CAES is a component of the MineStar system. Additional components of the MineStar system are listed below:
MineStar® Fleet Commander - Schedules and assigns trucks; maximizes production and shovel utilization, and minimizes truck wait time. Designed to handle small, medium and large fleets.
MineStar® Production - Provides constant productivity information from trucks, loading tools, and earthmoving machines in order to increase efficiency of mining operations.
MineStar® Health - Acquires machine and fleet health in real time over a wireless network from VIMS. Reports to either a service center or else to a production database in order to improve maintenance operations.
MineStar® Material Tracking - Monitors material movement and type. Alerts operators and planners of mis-routes to ensure material is moved to the proper location.
MineStar® Machine Tracking - Monitors machine location for the entire fleet. Incorporates playback function to analyze dump movement and haul road congestion.
MineStar® Business Enterprise - Integrates mining functions such as mine planning, real time production, machine health, financial information, and human resource information to mining company Enterprise Systems.
CAESultra must be configured in order to provide the information that is required by the other components of the MineStar System. Machine configuration keys are used in order to configure CAESultra to send messages at various events. The companion MineStar components use the information contained in these messages.
Reference: For additional information on configuration keys, refer to Systems Operation Manual, "Machine Configuration File".
Startup
When CAESultra is started, a Startup2 message is sent to MineStar. Table 1 details the information that is contained in the Startup2 message.
| Startup2 Message | |
|---|---|
| Information | Comments |
| Current Delay Identity | The identity of any delay that was active when CAESultra was last shut down. |
| Current Software version number | For example, 2003.1.0 |
| SMU | Service meter hours for the machine |
| Version number of all MineStar files | For example, 1.0 |
Delays on Startup
The operator can initiate a delay prior to CAESultra shut down. When the delay is initiated, a StateChange message is sent to MineStar. By default, CAESultra continues the delay when CAESultra is next started. The startup2 message reports the active delay to MineStar. A StateChange message to end the delay is sent when the operator ends the delay.
The delay behavior on startup can be customized to either discard the delay when CAESultra is next started, or else to end the delay when CAESultra is next started.
$ No Delay Save - Machine configuration key used to customize the delay behavior on startup
Reference: For additional information on configuration keys, refer to Systems Operation Manual, "Machine Configuration File".
Login
By default, a new operator is not required to log in. However, CAESultra can be configured to require a new operator to log in either when CAESultra is started or else when an operator change is initiated. The login default behavior allows the new operator to either select an operator identity from a list or else to enter a new identity.
CAESultra may also be configured to require the MineStar office system to authorize a new operator identity at login. A "Please Wait" message is displayed while authorization is in progress. The Please Wait dialog is closed and login is completed once the MineStar office system has authorized the new operator identity.
If the MineStar office system does not authorize the new operator identity, then the login process is restarted. If this situation occurs, then the operator must log in with another operator identity.
The following keys are used in order to configure the operator login process.
$ Login Required - Requires a new operator to log in
$ Login Authorization Timeout - Sets the maximum length of time for login authorization
$ No Login From File - Requires the operator to always wait for login authorization from the MineStar system
$ No Operator Id Verification - Disables operator identity confirmation dialog
$ No Timeout Login - Disables login completion following expiration of the authorization timeout
Reference: For additional information on configuration keys, refer to Systems Operation Manual, "Machine Configuration File".
Remote Logout
The MineStar office system may be used to remotely log an operator out at any time. Once logged out remotely, the operator must log in again to resume normal operations.
Remote Login
The MineStar office system may be used to remotely log in an operator or to confirm a login that an operator has made. Remote login is normally used when the operator starts the Login process. The remote login message includes a machine operator name and identity pair.
Sites can choose to not use machine operator lists on the machine from which the operator can select their name. In this case, the operator enters an ID which is sent to MineStar for confirmation.
Any site may choose whether or not to have a list of operators. Additionally, any site can choose whether or not to require the operator to log in.
Note: Only MineStar sites can use remote login.
Truck Operator and Identity
Some sites can choose to not use truck lists on the machine. Either the office or else a truck can send a truck operator name and identity message to CAESultra on the machine. If a machine does not have an operator file, then MineStar must send the operator names that are to be displayed.
The message format is the same as the Remote login message. The message includes the truck operator name and identity pair. The truck operator name appears in both digital windows, as well as in waiting truck windows.
CAESultra maintains the truck operator and identities in a temporary extension of the operator list. The additional truck operator and identity pairs are removed from the operator list when the machine operator logs out. This process ensures that the new operator does not use a truck operator identity when logging in.
$ No Remove Temporary Users On Logout - After the machine operator logs out, this key is used in order to retain the temporary operator list pairs.
Note: The additional name and identity pairs are always removed from the operator list when CAESultra is shut down.
Job Code
Job codes can be used to attribute machine usage to a particular contract or to a particular project.
A list of job codes is contained in a MineStar *.mwf file. The operator can select a job from the list. The job is reported to MineStar.
$ Save Job Code - This key can be used in order to save and restore the job code when CAESultra is shut down and restarted. The job code is sent to MineStar when CAESultra is restarted.
Table 2 defines the content and format of the job code message that is sent to MineStar.
| Field | Size | Description |
| Flags | Unsigned 8 | Unused |
| Job Code | Unsigned 16 | Code from the job code file |
| Location | Unsigned | |
| Time stamp | Unsigned 32 |
Position Reports
CAESultra can be configured in order to send Position Reports to MineStar. The position reports include speed, position, and timestamp information, along with indications for accuracy and the number of available satellites.
The following machine configuration keys are used in order to enable the position reports to MineStar.
$ Position Distance Interval - Enables position reports to MineStar at specified distance intervals
$ Position Time Interval - Enables position reports to MineStar at specified time interval
Reference: For additional information on configuration keys, refer to Systems Operation Manual, "Machine Configuration File"
Waiting Truck Window
MineStar assigns the trucks to the machines. The trucks send status messages to their assigned machine. The Waiting Truck window displays specific information that CAESultra has extracted from the truck message. This information includes the current status of the trucks and the estimated time of arrival (ETA) of the trucks.
 | |
| Illustration 1 | g01188106 |
Waiting Truck Window | |
Table 3 describes the information that is contained in the Waiting Truck Window.
| Term | Description | |
| ETA | Estimated time of arrival of the truck. The ETA is sent to CAESultra. The ETA is an unsigned 4-byte value representing the seconds since 1970. The time is in the GMT time zone. | |
| Material | The dominant material in the truck load | |
| Operator | The identity of the truck operator | |
| State | The activity that the truck is currently engaged in. Possible states include: |
|
| - Dumping - Loading - Out of Service - Route End - Waiting - Spotting: |
||
| The truck is positioning under the loader. Follows the waiting state | ||
| - Travelling: | ||
| The truck is on the way to the loader. | ||
| - Unknown | ||
| Truck | The identity of the truck | |
A truck that is in a state of Travel is displayed in the Waiting Truck window as long as the ETA is not 0 (zero). A truck that is in a state of Travel is removed from the Waiting Truck window if the truck sends an ETA of 0 (zero).
As shown in Illustration 2, the Waiting Truck Window may be customized so that only selected columns are visible. In this particular window the Operator and Materials columns are not visible.
 | |
| Illustration 2 | g01188107 |
Customized Waiting Truck Window | |
The Screen Configuration Utility on an office PC can be used to create Waiting Truck windows.
Reference: For additional information on creating windows, refer to Systems Operation Manual, "Window Configure".
Use the following steps in order to both create and to customize a Waiting Truck window.
- Open the CAESultra main menu.
- Select the Configuration item. The Configuration submenu appears.
- Select the Waiting Trucks item. The Waiting Truck window is created.
- Use the cursor in order to size the window for maximum resolution.
- Click on the columns within the Waiting Truck window. Drag the columns either in or out to the necessary size. A column can be dragged in fully so that the column is no longer visible.
- Save and send the newly created window and screen configuration to the machine.
Reference: For additional information on configuring windows, refer to Systems Operation Manual, "Window Configure".
Material Identification
CAESultra identifies the predominant material, as well as the additional material parameters, in both bucket loads and truck loads.
Reference: For additional information, refer to Systems Operation Manual, "Material Identification".
Both dipper and load report messages containing information about the materials are sent to MineStar. The message frequency and content of these messages is configurable.
Prior to CAESultra version 2003.1.0 both LoadReport and DipperReport messages were sent to MineStar. After CAESultra version 2003.1.0, both the LoadReport2 and the DipperReport2 messages were added.
By default, both the new load reports and the new dipper reports are sent to MineStar. CAESultra can be customized to send the old message, the new message, or else both messages.
Machine configuration keys are used in order to configure both the content and the frequency of the dipper messages and the load messages. Some of the keys that are used include:
$ Clear Dipper Message Defaults - Clears the default items from the dipper message
$ Dipper Message - Customizes the dipper message
$ Disable Load Report - Disables all load report messages and all dipper report messages to MineStar
$ Include Dippers In Load Report - Specifies that dipper records be added to truck load reports
$ Include TPI Material Name - Specifies the inclusion of materials that are identified by a third party interface
$ Include Truck Id In Load Report - Specifies that the truck identity be added to truck load reports
$ Max Materials Reported - Specifies the maximum number of other materials, other than the predominant material, that can be included in a report message. Applies to the new messages only.
$ Report Parameters - Specifies the additional material parameters that are to be included in the report messages to MineStar. Applies to the new messages only
$ Send Dippers - Specifies the frequency of dipper records in the reports
$ Send Load Report On Clear Truck - Specifies that a load report be sent to MineStar when a truck is cleared
$ Use Old Load Report - Specifies that the old load report, the new load report, or else both load reports are to be sent to MineStar. Also specifies that the old dipper report, the new dipper report, or else both dipper reports are to be sent to MineStar
Reference: For additional information on configuration keys, refer to Systems Operation Manual, "Machine Configuration File".
Dipper Report 2
The new dipper report message is used in order to send a full report of all the dipper parameters to MineStar. Table 4 specifies both the format and the content of the DipperReport2 message. Table 5 contains a description of the dipper values. Table 6 contains the report parameters.
| Dipper Report 2 (8525) | Used in order to report all information about the load | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Value | Size | Units | Comments |
| Timestamp | 4 | 4 | |
| Location | Varies | Standard machine location value. Size is set with the internal flags. | |
| Load id | 1 | Number to associate this dipper with a truck load. | |
| Dipper Number | 1 | Number of this dipper in the load. Dippers are numbered consecutively beginning with dipper 1. | |
| Dipper Values | Varies | See Table 5 | |
| Dipper Values | Used with both Dipper reports and Load reports | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Value | Size | Units | Comments | ||
| * Parameters marked with an asterisk are optional and are included if the corresponding flag is set | |||||
| Load Flags 1 | 1 | Bit 0 = Material Type Bit 1 = Material Id Bit 2 = Material Percent Bit 3 = Other Materials |
Bit 4 = Other Material Type Bit 5 = Other Material Id Bit 6 = Other Material Percent Bit 7 = Load Flags 2 Included |
||
| Load Flags 2* | 1 | Bit 0 = Truck Id Bit 2 = Dipper East, North Position Bit 3 = Dipper Elevation Bit 4 = Dump Position |
Bit 5 = Dump Elevation Bit 6 = Dipper Reason Bit 7 = Load Flags 3 Included |
||
| Load Flags 3* | 1 | Bit 0 = Swing Angle Bit 1 = Load Time Bit 2 = Load Duration Bit 3 = Move From Truck Duration |
Bit 4 = Dump Duration Bit 5 = Report Parameters Bit 6 = Weight Bit 7 = More Flags |
||
| Material Type* | 2 | ID | Value from the extended material text in the CAES file. One parameter may be used as an Id. It could be a polygon id or a block id. More ids may be set in the report parameters. | ||
| Material ID | 4 | ID | This is a value which is extracted from the extended material text in the CAES file. One parameter may be used as an ID. This ID may be either a polygon ID or else a block ID. Additional IDs may be set in the report parameters. | ||
| Material Percent* | 1 | 0-100% | Percent of the truckload made up of this material. It may or may not include mined out and unknown material. | ||
| Mined Percent* | 1 | 0-100% | Percent of this material type that is from a mined out area | ||
| Other Material Count* | 1 | Other materials (up to the maximum allowed configured material count) that were identified in the dipper | |||
| Repeated other Material times | Type* | ||||
| Truck Id* | 2 | ID | Only found in a MineStar system or else in a Modular system where the name is mapped to an id in the machine file | ||
| Weight* | 2 | Not currently available in this report | |||
| Dipper Position* | 8 | Centimeters | East and north dipper position. A separate flag controls the dipper elevation, since this may not be available. | ||
| Dipper Elevation* | 4 | Centimeters | |||
| Dump Position* | 8 | East and north bucket position when dumping | |||
| Dump Elevation* | 4 | Bucket Elevation when dumping | |||
| Dipper Reason* | 1 | Reason bucket was dumped | |||
| 0 = Unknown 1 = CAES dumped in truck (positive dump) 2 = End of load: Current load ended while the dipper was full. 3 = Another material was identified before the first material was dumped. |
|||||
| Swing Angle* | 1 | Angle from the load to the dump point. Only valid on a FS or HEX. | |||
| Load Time* | 4 | Seconds | Time loading started | ||
| Load Duration* | 2 | Seconds | Load duration | ||
| From Load Time | 2 | Seconds | Time from the end of loading until the machine starts dumping | ||
| Dump Time* | 2 | Seconds | Time to dump | ||
| Report Parameters* | Varies | See Table 6 | |||
| ID* | |||||
| Percent* | |||||
| Mixed Percent | |||||
| Report Parameters | Used by both the load report and dipper report. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Value | Size | Units | Comments | ||
| Report Count |
1 | Bytes | Count of the report parameters | ||
| Repeated Count Times | Flag | 1 | Bits 0 – 5: | Index of the report parameter (0 – 64) as configured. Actual report parameters are configured elsewhere. | |
| Bits 6 – 7: | Parameter type 00 = Floating point value 01 = Id (4 byte integer) 10 = Null terminated char string |
||||
| Parameter | Variable | Report parameters will be configured from the material parameters. Parameters could be identifiers, floating point numbers, or text. The flags will identity the material type. | |||
Load Report 2
The LoadReport2 message contains all of the information available for the load report. The LoadReport2 message includes the set of report parameters that are configured in the on-board system. This message may also contain Dipper Reports. The Dipper Report records are the same as those detailed in Table 5.
Note: Dipper records that are included in the load reports should be kept to a minimal size. The total length of the message is 508 bytes. Messages that are configured to exceed 508 bytes are truncated.
Table 7 specifies both the format and the content of the LoadReport2 message. Table 5 contains a description of the dipper values. Table 6 contains the report parameters.
| Load Report 2 (8524) | Used in order to report all information about a dipper | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Value | Size | Units | Comments | ||
| * Parameters marked with an asterisk are optional and are included if the corresponding flag is set | |||||
| Timestamp | 4 | Seconds | |||
| Location | varies | Standard machine location value. Size is set with the internal flags. | |||
| Load id | 1 | Value used to synchronize trucks and dippers. This will roll over every 256 loads. Dippers associated with this load will have the same id. | |||
| Dipper Count | 1 | Number of dippers in the load. | |||
| Load Report Flags 1 | 1 | Bit 0 = Bit 1 = Bit 2 = Bit 3 = Bit 7 = |
Material Change Load Cleared: Set when the operator has pressed the clear truck command. If the load is cleared, it will not contain any further information and no additional dippers with this load it will be sent. Override Included Material modifiers Included: These flags are not configured, but are based on the information available. More Flags |
||
| Load Report Flags 2* | 1 | Bit 2 = Loader Id Included Bit 3 = Block Id Included Bit 4 = TPI Material Id Included |
Bit 5 = TPI Material Name Included Bit 6 = Dippers Included |
||
| Override Material* | 2 | Operator material override | |||
| Material Modifiers* | 1 | Material modifiers are configured. Each bit will have a meaning unique to the particular application. These are set by operator input. | |||
| Loader Id* | 2 | ID | |||
| Block Id* | 2 | Id and version are sent if the id flag is set. Currently this is only sent from Tope. | |||
| Block Version* | 2 | ||||
| TPI Material Id* | 2 | ID | Looked up using the name and the material file. | ||
| TPI Material Name*. | String Length+1 | NULL terminated character string that is the name of the TPI material. This is a character, rather than the Unicode value. Up to the maximum name length | |||
| Load Flags 1 Same as the dipper message flags |
1 | Bit 0 = Material Type Bit 1 = Material Id Bit 2 = Material Percent Bit 3 = Other Materials |
Bit 4 = Other Material Type Bit 5 = Other Material Id Bit 6 = Other Material Percent Bit 7 = More Flags |
||
| Load Flags 2* | 1 | Bit 0 = Truck Id Bit 2 = Dipper East, North Position Bit 3 = Dipper Elevation Bit 4 = Dump Position |
Bit 5 = Dump Elevation Bit 6 = Load Reason Bit 7 = More Flags |
||
| Load Flags 3* | 1 | Bit 0 = Truck Id Bit 2 = Dipper East, North Position Bit 3 = Dipper Elevation Bit 4 = Dump Position |
Bit 5 = Dump Elevation Bit 6 = Load Reason Bit 7 = More Flags |
||
| Material Type* | 2 | ID | Either material id from the file, or the CAES type. | ||
| Material Id* | 4 | ID | This is a value which is from the extended material text in the CAES file. One parameter may be used as an Id. It could be a polygon id or it could be a block id. More ids may be set in the report parameters. | ||
| Material Percent* | 1 | 0-100% | Percent of the truckload consisting of this material. It may or may not include mined out and unknown material. | ||
| Mined Percent* | 1 | 0-100% | Percent of this material type that is mined out. This is included if the percent is included | ||
| Other Material Count* | 1 | These are other materials that were identified in the dipper. Up to the maximum allowed configured material count. | |||
| Repeated other Material times | Type* | 2 | |||
| Id* | 4 | ||||
| Percent* | 1 | ||||
| Mined Percent | 1 | ||||
| Truck Id* | 2 | ID | Only in a MineStar system or else in a Modular system where the name is mapped to an id in the machine file. | ||
| Weight* | 2 | Tons | Not currently available in this report. | ||
| Dipper Position* | 8 | Centimeters | Average Dipper position for all of the dippers. | ||
| Dipper Elevation* | 4 | Centimeters | Average Dipper elevation | ||
| Dump Position* | 8 | Average Dump position | |||
| Dump Elevation* | 4 | Average Dump Elevation | |||
| Load Reason* | 1 | 0 = Operator Send Truck 1 = TPI Send Truck 2 = Clear Truck (probably not sent) |
3 = Max bucket count reached 4 = CAES shutdown |
||
| Swing Angle* | 1 | Radians * 40 | Average Swing Angle from the load to the dump point | ||
| Load Time* | 4 | Seconds | End of loading time | ||
| Load Duration | 2 | Seconds | Average load duration | ||
| From Load time | 2 | Seconds | The average time to move from the load to a dump position | ||
| Dump Time* | 2 | Seconds | Average Dump Time from the end of loading to the end of dumping | ||
| Report Parameters* | Varies | See Table 6 | |||
| Dipper Values* | Varies | These are dipper values as described above. They should be configured to provide only minimal dipper information. The total length of this message will be 508 bytes. The dipper count above contains the number of dippers that have been attempted to put in this message. | |||
Generic Productivity Record
CAESultra can be configured to send generic productivity messages to MineStar.
The messages contain the prefix that identifies the record type. For example, the prefix "B" would identify the bucket load record. The messages also contain the information that is specific to the record type, such as the materials in a bucket load record.
The message does not include additional prefix information such as file names and operators. Information that is not included consists of all of the fields in the productivity record up to and including the time field.
Reference: For additional information on the records in the Productivity file, refer to Systems Operation Manual, "Productivity File"
Table 8 defines the format of the generic productivity messages that are sent to MineStar.
| Field Name | Size (Bytes) | Format | Format | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Header: | Message_Type | TMAC-message | ||
| Message_ID | ||||
| Data: | Timestamp | 4 | UTC | Time the message was generated. Seconds since 1970. |
| Flags | 1 | U8 | Currently unused | |
| Text | ASCII String (length+text) | Productivity record. The record is sent with only a prefix byte that identifies the record type. The rest of the prefix is not included. | ||
The following machine configuration keys are used in order to configure CAESultra to send the generic productivity messages to MineStar.
$ Utilization Send - Enables the utilization productivity record message to MineStar
$ Volume Send - Enables the volume productivity record message to MineStar
$ Dozer Cycle Send - Enables the dozer cycle productivity record message to MineStar
$ Material Loads Send - Enables the Material Productivity, B, record message to MineStar
$ Compaction Productivity Send - Enables the compaction productivity record message to MineStar
$ Points Productivity Send - Enables the points productivity record message to MineStar
Reference: For additional information on configuration keys, refer to Systems Operation Manual, "Machine Configuration File" and "MineStar Configuration File".