PROJECTS
Autonomous Robotic Truck
Safe and efficient
The Epiroc OreSight downhole assay unit is an advanced data logging vehicle for surveying blast pads in surface mining operations. The truck has a smart crane that autonomously spots and drops a probe down boreholes, using radioactive tracing technology to create a 3D map showing various grades of ore.
This system is now owned by Epiroc, and we continue to do production design, analysis, certification for them on this project and more.
Not just any old CAD
MPC Kinetic came to us with an initial design that needed to be optimised. Our first task was some difficult FEA analysis of the robotic arm, then we got to work redesigning the truck tray and mechanical housing.
Our driving sketch CAD modelling system saved time by creating a high-quality SolidWorks model that was ready for both seamless FEA optimisation and real-world manufacturing.
In-house prototyping
The truck tray prototype was built right here in our workshop. Our boilermakers gave the mechanical engineers direct feedback during production, resulting in fast and practical improvements to the design.
Certified safe
After the first trials in the field, we were given the task of certifying the handrails, ladders, and general highly stressed mechanical components, required to operate on mine sites such as BHP, FMG, Rio Tinto and more.
We refined each component to bring them up to higher standards and these changes were made quickly due to our driving sketch CAD modelling system ensuring best practice from day one.
Electronics, simplified
The client’s workshop technicians asked for a simpler way to visualise and assemble the electronic systems on the truck.
We used Altium to document all the cabling and the created circuit boards to eliminate DIN style terminal block wiring within control cabinets. This decreased costs and made it easier and faster for the technicians to wire up the truck, making the system more production viable and getting it to market faster.
