RIGID ROBOTICS has announced that an updated version of the company’s DriveAssist™ platform will be released at MINExpo 2016 in Las Vegas.

DriveAssist is a platform for off-road vehicles with capabilities ranging from collision avoidance and operator assistance to total vehicle automation. The updated platform boasts 2.5cm position accuracy, as well as 100% position availability for up to 1h. These features are particularly important when vehicles travel alongside long walls or to the bottom of mining pits.

Despite these technical advancements, the platform remains low cost and provides benefits to all mining operations, regardless of size or budget. Thanks to universal machine support, identical DriveAssist components can be installed on any piece of equipment or even stationary objects, such as points of interest. This streamlined hardware greatly benefits the end user by simplifying maintenance, training, parts inventory, and support requirements.

"Automation is the answer to cost, productivity and safety challenges faced by the industry today," says RIGID ROBOTICS CEO Mehran Motamed, "It shouldn’t mean expensive and it shouldn’t discount the human aspect of integration.

"That was our approach in creating DriveAssist as a low-cost upgrade-friendly platform."

The DriveAssist platform also remains in compliance with the Global Mining Standards Group and features an Open-API. Through its unified platform, DriveAssist is capable of running multiple applications that can be easily installed. Sample applications include Adaptive Proximity Detection (APD), Predictive Collision Avoidance (PCA), Predictive Emergency Breaking (PEB), Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC), Adaptive Truck Convoy (ATC), and Unmanned Vehicle Navigation (UVN).

MINExpo runs 26-28 September. RIGID ROBOTICS previously announced that it will display an entirely new unmanned aerial system, named CONDUCTOR, at the show. The company’s booth will be #25353, located in the South Hall.