In 2020-2021, 4AI Systems commenced a Proof of Technology project in Western Australia’s Pilbara region for Rio Tinto Iron Ore. HORUS was installed on an AutoHaul™ locomotive on the first autonomous driverless heavy-haul freight railway in the world. The objective was to understand the system’s potential as a complementary technology solution to its operations.
In 2022, Rio Tinto’s Rail Division began investigating the use of an advanced vision system as a way of helping to reduce the risk collisions. The 4AI Systems team collaborated closely with the Rio Tinto Iron Ore team on a feasibility study to assess the use of HORUS as a Collision Avoidance System.
Since the project commenced, petabytes of footage have been collected and analysed. Key functionality included object identification of people, vehicles and large animals within the rail corridor and danger zone; logging of detected events; remote connectivity and deployment; and the system’s ability to adhere to specific business rules, has been analysed.
The pilot demonstrated the technology’s potential as a Collision Avoidance System within the unique operating requirements of the rail network, where the region’s extreme environmental conditions of heat, dust, glare, and vast distances challenge technology reliability.
