Case Study: Usibelli Coal Mine

Usibelli Coal Mine, Inc. is a Healy, Alaska, operation that provides coal to a range of North-American energy providers.

The region’s climate and topology often make it hard for engineers to be on site. The company had devised a SCADA information management system to provide real-time, 24/7 monitoring of their major dragline operations. What was missing was a way to transmit that data to the company’s head office.

Metric Systems Corporation developed a mobile wireless networking system based on our packaged Mavric™ Explorer and RAMM™ 2000 solutions. The system transmits data via a relay (repeater) station to the control office, allowing Usibelli engineers to make split-second decisions and adjust practices out in the field as necessary.

Key features of the system include:

• Unlicensed 900 MHz/2.4 GHz operation
• End-to end Ethernet connectivity
• Conversion of non-Ethernet data to Ethernet/IP compatible data
• 100 % 24/7 system monitoring
• Cold temperature survivability -40°C to 85°C operation
• Vibration resistant
• Expandable to multiple remote vehicles/platforms (trucks, portable units, etc.)
• Throughput of 115 Kbps