OEM expands electric drive, automation offerings

Unveiled in mid-September, equipment maker Caterpillar’s (Cat’s) new energy management system – Dynamic Energy Transfer (DET) – offers the ability to transfer electrical energy to both diesel-electric and battery-electric large mining trucks while they are working around a mine site, giving operators the ability to further the rollout of electric drive systems as mines modernise and look to electric drive mobility.

Designed entirely by the original equipment manufacturer (OEM), the Caterpillar DET can also charge a machine’s batteries while providing the ability to operate with increased speed on gradients, improving operational efficiency and machine uptime.

The Caterpillar DET is comprised of a series of integrated elements, including a power module that converts energy from a mine site’s power source, an electrified rail system to transmit the energy to passing vehicles and a machine system to transfer the energy to a truck’s powertrain.

The rail system is a highly deployable, mobile solution that can be customised to customers’ specific site layouts, including high-speed and curved haul roads. The connecting arm can be installed on either side of a truck and on multiple truck models.

“We believe Cat DET provides a technological leap for the mining industry. Our team of innovators designed this system to provide immediate benefit to miners who want to lower their operating costs and greenhouse-gas emissions today while also creating flexibility for the future,” says Cat Resource Industries group president Denise Johnson.

She adds that Caterpillar understands customers need choices to fit their unique site objectives, and through technology such as the DET, can support current customer needs and those of the future.

The company states that its DET can also be used on mature or developing sites, and can be easily moved or expanded to accommodate optimal mine site coverage.

Battery Energy Transfer

Also in September, Caterpillar showcased a new solution to support battery-electric truck charging – the Cat Automated Energy Transfer System (Cat AETS), at its Tucson Proving Ground in Green Valley, Arizona, in the US.

The Cat AETS uses robotics, and robust vision systems and controls to fully automate the connection between a battery electric machine and a 2 MW to 6 MW stationary charger, replacing the manual process of mine site personnel connecting and disconnecting a charger from a battery-electric machine, thereby also facilitating a more fully autonomous site operation.

Automating the charging process can also reduce downtime and improve consistency and reliability of the machine charging process.

Autonomous Operations

The Cat DET can integrate with the company’s autonomous and remote control platform – MineStar Command – for hauling solution, merging autonomy and electrification technologies, to provide a holistic site solution.

MineStar Command manages the autonomous ecosystem to increase haulage efficiency through less idle time, bunching of trucks at a loader, unnecessary empty travel and wasted fuel.

On the back of more than 11 years of operational experience, commodities mined around the world using Command for hauling – currently outfitted in hundreds of trucks at sites across three continents – include iron-ore, copper, gold, coal, oil sands, lithium and traprock, surpassing 8.6-billion tonnes of material autonomously hauled.

“We believe mine sites will benefit from enhanced efficiency with the integration of electrification and automation. When combined, these technologies will help miners achieve production targets while simultaneously managing energy demands,” says Cat senior VP Marc Cameron.

“The mine site of the future will be more complex than ever before as customers look to achieve the same production goals, while balancing new challenges such as energy management.

“We believe the linkage between automation and electrification will unlock the potential for a complete ecosystem integrating technologies to meet or exceed the demands of today and tomorrow,” says Johnson.

Command for hauling enhances safety by removing haul truck operators from potentially hazardous conditions, detecting and reacting to surrounding conditions and obstacles as well as interacting safely with staffed equipment and light vehicles using a combination of Cat’s advanced onboard perception system and proximity awareness.

These technologies enable the trucks to maintain optimal following distances and safe operating speeds and, upon detecting an obstacle or anticipating an interaction, automatically stop or slow the truck’s speed.

“Of all the autonomous statistics and milestones Cat has achieved over the past 11-plus years, the most important is that all of this has been reached without any reported injuries resulting from the mining trucks operating autonomously. We know that safety is of the utmost importance to our customers, and it is our top priority at Caterpillar as well,” highlights Cameron.

With retrofit kits available, Cat’s current range of mining trucks capable of fully autonomous operation span the 190 t to 370 t class sizes, including the Cat 789D, 793D, 793F and 797F, as well as the electric drive 794 AC and high-altitude 798 AC models.

Beyond haul trucks, the Cat 789D water truck platform can be equipped with Command for hauling, providing a fully autonomous solution to manage haul road dust.

Soon, Cat will expand autonomous haulage to its 139 t, Cat 785. These models can be equipped with a portion of the autonomous kit from the factory, making them Command-ready to reduce installation time in the field.