Remote access to mobile machinery for troubleshooting and support

Background

CMP Engineers and Loadquip design, manufacture and support specialised mobile machinery for mining and heavy industry. The Loadquip low loader range (heavy-duty off-highway trailers used to haul dozers, blasthole drills, excavators and similar equipment around mine sites) is one of the more complex products in our portfolio. Each machine carries safety-rated PLC controllers, graphical operator displays, high-flowrate brake cooling, hydraulic interlocks and sequencing, payload sensing, and digital interfaces to the prime mover gearbox and brakes.

Low loaders are part of the critical path on a working mine. When a fault occurs, it must be diagnosed and rectified quickly because fleet availability depends on it.

The previous support model

Support was tiered. Phone-based diagnosis was the first level: a controls engineer talked the customer through checks and tests. Where that didn't resolve the issue, Loadquip would courier a preconfigured site laptop with the machine program and PLC software preloaded. The customer connected the laptop to the machine, and Loadquip logged in remotely. The final level was an engineer on site.

The laptop approach worked but had practical limits. Courier transit typically added two to three days before any meaningful investigation could begin. The machine control program was exposed during troubleshooting. Laptops were occasionally lost or damaged in transit, taking diagnostic data and change history with them.

Industrial modem options at the time were predominantly 2G or 3G. Speeds were modest and dropouts were common, which was a particular concern during remote PLC flashing, where a lost connection mid-update could corrupt the program. That risk often pushed the team toward the slower laptop or site-visit option even where a remote diagnosis might otherwise have been faster.

Faults that could realistically be diagnosed in an hour were taking days.

The solution

CMP Engineers took the position that remote access should be part of the machine control architecture rather than an add-on. Because IFM PLCs and displays were already standard across the Loadquip range, the preferred approach was to use IFM modems and remote access products where available, which kept the hardware platform consistent and reduced custom integration work.

The system provides cloud-based data logging, web-based visualisation, live connection to the PLC, fault history, CAN bus integration, and remote access to operator displays on Ethernet-based display models. GPS, speed and altitude data are also captured by the modem.

Example: grease pump investigation

A customer reported that the automatic grease pump on a low loader was not operating between loads. CMP was able to log into the system remotely, reviewed the historical grease pump data from the cloud, then watched the pump in live operation. The pump was switching on and off correctly and pressure values were tracking as expected during active cycles.

No hard fault was found but the system firmware was updated with improved diagnostics to aid operators in the future. The relevant data was plotted, a short report was prepared, and feedback was returned to the customer the same day.

Under the previous support model the same investigation would have required a couriered laptop and several days of elapsed time at minimum.

Proactive fault detection

A side effect of continuous cloud logging is that the data is available for review at any time, not only when a customer reports an issue. Trending sensor values, fault flag frequency and operating parameters can be reviewed against expected ranges, which makes it possible to identify developing problems before they become operational faults. In some cases CMP has been able to flag a pending issue to a customer before site personnel were aware of it.

For mine operators the value of this capability lies in the difference between planned and unplanned intervention. A developing fault identified weeks ahead can usually be resolved during a scheduled maintenance window. The same fault identified at failure becomes a breakdown event, with flow-on consequences for fleet availability. The cost difference is substantial.

The same dataset that supports reactive troubleshooting and design feedback supports this kind of condition-based monitoring. No additional hardware is required on the machine.

Outcomes

Most reported faults are now investigated from the office, often within hours rather than days. Site laptops are dispatched far less frequently. Engineer travel is the exception rather than the default. Software updates can be performed with greater confidence because the underlying connection is reliable, and the machine control program no longer leaves CMP’s environment for routine support work.

Continuous logging has also added a proactive dimension, with some developing faults identified and addressed before they are reported by site. GPS, speed and altitude data give Loadquip and its clients additional visibility of machine movement and create a foundation for fleet-level analysis in future.

Across both reactive and proactive support, the change has affected how Loadquip supports its customers more broadly. Engineers respond faster, support more machines from one location, and back their advice with logged data rather than verbal description. Looking across the fleet, the same dataset supports recurring-issue analysis and feeds back into future design decisions.

Key learnings

Remote display access means we can see what the operator sees, and has proven to be one of the more useful capabilities in field diagnostics.
Continuous data logging extends the value of the system beyond troubleshooting. The same dataset supports identifying developing faults before they become operational issues, and feeds back into future design decisions.
Communications reliability is critical when supporting PLC software updates. A mid-flash dropout can corrupt the program and create more downtime than the original fault.
Remote access is best designed into the machine control architecture from the outset, not retrofitted as a separate layer.