32 iVTInternational.com February 2020
UNDERWORLD CONNECTIONS
Real-time 5G connectivity is enabling
the remote-control vehicles which
may transform mining and
construction. In collaboration with
Ericsson and Telia, Volvo CE has built
Sweden’s first industrial 5G testbed
at its Eskilstuna R&D facility, 90km
west of Stockholm. Like Caterpillar,
Volvo expects remote-control to
revolutionise safety by removing
humans from mines and jobsites.
Alongside autonomous HX02 haulers,
Volvo has operated a 5G remotecontrol
wheel loaders from a
simulator over 50m away behind a
concrete wall at Eskilstuna.
Volvo’s first venture in remote
control came about through PIMM
(Pilot for Industrial Mobile
communication in Mining), a project
led by Swedish research institute
RI.SE. A Volvo wheel loader working
400m down a mine in Boliden,
Sweden, was guided by a remote
operator comfortably ensconced
above ground. Connectivity was
provided by Telia, who built a
dedicated 4G network in the mine.
“Boliden’s operators sat in the
control room, guiding the machine
underground as if they were in it,”
says Volvo CE’s Catrin Nilsson. “They
had the same joysticks and
environment, but much better
visibility, because using cameras
removes physical obstacles.” As well
as the six visual monitors another
screen displayed loader functions,
and inertia measurement technology
captured vehicle movements. The
need for instantaneous control tested
the limits of 4G data-transmission.
“We had to achieve reliable
operability with very low latencies,”
says Nilsson. “We got delays down
enough for it to feel like real-time.”
Volvo CE believe remote-control
will make work not only safer, but
also more productive. Machines can
resume operations straight after
blasting, instead of waiting on
evacuation procedures. “It’s not for
everyone,” says Nilsson. “Sites must
be sufficiently profitable to gain value
from building a network but may
balance that cost if automation allows
24/7 operations.”
it’s harder. Only a few countries have
invested in launching 5G and we
still rely on 3G and 4G. For realtime
and low-latency, private
network LTE is the industry trend.”
“We’re pragmatic: it’s whatever
makes sense,” echoes Fred Rio,
Caterpillar’s worldwide product
manager for construction digital and
technology (full interview: p22).
“First, the telematics box asks: ‘Is
there wi-fi?’” If not, it says: ‘Is there a
cellular network?’” Then: ‘Is there a
satellite outlet?’ If not, it consolidates
files for USB off-boarding. We will
leverage 5G in developed countries
and urban areas, but may still need
wi-fi in the pits of a mine.”
Caterpillar continuum
Caterpillar developed internal
telematics systems in the 1990s to
avoid continually calling customers
testing prototype machines.
ProductLink became standard-fit on
wheeled excavators in 2007 and
most other products in 2008. Today,
Cat telematics span an adaptable
spectrum, with many thousands on
daily, shallow, event-driven reports
to just hundreds on highly
customised solutions. Missioncritical
quarry machines may
require high-end predictive
monitoring, while clean-up vehicles
need only a daily ping. “For one
cruise ship operator, we stream in
many thousands of channels at over
1Hz, monitoring most of the ship’s
systems,” says Rio. “It’s a scalable
continuum, reflecting the breadth of
industry we serve. That axis of
sophistication is inversely
proportional to volume.”
The proliferation of rich machine
data threatens to create streaming
choke-points, driving up costs.
Caterpillar aims to transmit more
efficiently by using on-board
intelligence to understand and prepackage
data. “Instead of streaming
it all, we can create a histogram of
ABOVE: Volvo is
developing connectivity
not only for telematics
but also for remote
control, particularly in
mining contexts
CONNECTIVITY
“WE WILL LEVERAGE
5G IN DEVELOPED
COUNTRIES AND
URBAN AREAS,
BUT MAY STILL NEED
WI-FI IN THE PITS
OF A MINE”
Fred Rio, worldwide product manager for
construction digital and technology, Caterpillar
/iVTInternational.com
/RI.SE