TECHNOLOGY
So , Ariel , how is mining benefitting from automated drone use ? Mining was one of the first real relevant applications for drones , especially when you look at pile inspection . Having the ability to look at your facility from above gives you a lot of access to data that I believe is not something that you can get on a needs basis . A lot of companies are service-based , meaning someone will use the drone in starting to understand the scale of the mining facility , and then using third party analysis tools to provide data like pile inspection and 3D modelling and so on .
Mining as an industry needs drone use for increased data . The question becomes a case of where it finds the gap because of the variety of mine types that creates different use cases . But not everything can be drone as a service . It requires different kinds of systems .
What kind of systems are they ? For example , when you use drones for mining , sometimes you want to send a drone into a specific pit hole for 3D mapping or to send a drone for sensors on gas control . There are different drones required for different purposes . The second thing is how you connect the drone as another sensor or another flying data collection system to the rest of the mining data collection . The industry is moving toward fully autonomous mining facilities or mining facilities that collect constant data and so you have to be agile to that . Another example is safety . At Percepto , we provide drones that are hands free from the pilot and connected to the systems that are already in the mine field to enable the drone to react and be a responsive tool . Gas sensors , smoke sensors for a fire , even security sensors or cameras , you ’ d send the drone to get an immediate visual confirmation of what ’ s going on there , so the human factor can react much better to these events .
But when it ’ s not in security and safety , it constantly collects data from the different points of interest within the mining field . That enables you , when you have a system there readily available 24 / 7 , it enables you to have constant ore inspection , heavy utility or heavy machinery inspection , and so on . You will profit because the system is already there .
How has the emergence of
54 June 2018