Xsens MTi measuring mining shovel movements

“The use of the Xsens MTi sensors allowed us to cut in half both the number of sensors needed and the system installation time, while making system calibration and maintenance much easier than before.”

Amir Ahani,Senior Product Manager atMotion Metrics International Corp.

Motion Metrics International is one of the leading providers of advanced monitoring solutions for the mining industry. Motion Metrics’ extensive product offerings are designed to improve safety, efficiency, and productivity of mining operations. Motion Metrics’ systems are primarily focused on assisting mining shovel and haul truck operations in the open-pit mining environment and are used across the globe, by some of the biggest names in mining.

In 2003, Motion Metrics introduced a rugged, accelerometer-based joint-angle sensor system called AngleMetrics. This accelerometer-based angle measurement system has been used by the company in various products such as LoadMetrics™, a dynamic payload monitoring system for hydraulic shovels.

The transition to the digital-output Xsens MTi sensors, as a successor to the analog-output accelerometer sensors, eliminated the need to use complex signal conditioning algorithms and its compact size significantly reduced the installation time. The advanced features of the MTi sensor allowed us to reduce the total number of sensors, required for our system, by half. In addition, using one sensor per joint has allowed us to install them in more convenient locations which are less exposed to falling rocks. Replacing the analog accelerometers in our products with advanced, gyro-enhanced digital sensors gave us highly accurate measurements with a fast response time, and therefore, the ability to calculate shovel postures more accurately and more frequently than before and in real time!

The Xsens MTi sensors also gave us the capability to obtain the heading direction of the shovel, a feature that was never possible with the old sensors. The heading direction allows the swing arc of the shovel to be sensed. Monitoring the swing arc for mining shovels can increase productivity, as a smaller swing arc means less time spent swinging, and more time spent digging. Furthermore, such sensing can be used to avoid collisions with other equipment, thus improving safety of the mining operation. Last but not least, we have found the MTi sensors quite rugged and have been impressed with the level of technical support from Xsens.

At Motion Metrics International, we thrive to find high quality products in the market and it is a pleasure to add Xsens to our list of preferred suppliers.

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