Engineering and Mining Journal - Whether the market is copper, gold, nickel, iron ore, lead/zinc, PGM, diamonds or other commodities, E&MJ takes the lead in projecting trends, following development and reporting on the most efficient operating pr
Issue link: https://emj.epubxp.com/i/148853
O P E R AT I N G S T R AT E G I E S mation. The interface will be simple to implement and the benefit to them will be that they are now able to request that their application take the focus based on a prioritization scheme. Everyone will want their system to be in focus of course, so a prioritization scheme will be defined as well," he said. "The last phase of the third generation is to support shared services from the display such as GPS location information, engine parameters, sensor parameters and the like. This would allow simpler application development and minimize the amount of hardware that each supplier needs to provide to make their application work," he said. They currently intend to demonstrate phase one of the first generation in August, and are hopeful that the next phase will follow in quick succession because of an encouraging response from equipment vendors, Pyke added. Chapman said the nature of the GMSG, based on industry-wide collaboration, is enabling this project to advance quickly. "Perhaps the most significant challenge associated with this initiative is the proprietary nature of the technology vendors—this is a fiercely competitive mar- www.e-mj.com A preliminary screen layout arrangement for a Unified Shovel User Interface. ket," said Chapman. "Despite this fact, our working group has attracted an impressive list of OTM (technology manufacturers), OEM (equipment manufacturers), consultants and mine operators, and grows with each passing week. I am continuously surprised and impressed with the willingness of companies to collaborate with the group—not only does this lend credibility to our endeavors, but also speaks volumes about a new and exciting culture change within the mining industry with respect to collaborative innovation." The functioning, "manipulatable" Unified Shovel Interface proof of concept was scheduled to be unveiled during a joint workshop between the GMSG and the Earth Moving Equipment Safety Round Table (EMESRT), on August 15 in Montreal, in conjunction with the World Mining Congress and the International Symposium on Automation and Robotics for Construction and Mining. AUGUST 2013 • E&MJ; 99