Wabtec unveils newest collision avoidance system

Wabtec Digital Mine is setting a new global industry benchmark for workplace safety with the launch of its latest Generation 3 collision avoidance system (CAS). The new system will enhance safety and productivity, as well as provide a new level of performance with a rules and intelligence capability.

Wabtec’s innovation focus was on shifting from traditional proximity detection to true collision avoidance. Core functionality such as real-time self-test, personnel detection and secondary sensing capabilities are maintained in the Generation 3 CAS, ensuring the highest levels of performance in the industry.

The Generation 3 CAS incorporates a brand new, cleaner, simpler user interface with context-based voice alerts that have been built using the latest human factor design. It replaces “beeps-and-buzzer” analog technology with sophisticated discreet, directional, and audible warnings. This interface enables operators to work without distraction and respond instantaneously to audible alerts.

Wabtec worked with Glencore to tailor a system to their needs in Australia’s coal industry. Glencore approached Wabtec with a set of functional and performance requirements. These included vehicle-to-vehicle interactions and the different types of interactions vehicles can experience at a mining site. These requirements also extended to the user interface design so that vehicle operators receive appropriate feedback from the CAS system.

Creating the desired user interface required expertise from the University of Queensland. This led to three years of live proof-of-concept and production testing, which set a new industry benchmark.

The Generation 3 CAS, like previous generations, is designed to be installed on all machine types. The hardware and software developed for Generation 3 CAS is compatible with the Generation 2 CAS system to ensure a seamless transition through the generations and provides customers a clear path to Wabtec’s advanced Level 9 intervention capabilities. It ultimately lowers the total cost of ownership, while giving existing customers flexibility to transition when they were ready.

For more information about the Generation 3 CAS and other Wabtec Digital Mine products, visit www.WabtecCorp.com/digital-intelligence/digital-mine.