Collège Boréal and Symboticware in Sudbury are participating in a new applied research project aimed at expanding and maximizing the functionality of the SymBot, Symboticware’s flagship product.
Used by large mining companies, the SymBot—an intelligent real-time monitoring system that provides a bi-directional platform for the collection, storage and transmission of standardized data—will be coupled with different heavy machinery engines to study and adapt its operation to most mobile engines used in this industry. This project is made possible through the support of the Colleges Ontario Network for Industry Innovation (CONII).
“Within five years, Symboticware has made significant advancements with SymBot throughout the mining sector, notably in demonstrating the reliability of its platform in the underground environment where there is lack of network connectivity,” Symboticware president Kirk Petroski said in a statement.
“This growth was supported with our first collaboration with Collège Boréal back in 2010, at which point we were able to document and refine SymBot's quality assurance procedures for our commercial product. After working with Collège Boréal's professors in electronics, today Symboticware is turning to their expertise in the field of heavy machinery and Collège Boréal's modern amenities to interface with new diesel engines and add new features to our solution.”
Brian Vaillancourt, the dean of the School of Trades and Applied Technology at Collège Boréal, pinpointed the different phases of the new applied research project:
“Symboticware will have access to several vehicles and motorized equipment frequently used in our Heavy Equipment Mechanic program. Our team, comprised of students and professors from Collège Boréal and the Symboticware project manager, will then be able to create a datamap for each engine, to extract information using SymBot, to evaluate and refine the results of our various tests so that Symboticware can be ready to deploy on many different engine types.”
To complement the engines currently supported by SymBot, Volvo, Deutsch, Toyota and Mercedes engines will be added this summer. In addition to the flexibility provided by this applied research project for the Symboticware solution, this new initiative will enable professors and students of Collège Boréal to be in contact with the latest innovations in this sector of the mining industry, and provide future graduates of the Heavy Equipment Mechanic program with real job opportunities in a fast-growing company.
