Machine Guidance Systems in open pit

mines
by Steve Smith
Trimbles surveying systems are being used in mining and on construction sites around the
world today. This paper will demonstrate how Machine Guidance Systems bring the same
productivity advantages to earth moving applications. Various earth moving applications are
discussed together with details of the individual guidance display devices developed.

Introduction
Trimbles Real-Time Kinematic (RTK) survey systems with on-the-fly (OTF) initialization are being
used in mining and construction sites around the world today to provide real-time centimeter level
accuracys. Productivity increases of 50 to 100% are being realized when comparing against traditional total station surveys.
With the introduction of Trimbles latest GPS technology, the 7400MSi GPS receiver, it is now
possible to provide RTK positions with fast update rates and low latency. This is the first RTK
system to provide almost instantaneous positions at high update rates. The 7400MSi receiver has
been specifically designed for machine guidance and control applications.

Why Use GPS For Machine Guidance?

GPS Machine Guidance Systems have the potential to bring the same productivity advantages
enjoyed by survey systems, to large earth moving operations such as open pit mines. To obtain
maximum productivity benefits though, the entire mine must integrate all the operational components towards a GPS based mine system. This system should provide a complete and comprehensive
real-time monitoring and information system that addresses both current and future needs of open
pit mines and enable improved productivity while minimizing cost.
With declining ore grades and reserves and rising production costs, open pit mines have been
looking to obtain feedback on how each component in the mine is operating. This information
would permit more dynamic planning as market conditions fluctuate, equipment fleets age and
variations in the grade, quality, geometry and hardness of the mined material all contribute to either
changing production targets or levels of achievable production.
Monitoring, guidance and control systems are becoming standard features on mobile equipment in
surface mines. They are providing productivity increases on the mobile equipment, however, productive use of the data and information generated by these systems has been inhibited by the lack of a
suitably integrated mine system. In addition, the analysis of the data requires considerable time and
effort before meaningful results can be obtained.
When a complete mining system has been implemented at a mine, better mine planning and
forecasting will be possible due to improved data collection, and analysis of mining equipment
performance and productivity. The system will allow real-time, mine-wide integration of monitoring,
control and GPS systems using a two-way communication network. The communication network
will also be the facility over which remote/autonomous control and configuration of various mobile
mining machines, for example, drills, front-end loaders, shovels and trucks, will be possible.

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Machine Guidance Systems must ensure that they do not just provide data that requires considerable additional effort and time to process, analyze and interpret. The systems must have the capability to automatically process the monitored data utilizing application software, i.e. the raw data would
be processed onboard the machine, where only the results are transmitted to a remote location for the
immediate use in the decision making.

GPS Technology For Machine Guidance.

The 7400MSi GPS Receiver is a high precision real-time GPS receiver designed for dynamic
guidance and control systems. The receiver is Trimbles fourth generation real-time kinematic (RTK)
GPS system, representing major technological breakthroughs in GPS.
Based on Trimbles field-proven RTK technology, the 7400MSi features fully automatic OTF (onthe-fly) initialization. Centimeter-level position updates are computed five times per second with a
latency of less than 2/10ths of a second. This ensures the response and accuracy necessary for precise
dynamic applications on moving equipment. The receiver is designed for reliable operation in
construction, mining and other precise positioning environments.
Trimbles Supertak multibit GPS signal technology provides superior satellite tracking in the most
adverse environments, including the presence of radio interference. Trimbles Maxwell GPS chip
architecture enables the 7400MSi to provide sub-meter accuracy positions prior to initialization and
reliable initialization for centimeter accuracy on the move.
The 7400MSi provides a simple interface to PC-computers, external processing devices, or control
systems via any one of its four serial ports. An easy to use application file interface enables a user to
completely program the receiver operations with a single command. Real-Time Kinematic operation,
the active coordinate system and all other receiver operations can be set using the application file
interface or by the included remote Controller software.
The 7400MSi can be configured as an autonomous reference station or a roving unit. Streamed
outputs are sent from the receiver to give detailed information which includes: position, quality
assurance data and GPS satellite information. Coordinates can be output in user-defined or preloaded datum and map projection reference frames. The receiver also includes a one pulse per second
(1PPS) output for precise timing of other interfaced equipment.

System Design Considerations For GPS In Mines

Typical site characteristics of an open pit mine are suitable for utilizing GPS. They are in a defined
operational area that is relatively open to the sky, and with the continuous earth moving operations,
there is a continuing requirement for repetitive surveys. The operation is also a long term project that
is very capital intensive. Any productivity gains or savings in operating costs can result in significant
financial savings.
System design considerations such as radio coverage over the entire site and satellite coverage,
especially in the bottom of deep pits have to be taken into account when installing a GPS system.
Base Station

The GPS Base Station is an important component to the RTK system. Using the same base station,
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any number of vehicles or Surveyors can simultaneously position themselves anywhere on the site.
The base station GPS receiver is usually at the mine office site or at a mine radio control room. The
base station GPS antenna has to be mounted so that it has a clear view of the sky as possible and is as
far away as possible from reflective surfaces that could cause multipath. The mast where the antenna
is mounted should not be flexible to avoid the masthead oscillating in the wind. Thick layers of snow
on the antenna will inhibit signal reception therefore the antenna should be placed so that it can be
easily cleaned. A radio communication datalink between the base station and the rover units requires
a radio antenna. This is mounted so that it is as high as possible and far from other radio antennae.
Prior to the installation, a radio survey would be completed to identify holes in the radio coverage
over the site. These gaps in the radio coverage can be filled in by means of repeater stations. These
are simply a radio/modem that picks up the correction data from the base station and rebroadcasts
correction data over and around major obstructions.

Rover Units

The rover units are machine guidance systems that perform various applications in the mining
process. The system design includes the 7400MSi GPS receiver, radiolink, computer running
application software and a graphical display.
Examples of Machine Guidance Applications in open pit mines are: drill positioning, shovel and
loader grade control and rehabilitation work.
The machine guidance system has the capability to integrate with other sensors for data acquisition
and/or control applications. The system can apply vehicle attitude parameters and physical offsets to
obtain positions of points of interest on the vehicle. The system also provides guidance information
in relation to digitally stored points, lines and surfaces. This can be graphically displayed as maps,
profiles or simple guidance indicators.
Data and information transfer is an extremely important component for a machine guidance
system. It must be capable of importing and exporting data from existing mine systems. The machine
guidance systems must also have the capability to receive updated configuration files, data files and
new operator instructions from the site office and transmit the requested information, status, data or
reports back to the site office.
When mounting GPS equipment onto vehicles, it is essential that there is effective damping against
shock and vibration to ensure optimum GPS performance and also to eliminate unnecessary wear
and malfunctions.
The radio antenna has to be mounted so that its transmitting/receiving part, i.e. the base of the
antenna reaches at least the level of the cabin roof to ensure adequate radio reception and transmission.
Education of all personnel involved with GPS guidance on site is extremely important. To ensure
the equipment is correctly operated and maintained, personnel need to understand how the system
improves their daily work.

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GPS Applications In Mining Operations

GPS can be used in open pit mining for a variety of positioning applications. So far GPS has been
used in open pits because it is highly productive, accurate, reliable and economical to use.
Examples of GPS applications in mines are: traditional survey operations, drilling, shovel and
loader operations and rehabilitation.
Traditional Surveying Operations

Concerning mine survey operations, GPS has great potential for large cost savings, especially in the
early development stages of a mine site.
Until now high precision, i.e. centimeter level accuracy, applications of GPS in mining and mineral
exploration have been gravity surveys, seismic surveys, mine lease surveys, borehole surveys, forming
of the digital terrain models, stake-out, control and volume surveys. Recently, the use of vehicles for
survey work, such as collecting topographic data by driving over the area has required the use of
graphical guidance displays to aid in the collection of that data. Machine guidance systems, or at least
portable application guidance systems are being used in GPS survey work.
Drilling

Many applications of GPS are possible in production drilling. When mounted to a drill rig, the rig
operator can accurately guide his drill rig to the predetermined location in the pit. This searched
point could be, for example, the starting point of a future drill hole.
With the help of sensors placed at various places around the drill rig, the rigs own positioning
system can determine the position and orientation of the drill rigs boom. Thus, the accurate determination of the placements and alignments of the drill holes is possible, before drilling the holes and
while drilling them. This enables, for example, the elimination of the out-of-position holes before
blasting. The heights at the drilling site, marked with wooden survey sticks, do not have to be set any
more.
The following machine guidance screens show a typical drilling procedure.
Step 1:Drill rig is graphically displayed along with the proposed drill pattern location. The operator selects a new drill location.

Scan image here

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Step 2:Once a drill location has been selected, the graphics screen will display the rig in relation to
this drill position.

Scan image here

Step 3:As the rig gets closer to the drill location, the graphics screen changes to a bullseye target and
if interfaced to tilt meters, can also display the verticality graphically,

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Step 4:When the drill is completely vertical (in this case) and on location, the crosses will be
centered and the position should be in the center of the bullseye target. The system informs the
operator that everything is within tolerance and drilling can commence. A report of the as-drilled
position is also logged by the system.

Scan image here

It is possible to tie in GPS positions with information from the drill hole in terms of the mines
coordinate system. This enables recording of, for example, drill bits penetration and behavior at the
known depth in the hole and thus determination of the locations of the changes in geological
structures and characteristics. Identification of different rock types could thus help blast engineers to
optimally load each hole by taking advantage of the knowledge of different rock zones.
When drill holes are drilled to the planned positions with the right orientation, many advantages
are achieved. Due to the drill position failures and therefore faulty drilling, drill holes are in some
situations drilled much closer to each other than normal drilling pattern presupposes to make sure of
good results in the excavation stage. With more accurately placed holes, the amount of drill holes
could thus be reduced, because drill holes could be drilled in an optimal pattern.
It must be remembered, that only when holes are drilled in their planned locations, can the
explosives give their optimum performance in the blast. When blasthole bottom points are too close
to each other, it results in overcharging and thus excessive rock shatter and throw. When blastholes
are too widely spaced, it results in low specific charging, poor floor clearance, toes and oversized
boulders. Immediate benefit of correctly placed drill holes is therefore the decrease in drilling and
ammunition costs, because there is no need to overcharge the cut to minimize the risk and action of
faulty holes.
With GPS-based positioning system the amount of overlong drill holes is reduced because the
operator is all the time aware of the exact position of the drill holes bottom point and its position in
the drilling pattern. When all the drill holes have the same bottom elevation, unnecessary breakage of
the lower excavation level is reduced resulting in the lower level to be more even. Unexploded
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ammunition left to the bottoms of overlong drill holes in the basted field, can cause dangerous
situations when beginning to drill afresh on the lower level. Drill holes with correct lengths reduce
the effect of this dangerous situation.
Immediate benefits of correctly placed drill holes reaches to the loading and hauling stage. More
even excavation makes loading and hauling of rocks easier and the amount of hauled material needed
to even the level is reduced. The loading capacity can thus be used more efficiently as the amount of
large boulders and toes in a muck pile is smaller. This leads to a more continuous work and work at
full capacity with shorter cycle times.
With GPS-based drill rig positioning system and drill hole alignment system as part of a totally
integrated mine system, the following working circle could be put into practice:
a hole is drilled into the field
drill holes position data is transmitted to the drill hole optimization program at the mine office
and the calculation of the changes in the preplanned drilling pattern is performed according to
the realized drilling pattern.
coordinates of the next (replanned) hole position are transmitted to the memory of the drill rigs
computer
next (replanned) hole is drilled

GPS guided drill rigs improve both accuracy and productivity. The control system is available
around the clock in any weather, so projects are not delayed due to adverse weather conditions or
because of the absence of surveyors. Rig operators are guided to pre-defined patterns without stakes
in the ground, eliminating a whole step in the process of guiding rigs. Precise as-drilled positions can
be tagged to drill monitoring data for complete office reporting.
The integration of the drilling machine guidance system with other drill systems will provide
additional real-time information. Examples of drill systems are: drill monitoring, material recognition, drill control and maintenance monitoring.
Shovel And Loader Operations

Installation of centimeter level guidance on board shovel and loaders eliminates the costly requirement for survey crew staking. Operators can maintain the correct grade with the aid of precise visual
guidance displays. Because the GPS receiver determines accurate bucket locations, lease and ore body
information can be automatically integrated into the mine system.
Vertical accuracies of 0.25m are required. A grade indicator provides guidance information in
relation to a digital design grade surface. The shovel operation can continue with more complex
design grades than a simple plane that rotating lasers provide. GPS also provides 10km range with a
single base setup, where lasers have <1 km range. The shovel machine guidance system can operate
for longer periods without the need for survey stake out or grade set out supervision.
Horizontal positions can be used to determine information such as lease and ore quality.

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Earth Grading

Knowing the precise location of bulldozer blades dramatically reduces the costs associated with site
development and rehabilitation (returning the area back to the original topography). Dozer and
grader operators can be guided to the design surface without the need for grade stakes or expensive
rework. This saves you time and fuel, and improves work quality and documentation. For rehabilitation, costs are minimized, while ensuring the regulated coverage of subsoil and topsoil is deposited.
The accuracy required for the system is +/- 0.25 m. in the horizontal and vertical. The machine
guidance system will use a pre-dig contour model and will provide cut/fill guidance in relation to the
contour model. A left/right indication to operator can be used for guidance direction to push the
material.
Grader operators reach grade in reduced time with less rework and waste of expensive materials.
Mine Planning

Concentration plants can be optimized if specific ore types are available when the process demands.
This is now possible with precise GPS positioning. Geological information is stored digitally with
respect to the mine coordinate system. The required ores location can be uploaded to the excavator
for immediate removal. In a more practical system, knowledge of exactly what grade of ore is being
delivered from each excavator will allow intelligent scheduling of trucks to specific dump sites.

Mine Operation Control And Information Management Systems

Productivity increases and lower operating costs are the aims of a mine operation control and
information system. It is designed to optimize the flow of traffic in open pit mines and also collect,
process and report on all aspects of the mining operation. The system must provide complete,
accurate and timely information.
The mine management system optimizes fleet assignments, provides real-time accounting, ore
grade control, performance forecasting, maintenance tracking and reporting.
The benefits of Mine Management Systems are: to achieve a large productivity increase with a
given fleet of trucks and shovels, or significantly reduce the truck and shovel fleet needed for required
production.

Conclusion
Machine guidance systems utilizing GPS have the potential to increase productivity by reducing or
eliminating survey stake out by providing the accurate positioning on the vehicle itself. By the use of
application software, the machine guidance system can perform the required operation and take the
position and other sensor data and process the data to provide additional information to the user.
The maximum productivity gains will not be realized however unless the machine guidance systems
are fully integrated with the mine planning, operation control and information systems so that the
digital data can easily be transferred between the various systems and passed on to other operations in
the integrated mine.
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References
Trimble Navigation. Machine Guidance Systems for Mining Operations. Trimble brochure.
Trimble Navigation. 7400MSi High precision real-time GPS receiver for dynamic control systems.
Trimble data sheet.
Salmi, Jyrki Tapani. April 1995. The Use of GPS in Alignment of Open Pit Drilling. Masters Thesis
- Helsinki University Of Technology, Facility Of Process Engineering And Minerals Science,
Department Of Minerals Science And Rock Engineering, Laboratory Of Rock Engineering.
AQUILA Mining Systems Ltd. May 1995. The Total Mining System (TMS) - The Future of Open
Pit Mining. Product Overview.
Modular Mining Systems. 1993. Product Overview brochure.

About the Author Mr. Smith graduated form Otago University, New Zealand with a B.Surv. in 1983.
He has been active in the field of GPS system integration since 1990. Steve is currently working in
Trimbles Precise Positioning Group developing GPS machine guidance systems.

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