team uses NT-based workstations with TCP/IP and NFS clients. This lets us mount QNX partitions to our NT filesystem so that any editor can be used to modify the code. We enter compilation commands through a Phindows shell and test our graphical application in an emulator that runs in Phindows. Final integration tests are completed on a test platform with the actual hardware.

The fact that QNX is a scalable realtime OS designed specifically for embedded systems gives us the freedom to run "light" applications (under 8M of RAM) without a lot of custom hardware design. We can tailor the OS to use minimal space, a clear advantage since space is limited on the AMP's solid state disk. We've even been able to create demos of our application on floppy diskette (no hard drive required!)

Success

Since Aquila's inception in 1992, we've installed over 35 systems in more than 20 different coal, iron, copper, and gold mines. Our products are being used in Canada, the US, Australia, South Africa, and Russia, where QNX has proven to be an extremely robust and stable platform - a significant factor in the success of our product.

Blasting, surveying, drilling, excavation, and even processing operations are all made more efficient by the installation of Aquila's systems. In addition, the information gathered by these systems provides managers with timely and accurate data, enabling them to streamline their planning process and thereby stay competitive.

Forging ahead

We have recently concluded successful beta testing on a new product for inclined drilling. The construction industry has shown a great deal of interest in our application and we are currently evaluating how we can run our applications on equipment such as graders, bulldozers, and wheel loaders.

Our vision sees our products as essential components of tomorrow's Total Mining System, the fully automated mine, where mining equipment can navigate on its own, fully guided by Aquila's systems.