Sudbury tech firm, Symbioticware announced a $3.9 million partnership with SpaceX subsidiary, Swarm Technologies, that will help maintain full connectivity for mining vehicles anywhere in the world.
Symbioticware’s CEO, Ash Agarwal, made the announcement at the Northern Ontario Mining Showcase pavilion during the 2023 Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada convention (PDAC) on March 6.
Accordingly, Swarm Technologies is a California-based space communications company that provides low–cost, long–range, and low–power wireless networks for the Internet of Things (IoT).
The proposed platform is based on Symbioticware’s 40Sight.ai, performance management platform. It will also be capable of transmitting over Swarm’s global grouping of Low Earth Orbit microsatellites. It gives access to a proprietary software and an artificial intelligence enabled platform for continuous vehicle performance monitoring. Additionally, users only need to plug the device into the vehicle for access.
Further, access brings the necessary data to provide equipment reliability assessments, optimize fuel consumption and reduce their carbon footprint.
The technology is a necessity as companies around the world push to produce more critical minerals, according to Agarwal.
“The more we move towards electric vehicles, the more we move towards a green economy, the more mining we have to do,” he said.
What that also means is more pollution because most mining vehicles still run on diesel fuel. While many mining companies are presently in the middle changing over their fleets to battery-electric vehicles, Agarwal predicted it would take over a decade to complete the conversion.
In the interim, partnering with SpaceX will give companies an opportunity to boost their vehicles’ efficiency and productivity.
The new device will provide satellite connectivity strong enough to cover all industrial companies across the planet.
“Anywhere on the planet, wherever it is, we are going to find those machines and make them better,” Agarwal said.
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Symbioticware’s platform provides universal interconnectivity
Symbiotic’s IoT platform is OEM-agnostic, which means the platform is not tied to any particular OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) and can be used with any type of hardware or software. Subsequently, it can collect data from heavy and light duty vehicles, regardless of makes and models.
Additionally, integration with Swarm’s satellite backhaul capability enables monitoring, collecting, connectivity and data tracking from remote mining sites.
“This partnership is a giant leap for the resource industries as we bring the benefits of Industry 4.0 to the remotest sites on the planet,” said Agarwal.
“We are on a mission to connect every single machine across industries. Swarm’s cutting-edge space communications technology combined with our proprietary edge analytics driven IoT platform will allow us to accomplish that mission.”
Symbioticware has received $2.2 million in funding from the provincial and federal governments. This includes $1.2 million from the North Ontario Heritage Fund, and also $950,000 through the Industrial Research Assistance Program of the federal government’s National Research Council Canada.
The total value of the project is $4 million.
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