Simplifying water pump management with IoT

With $455 billion in generated revenue, 2023 will go down as the best year on record for Australian mining. However, there’s even more unrealized potential for this booming industry. Mine site operational issues remain a common constraint and result in lost productivity and efficiency.

The opportunity to address the losses was obvious to industry professional Tim Guinea.

“Coming from a mining maintenance background, it was clear to me that IoT technology could help solve a lot of the issues around poor site visibility, equipment monitoring and pump leaks,” Guinea says.

While Guinea knew the need was there, he didn’t have the IoT engineering know-how to put it all together. That’s where Jonah Burnaby came in, and where Autonomy and Asset Management Group (AAMG)—one of the first satellite asset monitoring solution provider for the Australian mining market—was born.

IoT engineer Burnaby says, “It started with Tim, me and a bunch of ideas. Today, we have a range of different IoT solutions that are helping customers make real-time decisions with real-time data.”

Making mining easier for Australian companies

As Guinea knows firsthand, mines can be difficult to manage just based on their geographical scope alone. “Some mine sites here in Australia can span greater than 100 kilometers,” he says. “When something goes wrong with a pump, trying to find it, remove it, fix it and then bring it back can take a long time. With our solution, mines can find their pumps right away and do online diagnostics, saving valuable time and improving mine safety.”

A finalist in the innovation and productivity categories of the most recent Queensland Mining Awards, AAMG’s solution has been key for their customers. Consisting of their AAMG Connect platform and ORBCOMM satellite connectivity and terminals, it enables customers to send remote commands to machinery for pressure changes, valve openings and closings and more. Plus, customers can receive critical alerts and notifications, monitor vehicles, equipment and lighting towers and see key data like engine state, flow rates, engine hours, discharge pressure, suction pressure and more.

Why AAMG chose ORBCOMM

To build industry-leading solutions, you need the industry-leading technology. Today, AAMG leverages ORBCOMM’s satellite and dual-mode satellite-cellular terminals to provide their customers with the data they need, no matter how remote their mining site is.

Versatile and environmentally sealed, ORBCOMM satellite terminals offer a flexible programming environment for solution developers and are built to withstand rugged and remote environments in mining, agriculture, utilities and more. When paired with ORBCOMM’s satellite service, these devices enabled AAMG to build IoT solutions that work in the most remote parts of Australia.

Burnaby says, “Choosing devices with a long-lasting battery and Bluetooth support was important to us as we wanted to limit unit upkeep while also enabling wireless firmware updates.”

AAMG also made use of ORBCOMM’s suite of terminal apps to help quicken solution development time and effectively prototype new builds.

“Because some of our IoT solutions are rather comprehensive, any time we can save during development can go a long way in keeping our costs low and providing customers with the technology they need sooner,” says Burnaby.

The AAMG difference

What sets AAMG apart from the rest of the pack is that they can deliver connectivity in remote areas via satellite connectivity, according to Burnaby.

“Being able to connect customers to their devices, even in areas with little to no cellular coverage, is a big driver for us and helps our customers to achieve their goals. This separates us from our competitors, who often only offer cellular,” he says.

Guinea says that despite emerging competition in the mining IoT solution space, AAMG chooses to stay focused on what matters most: building unique solutions for their customers. “Using cookie-cutter solutions to compete with the big guys goes against what we believe in. We want to be unique in what we offer and deliver bespoke custom solutions that address our clients’ needs,” he says. “And we feel that this is contributing to our growth and to our success. Because we’re not in direct conflict with the big guys, we’ve created our own market of custom IoT mining solutions”.

Plus, their in-house technical expertise allows them to build more elaborate, savvy solutions to help solve specific problems for their customers.

“Knowing the mining industry as we do, we can marry that with our IoT knowledge to be a really dynamic IoT solution provider for the Australian market,” says Guinea.

Looking to the future

AAMG’s next big project focuses even more on leak detection, according to Guinea.

“In mining, there are strict regulations around water management, which is why it needs to be moved accordingly so that mining operations can continue. Failing to follow these rules can result in environmental disasters and millions of dollars in damages,” he says.

For AAMG, the future also involves expanding into other verticals outside of mining.

“What’s great about data is that, if used right, it can be useful in virtually any business. I can’t think of a business owner who wouldn’t want to spend less money or squeeze more production out of their assets,” says Guinea.