Technology pacesetter Becker Mining Systems Australia recently installed its latest tracking and tagging solution at large underground mines in Queensland and NSW.
The BECKERTAG system enables tracking of all on-site staff, vehicles and assets at a mining operation. Becker utilises active tags to transmit unique codes to strategically placed tag readers that then provide data to a centralised tracking database. The data is used for a myriad of solutions including location tracking, traffic management, access control and
production cycle times.
The system’s CATS user interface and management system is a customisable Windows-based system that supports full graphic mine displays and traditional tabular-type data display.
CATS can distinguish between various tags to monitor vehicles, staff and other assets, and it also offers control tags that can be used to manage hazardous area access.
All Becker tag readers are equipped with the company’s Received Signal Strength Indicator technology, to assist with accurate positioning of detected tags when required.
Its tag readers are locally connected via a RS485 data bus and then typically transmitted via fibre optic cable, RF transmission or WiFi to the central server. Becker’s active tagging principle requires all miners (at underground operations) and vehicles entering a mine site to have an encoded transmitter (tag) fitted.
