Collision Avoidance Systems for Mine Haul Trucks

A suite of new collision avoidance systems (CAS) is presented for use in heavy vehicles whose structure and size necessarily impede driver visibility is introduced.The main goal of the project is to determine the appropriate use of each of the commercially available technologies and, produce a low cost variant suitable for use in proximity detection on large mine haul trucks. The CAS 2 system used low cost Doppler radar antennae coupled to the CAS 1 monitor to indicate the presence of an object moving at any speed above 3 Km/h relative to the antennae.The novelty of the CAS 3 system lies in the design of 3 modules. The modules are 8 radar antennae (as used in CAS 2) modules located on the truck, software to interface with the end user and a display unit. Modularisation enables the components to be independently tested, evaluated and replaced when in use.The radar antennae modules and the system as a whole are described together with the empirical tests conducted and results obtained. The tests, drawing on Monte-Carlo simulation techniques, demonstrate both the correctness of the implementations and the effectiveness of the system.