19 Feb Workshop update: Functional Safety for Autonomous Equipment (Perth)

The Functional Safety for Autonomous Equipment Project group held a productive workshop in Perth, Australia on February 18. Operators, suppliers and subject matter experts came together to develop valuable material for the Functional Safety for Autonomous Equipment guideline.

Participation extended beyond the mining industry to more mature industries like aerospace and manufacturing. Input from groups like Nova Systems and AMOG, who have experience in other industries, added some valuable perspectives.

The Autonomous Mining Working Group launched this project in response to a lack of clear guidance and industry alignment on requirements for managing functional safety. The guideline aims to provide clarity and industry alignment by developing a process to follow by documenting existing and relevant standards and their constraints, presenting use cases and sharing lessons learned.

The participants started a preliminary standards and references list and added significant content to several sections identified in the initial table of contents. They also identified that there is still further work needed to clarify the guideline’s purpose and scope to ensure it adds something specific to what is already out there. Participants at the next workshop in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada on March 26 will take up this work and add further content and detail.

Register for the workshop in Edmonton here.

For more information about participating in this project, contact GMG Program Manager, David Sanguinetti