Modern Mining December 2021

Building on VLF Very low frequency (VLF) technology allows for a magnetic field to be created around track- less mining machinery underground, which will detect a pedestrian standing too close and will alert the system. VLF’s long wave-lengths can travel through rock, so can detect a pedestrian even when the operator cannot see them. Booyco Electronics developed its first proximity detection systems (PDS) from this technology, creating an electric ‘fence’ around a vehicle. An alarm is triggered when a pedes- trian breaks the boundary of this magnetic field. The physics of VLF is a well-established area of science and industry; it was an important aspect of submarine development, allowing these craft to communicate while submerged under water. Progress in technology continued apace, with Booyco Electronics further evolving its hardware platform to new levels of stability and maturity, Lourens says. Validating equipment Working with EMESRT and Minerals Council South Africa, Booyco Electronics was also the first supplier to validate its equipment through the agreed simula- tion model developed by Vehicle Dynamics Group at the University of Pretoria. This independent veri- fication process was an important step in the PDS and CPS development, creating a quality bench- mark against which all the market players could be assessed.

Booyco Electronics’ CXS solution is now software- driven, allowing even more flexibility and adaptability to customer’s specific needs. “This is another step- change for the technology, as we can keep up with fast-changing industry requirements without replac- ing our equipment,” he says. “The modifications can be made in the software rather than the hardware – and updates can usually be done wirelessly on site.” Among the company’s over 100 mining custom- ers in South Africa alone, Lourens highlights that each site has its own functional requirements, with some sites having more than one set of parameters. The way of the future, then, is software-based flex- ibility, so that mines can improve their requirements over time without having to change their installed PDS equipment. 

Above: The Booyco CXS has leveraged technology to achieve new levels in safety. Left: The Booyco CXS is a comprehensive integrated response to Level 7, Level 8 and Level 9 safety levels as defined by EMESRT.

Key takeaways  Proximity detection systems or Collision Prevention Systems have come a long way in the last decade, with South Africa based Booyco Electronics at the centre of key technological advances  When Booyco Electronics was established in 2006, PDS was an exciting technology helping address mining companies’ heightened concern with health and safety – arising from incidents of collisions between vehicles and pedestrians on mines  Booyco Electronics’ equipment began as essentially a pedestrian detec- tion system only, but has fast grown into much more powerful solutions for mines  Working with EMESRT and Minerals Council South Africa, Booyco Electronics was also the first supplier to validate its equipment through the agreed simulation model developed by Vehicle Dynamics Group at the University of Pretoria

December 2021  MODERN MINING  33