Becoming RockAware

RockAware is a leading AI detection system from Decoda that helps detect obstacles before they can shred a haul truck's tyres.

Haul truck tyres are some of the most important components on a mine site. Without them, products don't get to where they need to go.

It is estimated that haul truck tyres regularly fail at just 40 to 60 per cent of their expected life, causing major disruptions on mine sites and leading to blown-out maintenance budgets.

Many of these tyre failures are quite straightforward – the direct results of continued run-ins with sharp rocks.

When Decoda saw these issues, the company knew it had to do something about it. And from there, RockAware was born.

"The idea for RockAware started when we went out to a customer's site and heard about the issues they were having with tyres," Decoda executive general manager George Spink told Australian Mining.

"Cost and safety surrounding tyres have always been big issues in the mining industry."

According to Spink, many of Decoda's customers have expressed their frustration with how quickly tyres wear out and the potential safety hazards – a rock run over by a haul truck can quickly become a dangerous projectile.

"The risk of a fatality during tyre maintenance is 10 times higher than that of non-tyre related vehicle maintenance," Spink said. "Every customer I’ve spoken to has told me how much they worry about tyre explosions and the risk that comes from them."

But RockAware is here to help. By combining LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) and a camera, the technology scans the ground on which a truck is driving and alerts the operator to any damaging rocks in their path.

"The LiDAR and the camera are the two main pieces of technology that RockAware uses," Spink said. "Then we have an edge computer that is capturing, modelling, and analysing the data that the operator sees in real-time before it is sent to the RockAware cloud platform."

From there, operators can use the gathered data to train future haul truck operators to avoid potential hazards.

"Reviewing the videos gives trainers an opportunity to see how operators are using the machines and then provide a coaching session to improve this," Spink said.

It's not just the safety aspects that have mine operations excited about RockAware. There are environmental benefits, too.

"One of the major environmental issues concerning tyres is that old ones have to be disposed of somewhere," Spink said.

"So if a customer is only getting 50 per cent of life out of a tyre, that's twice as many changes they’re having to do. And these old tyres can really pile up."

By installing RockAware on a haul truck, operators can avoid the hazards that have historically reduced tyre life and get more out of their money.

"One customer was spending more than double their tyre budget because of the continued issues," Spink said. "And obviously that's not sustainable."

The production issues that can arise from blown-out tyres are also unsustainable. Hours of work could be lost from one rogue rock and the subsequent maintenance on the tyre that ran over it.

But by linking up with other technologies that are already in the market, RockAware can ensure a mine's production stays at its peak.

"Thermal scanning looks for hot spots of damage in tyres and identifies where the damage is most pronounced," Spink said.

"RockAware can work with thermal scanning to prevent the impact happening in the first place but also to track how many impacts a tyre had prior to its failure through the platforms portal."

The ability to provide RockAware to different sites has been invaluable for Decoda.

"Partnerships between Decoda and companies in the mining industry are great because we can work together to test out technologies that make the sector safer, more cost-effective and more productive," Spink said.

"Making the industry safer is a great way to attract more workers, and we’ve really appreciated how the sector has engaged with us and allowed us to develop these life-saving technologies."

This feature appeared in the May 2023 issue of Australian Mining.