Excuse me, I think I’m breaking – mining equipment gets smart

Tuesday, April 26 2005

Artificial intelligence is being used to give early warning of machine faults responsible for millions of dollars of lost profits annually in the underground mining industry.

If adopted, says Fresh Innovator Dr Daniel Bongers, this technology could significantly reduce machine downtime, which at present represents more than three months of lost production each year.

Dr Bongers, a mechanical engineer from the Cooperative Research Centre Mining (CRCMining), developed his novel and effective fault detection system as part of an industry-funded PhD project. It is based on a combination of engineering knowledge and neural network technology, he says.

“We can accurately detect faults up to five-minutes before they cause the mine to shutdown,” Dr. Bongers says. “This forewarning will allow miners to temporarily change what they are doing to avoid any downtime at all.”

 “The accurate and timely detection of machine faults will significantly increase the profitability of Australia’s largest export industry,” Dr Bongers said. “Continuous production can be conservatively valued at $150,000 per hour.”

The fault detection technology is a sophisticated computer program that is able to determine the state of the mining equipment using existing machine sensors, such as for temperature, voltage and position.

Dr Bongers said that mines could employ his software as a predictive tool to avoid machine damage and to diagnose faults once they have occurred.

 “Coal is a major export earner for Australia,” said Professor Hal Gurgenci, Vice President of Research at CRCMining.

“The importance of coal exports to the economy of the nation has recently attracted attention through the capacity bottlenecks at the coal loading ports like Dalrymple Bay. Another bottleneck that stops the mines from achieving increased production is the utilization of machinery.”

Full commercialisation is anticipated within two years.

Daniel’s innovation won him a place at Fresh Innovators – a national initiative to bring the work of 16 early career innovators to public attention. Following training in Sydney, the Innovators are talking to the media, schools and business about their ideas. One of the 16 will win a study tour to the UK, courtesy of the British Council Australia. 

For further information contact Dr Daniel Bongers m: 0412 117 984 e: d.bongers@crcmining.com.au

The Cooperative Research Centre Mining media contact is Fiona Sutton t: 07 3365 5637 e: f.sutton@crcmining.com.au

More information can be found at  www.crcmining.com.au/research