BC company helps mining operations keep on truckin’

RIMEX Supply Ltd., a Surrey, B.C., based manufacturer of wheel and rim assemblies for off-road haul trucks and loaders, has developed an electronic system called TyreSense that can monitor the tire pressure and temperature on mining trucks and other pieces of heavy equipment.

Dave Laird, technical lead for TyreSense, said that a tire's temperature and air pressure are inter-related: As temperature goes up, so does air pressure.

“You need to know the tire temperature in order to know its pressure,” Laird said. “Without knowing the temperature, you don't have the whole picture.”

This is how TyreSense works: Wheel sensors transmit temperature and pressure information to a receiver unit, where the data is stored. If any tires are found to be operating outside of prescribed temperature or pressure levels, the vehicle operator, and anyone else who has been cleared to receive it on his or her PC or mobile device, receives an alert message in the in-cab display.

Mining tires are big tires—in many ways

The tires on mining equipment need to be looked after carefully. After fuel, tires are often a mine’s biggest expense. These tires are very expensive, up to $75,000 each. That means an investment of almost half a million dollars on one six-wheeled truck.

Mining tires are not only big in cost, they're also big in size. Some are almost 15 feet from tread to tread. And changing a tire on a mining truck is a big investment in time, from three to six hours. Installation requires not just many, many nuts, but also a large and expensive tire manipulator that is mounted at the end of a loader. 

The trouble with tires doesn't end there. If a tire gets too hot, it can result in a separated tire belt, blow-out, fire or even explosion. For all these reasons, the tires on mining equipment must be looked after very carefully.

Electronic vs. manual tire pressure monitoring

Unfortunately, the tires on mining trucks are often neglected. The only way many heavy equipment users check tire pressure is manually, as if they were checking the tire pressure on a car. But in order to properly adjust tire pressure, you need to know the temperature of the tire chamber. A manual check won't tell you that, because it doesn't measure the tire's temperature, which is critical to performance. 

Because TyreSense measures a tire's internal temperature, it allows operators to reduce the frequency of manual pressure checks, which means equipment is available for longer hours of operation. In addition, TyreSense takes the tire's pressure and temperature every three seconds and records it, enabling users to track temperature and pressure without having to take the truck out of service.

The digital way to take a tire's pressure

Each tire on a mining truck that uses TyreSense is equipped with a sensor, which is patched to the inside of the tire when it is off the wheel. A six-tire truck will therefore be equipped with six sensors. Application-specific integrated sensors measure and record  temperature and pressure inside the tires and transmit the information, using standard wireless radio frequency communication, to a receiver inside the truck's cab. The receiver is the “brain” of TyreSense: it logs and records all the information sent to it.

The receiver transmits to a display unit at the mine dispatch office and to an optional display unit in the truck's cab. It also connects, through a built-in server, to the Internet, so that tire- and truck-related information can be monitored by authorized mine personnel.

TyreSense has Bluetooth communication to hand-held devices and smart phones. 

Laird said TyreSense started off as a tire pressure monitoring system, but it's more than that now.  

“It's a black box recorder,”  he said. “I even use it on my boat.”

In addition to pressure and temperature, TyreSense measures and records 75 variables, including location, speed and ignition cycles, from a drop-down menu.

The technology behind wireless tire pressure monitoring goes back to the 1970s. Several years ago, RIMEX senior executives approached Laird and asked him to develop a version that could be used on mining trucks. Laird said the system is easy to understand and doesn't require advanced computer skills.

TyreSense is marketed world-wide through dealers of RIMEX, which also sells direct. TyreSense has between 50 and 100 major customers, many of whom have multiple systems.

“We have most of the major mining companies around the world,” Laird said.