Serving to to forestall haul street overwatering and underwatering is the brand new Cat 789D autonomous water truck (AWT) designed to reinforce productiveness by enabling mine operations to digitally observe water consumption and cut back waste.
Absolutely integrating into the mine web site’s Cat Command autonomous haulage fleet to manage haul street mud, the market’s first commercially obtainable AWT is constructed on the field-proven 789D mining truck chassis and integrates the truck, tank and Cat Water Supply System (WDS), linked with Cat MineStar know-how.
That includes Command for hauling, the brand new 789D AWT affords the identical potential for better utilization than staffed tools. The absolutely autonomous truck reduces shift modifications, meal breaks and different operational delays to enhance effectivity.
Complying with watering plans, the water truck interacts with different autonomous tools and integrates with buyer mining processes and techniques managed by MineStar.
The 789D is the most important Cat water truck product providing that may accommodate as much as 165,000 l (43,588 gal), relying on tank configuration. The AWT senses when the water tank is operating low and might be programmed to combine with the water refill station to totally automate the water refill course of. The auto shutoff characteristic prevents tank overfilling.
“To fulfill buyer necessities for mud management, Caterpillar applied a MineStar-integrated watering mannequin based mostly on a few years of web site watering research and Cat WDS efficiency information. This mannequin permits the truck to observe visitors, climate and street circumstances, prioritise what areas want watered, when the areas want watered, and what number of passes it ought to take to use the correct quantity of water saturation, for the given circumstances. The mixing of Caterpillar’s a few years of autonomous truck operations and water supply improvement have been mixed to make a excessive performing autonomous watering answer,” says Corey Wurtzbacher, basic supervisor and vp know-how and world gross sales help at Caterpillar.
When Caterpillar got down to develop an autonomous water truck, integration with Cat MineStar Command for hauling and the Cat WDS was key to all the integration course of. The staff started constructing communication between the truck on-board techniques and the workplace management consol to work along with the Cat WDS interface.
To make sure seamless operation and correct communication between the water supply system and MineStar, a compatibility examine has been applied in Cat WDS to verify all truck management techniques are operating suitable software program and reporting any onboard failures to the MineStar system for applicable corrective motion.
Absolutely built-in into the truck’s design, the unique Cat WDS varies waterflow based mostly on truck velocity and mechanically determines the correct quantity of water wanted to manage mud. Understanding the place, when and the way a lot water to dispense, the 789D AWT helps clients preserve water, a scarce useful resource at many mining places around the globe.
When truck velocity drops under the minimal watering velocity setting, decided by web site operations, the system halts water supply to assist forestall overwatering, poor traction, and injury to haul street intersections and different stopping areas.
When truck velocity exceeds the minimal watering velocity setting, the system begins depositing the required quantity of water commanded by MineStar. Cat WDS actively screens water degree and mechanically turns off watering as soon as the tank is empty. To scale back potential injury, the system has a number of safeguards in place to forestall the water pump from operating dry. This characteristic helps lengthen water pump life and extends service intervals.
The automated system’s flat, managed spray sample delivers optimum litres-per-square-meter (gallons-per-square-foot) protection throughout the haul street. Bigger, heavier droplets designed to succeed in the bottom aids in lowering spray loss to wind and evaporation.
Decreasing well being hazards related to airborne particles, automated water supply helps the discount of mud that limits operator visibility for staffed tools to reinforce total web site security. Distant tank fill management, full with auto shut-off to forestall overfilling, eliminates the necessity for a employee to be concerned within the refilling course of, lowering the potential of slips and falls.
Mines can rapidly swap the 789D AWT from autonomous mode to staffed mode as mandatory for duties like entrance water cannon operation. The cannon has a capability of distributing as much as 2,839 l/min (759 gal/min) with a sprig distance reaching 60m (200ft). Even with staffed operation, Auto Mode water supply automates the watering course of to leverage variable water stream and computerized willpower of the correct quantity of water wanted to manage mud.
