LC's innovative Max Watchdog operation system logger provides streaming information about dragline stresses, loads and boom positions. As a result, dragline production can be dramatically increased by reducing downtime and preventing unnecessary damage.
[Click here to see case studies of Max Watchdog in action]
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Max does all this and more ...
Feedback to ALL involved including:
Operators - Instantaneous operator feedback
Production - Daily, weekly, monthly reporting
Maintenance - Correlation with maintenance information
Management - Reports to mine stakeholders |
Special analyses
- Forensic report capability - all raw data kept for replay if required
- Information for managing risk and increasing production
- Local hardware support
- Continuously developed and improved
- Backup production logger functionality |
Continuous Improvement
Leslie Consulting is fully committed to the MAX Maintenance Logger project. We have a team of full-time staff working on developing and improving the MAX capabilities. Areas of improvement include database development, reporting, logging performance, user interface development, open architecture definition, integration with PLC and other logger suppliers, new sensor development, reliability and maintenance theory integration, finite element modelling, and the development of training and support material and systems.
If you have not spoken to us for three months, you should ask us again where the system is up to. It is very likely that a significant, new, user-requested feature has been added. MAX has been installed on machines in Australia and South Africa. |
Machine User Interface - Feedback For Operators
Leslie Consulting has been researching different ways of providing feedback to operators for several years now. A rigid criteria for success has been applied. The ideal is providing instantaneous feedback to operators so they can improve their performance.
The three criteria are:
- The feedback must have a direct relationship to machine damage
- The operator must be able to respond to the feedback
- If the operator responds to the feedback, the damage rates on the machine must decrease
The current feedback systems have been proven to work in the field. In particular, our instantaneous user interface features a sophisticated algorithm that provides warnings within seconds which correlate closely with high fatigue rates over the full cycle. |
Other aspects of the user interface have been developed in consultation with operators. Features include five minute and cycle summaries of accumulated damage rates, monitoring of maximum compressive stresses with respect to fatigue, photo selection of operators, live plotting of stresses and forces, and a diagrammatic representation of the dragline incorporating the live warnings. Recent periods of very high damage are recorded and can be played back at any time.
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The MAX Reporting System has been designed after consultation with potential clients. This process helped us identify three key requirements:
- Minimum learning curve to access reports
- No custom software to be installed on machines to access reports
- Full customisation capability requests on demand
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Consequently, the foundation of the MAX Reporting System has been the provision of automated reports sent as pdf attachments via email. We currently offer a useful suite of reports which is growing constantly as new report formats are requested and developed. Leslie Consulting will develop reports at the mine's request as part of the maintenance agreement. Any reports developed in this way are then made available to all clients.
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Alternatively, we are able to develop private custom reports under contract which are only available to the client developing them. Daily, Weekly, Monthly reports are fully automated, fully customisable and emailed at required intervals as pdf attachments. Data from other databases can be included (ie. Comparison with production logger data).
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Open Architecture
Until recently, the development of successful logging systems was a complex mix of hardware and software design. The hardware was typically custom built, highly proprietary, and all the sensors, communications and data were locked up by the logging system supplier.
The core system most dragline technicians are converging on is:
- a modern PLC providing controls and alarms for the dragline. All sensors run through the PLC and are provided in defined buffers, scaled, zeroed and ready for use
- analysis units will be microcomputers of some sort, querying the PLC for data, performing whatever analysis is required, and providing data back to the PLC for further distribution. A typical example would be a production logger advising the PLC of machine operational states, or operator interface updating the dig type and operator.
- a single screen for the operator providing all information, including PLC alarms, logging data and displays, video cameras, planning information and so on
- high bandwidth communications back to mine office - typically wireless Ethernet of some form
The potential gain for the mine owner is immense. MAX provides a single communications system, a single set of sensors, well developed protocols, higher reliability and lower cost. Most importantly, it minimises the barrier to new good ideas. Most new systems will become simply a software program. Successful innovations will be based entirely on their value and not on whether they are offered by the company controlling your data. The foundation for this is Open Architecture - where various suppliers and developers commit to sharing hardware and data. Leslie Consulting is committed to developing open architecture solutions and working within an open architecture environment wherever possible.
For example, we have been working with both GE Industrial Systems and Drive Control Services to route as many sensors as possible through the PLC in our current installations.
In an Open Architecture environment, technology suppliers will need to constantly innovate and improve to succeed, and the mines will benefit accordlingly. The information age has been slow to come to the mining industry, but its implications for logging are profound. What matters is no longer centred on how you get the data, but what you do with it. Consequently most of the hardware systems are converging to a common system, equally applicable to maintenance logging, production logging, smart sensor deployment, machine automation, and enhanced control and troubleshooting. The emphasis is on removing the barriers to accessing data so more information can be extracted from it.
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Site Champion Service Option
Stress Monitoring is a new and complex field for the mining industry. Consequently, mine employees do not have an historical understanding of the use and meaning of the data being provided.
As part of the maintenance agreement, Leslie Consulting is committed to initial training of all operators, briefing of production and maintenance staff, regular visits with the site contact (at least every eight weeks) to discuss report development and other issues, and an annual summary report.
However, to get the most benefit from the maintenance logger data during the first couple of years of implementation it will be important for a mine to have a strong site champion, providing regular focus on and discussion of the data at all levels of the mine. The site champion will, through frequent contact and focus, help develop a site-wide awareness and understanding of the information provided by the logger.
At most sites the site champion has been a mine employee, typically from Operational Excellence or with some other continuous improvement mandate.
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If you require further information about any of the above issues, or would like to discuss further how we may support you in this field, please contact us via the following email address.
 Please note. This is not an email link. This address must be typed into your email programme. Sorry about this but we have been overwhelmed with spam.
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