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Australian universities advance use of VR technologies in mining

20th November 2015

By: Ilan Solomons

Creamer Media Staff Writer

  

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Australian universities continue to promote virtual reality (VR) technologies to improve safety, mine design and operational efficiencies in the industry.

University of New South Wales (UNSW) mine geotechnical engineering chair Professor Fidelis Suorineni tells Mining Weekly that a VR prototype was constructed and deployed in 1999 at the university as a proof of concept, which comprised a large flat screen for group interaction and a touch screen for trainee interaction, as well as real machine controls and a joystick for manoeuvring in the simulated environment.

He notes that in 2007, the UNSW School of Mining Engineering, in collaboration with the university’s iCinema Centre for Interactive Cinema Research, constructed an advanced visualisation and interaction environment (AVIE) – a three-dimensional, 360° VR stereo-projection facility and the iDOME – a two-dimensional version of the AVIE, for developing mine safety-training simulations.

The AVIE application has been expanded to include research into complex mining problems, Suorineni adds.

“We have also successfully employed VR and scientific visualisation (SV) technology to better understand block-caving geomechanics. This is based on the realisation that factors governing block-caving performance are numerous, complex, multidimensional and time dependent.”

The complexity of block caving is exacerbated by the caves’ inaccessibility, but using VR and SV as indirect, alternative means of entering the cave allows for an understanding of the interplay of factors to determine cause and effect for optimal cave-performance manage- ment, he explains.

Suorineni says it is for this reason that a research block-caving module has recently been added to the UNSW School of Mining Engineering AVIE modules.

He notes that the China Molybdenum and Sumitomo joint venture Northparkes copper and gold mine, in New South Wales, in collaboration with UNSW School of Mining Engineering, has deployed a version of the AVIE at the mine’s “state-of-the-art” block-caving knowledge centre for the safety training of Northparkes’ mining staff.

The school is also working with Northparkes to extend the use of the facility to include managing block-caving operations, Suorineni adds.

Further, the University of Queensland School of Mechanical and Mining Engineering mining division acting head Professor Mehmet Kizil points out that the university has been involved in developing VR applications for the minerals industry since 2000.

He says the university’s MineVR research group recently installed a 180° curved screen in its new Advanced Engineering building to provide students with a semi-immersive virtual environment in which several mining-related scenarios can be simulated.

“We currently have a fully functional surface coal mine and an underground longwall coal mine simulation at the university; it is also planning to extend its library of simulations to include more educational teaching tools, such as the University of Queensland Experimental Mine ventilation, and testing equipment manufacturer Instron’s unconfined compressive-strength rock-testing and trigger action response plan in dynamic risk-management environment simulations,” Kizil states.

Kizil believes that simulating real-world mining scenarios that are either extremely difficult or impossible to access in reality enables students to gain a system’s understanding of mining.

“Using VR in education is significantly more attractive to students, as it is flexible and easier to understand, particularly in mining, where it can be difficult to demonstrate complex mining methods using two-dimensional diagrams.”

He adds that VR has also proven to be effective in reducing training costs and that the number of VR training facilities for mineworkers and operators are “growing by the day”, not only in Australia but also worldwide.

“There have been a number of publications and reports outlining the benefits of using VR in safety and operational training. The industry is well convinced that this technology and way of training is more effective and efficient,” he concludes.

Edited by Martin Zhuwakinyu
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

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