At a glance: AIM’s mission is elegantly simple: take existing heavy machines in construction, mining, and defense and equip them with the hardware, software, and precision necessary to become autonomous. Imagine a 150-ton bulldozer operating tirelessly, day and night, without a human in the cab. That’s precisely what AIM’s platform enables, leveraging Point One’s RTK corrections, installations often taking just a few days before machines are ready to operate 24/7.
Beyond the operator's cab
The world of heavy machinery, from the colossal bulldozers reshaping landscapes to the workhorses of the mining industry, has long been defined by high-touch, error-prone, laborious, and manual operation. But a quiet evolution is underway, driven in large part by AIM. AIM is transforming these behemoths into fully autonomous robots by retrofitting legacy heavy machinery with a specialized kit allowing for continuous autonomy.
Historically, achieving autonomy in these environments has required extensive on-site infrastructure, including customer installed RTK base stations, a wide range of hardware and varied transmission protocols. For companies like AIM, this presented a significant hurdle to scalability and efficiency. Every minute a machine sits idle incurs a significant opportunity cost and each lost minute represents not just downtime, but safety benefit, revenue and productivity that could have been generated.. The goal became very clear: enable autonomous operation without the burden of managing complex, site-specific base station networks.
The solution: Centimeter-level precision, everywhere
In the process of installing costly and time-intensive base stations, AIM’s engineers asked, ‘What if there is a better way?’. They understood that for true autonomy to be possible, precision location would be the foundation upon which the entire autonomous ecosystem rests.
Point One’s Polaris RTK (Real-Time Kinematic) corrections network provides the centimeter-level accuracy essential for truly autonomous heavy machinery but without the headache of installing and maintaining infrastructure. But why does an autonomous fleet of heavy machines need RTK corrections? While SLAM can provide high accuracy local frame maps and traditional GNSS (think GPS) offers accuracy within several meters, Polaris RTK shrinks this error to a mere centimeter, over 100x more accurate. This amplified precision is critical for aligning the robot real-work in the real-world based on existing global-frame designs. Tasks like precise path planning, consistent material handling, and ensuring machines operate exactly as designed.
Point One’s Polaris RTK corrections are delivered via a global,professionally-managed network of base stations. This eliminates the need for AIM’s customers to install and maintain their own, often unreliable, local base stations. For AIM, this means seamless deployment across diverse environments, from open-pit mines to construction sites.
"Point One provides a plug-and-play RTK solution that reduces friction and removes considerable overhead from our site deployments. Eliminating the need to manage and support our own base stations is a major advantage, and allows us to scale faster. The already extensive and ever expanding coverage of their Polaris network also allows us to standardize how we deliver correctional data to our machines, which benefits us and our customers."
A symphony of sensors and seamless integration
AIM’s autonomous solution is a sophisticated blend of sensors, including LiDAR and cameras, with localization being a critical component. While traditional GNSS struggles in environments with limited sky visibility, such as underground or in areas with GPS jamming (a concern in defense applications), AIM leverages SLAM (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping) for these challenging scenarios. For most commercial customers, however, a globally accurate reference frame is paramount, and that’s where Point One’s Polaris RTK shines.
The integration of Polaris RTK into AIM’s system is straightforward and efficient. Point One provides an easy-to-integrate solution for corrections delivery without any extra hardware. AIM’s sensor stack, coupled with Polaris RTK corrections, creates a robust localization system, enabling machines to operate precisely in diverse environments without missing a beat. The web interface for Polaris RTK simplifies the entire process, allowing for centralized management and one-click deployment for new job sites.
Tangible results, beyond precision
The partnership between AIM and Point One Navigation translates into significant benefits for customers:
- Enhanced safety: Autonomy allows for “zero-entry” in locations like mine sites, removing human operators from hazardous environments and reducing the risk of injuries associated with operating heavy machinery. This is especially true in defense applications like clearing minefields, where removing humans from direct contact with danger is the number one priority.
- Maximum Leverage – AIM gives teams more leverage by enabling one operator to command multiple machines remotely. By eliminating downtime from breaks, shift changes and other unproductive idling, AIM is able to increase the overall equipment effectiveness of fleets. PointOne uptime SLAs are key to ensure system availability to leverage these benefits.
- Reduced rework and optimized production: Centimeter-level accuracy ensures materials are moved to the correct locations the first time and mine plans are matched precisely to the environment, leading to reduced rework and optimized production rates.
- Scalability: Point One’s global coverage allows AIM to scale their operations without a second thought. As they deploy more machines, the Polaris RTK corrections network ensures consistent, reliable precision without additional infrastructure overhead.
The future of autonomy: More machines, more value
AIM’s journey with Point One Navigation is just beginning. Covering a wide range of ground engagement vehicles like bulldozers, excavators, loaders where a single person manages a large fleet is transforming the safety and productivity of entire job sites.
The collaboration between AIM and Point One Navigation is a testament to the power of precision location in the age of autonomy. Together, they are not only automating heavy machines but also building a safer, more efficient, and more productive future for critical industries worldwide.
Ready to explore how Point One’s RTK corrections can embed centimeter accuracy into your service? Reach out to our team today for a personalized discussion and POC. Contact Sales