From l: Nadia Nilsen, business unit manager, ABB Measurement Products and Farai Pasipamire, Richards Bay branch secretary.
ABB official launched the VM3D volumetric laser scanner in Richards Bay on the 4th of July. Three sessions were conducted at Umhambi Lodge and ABB had the privilege of presenting at the SAIMC technology evening on a topic aligned with the launch. Nadia Nilsen, business unit manager for ABB Measurement Products, gave a presentation on ‘An automated inventory management system’.
Nadia explained the principles of operation of laser technology and then covered operation of the VM3D scanner. She explained how the single beam motorised unit rotates to capture thousands of points to create a profile of the stockpile. The VM3D uses a high-speed laser pulse to measure distance. The laser beam is emitted towards the surface and some of it reflects back to the instrument where it is detected by a sensitive optical receiver. The time it takes for the light to travel to the surface and back to the instrument is directly proportional to the distance between the instrument and the surface. Using a time-of-flight calculation the VM3D accurately measures the distance to the target surface.
The VM3D transmits the raw point cloud over the 3G cellphone network to the ABB data centre where the data is analysed to produce a picture of the stockpile and an estimate of the volume and mass it contains. This analysis eliminates artefacts like machinery and visible building structures from the volume estimate, even if they move from scan to scan.
Read more...SAIMC: Durban branch SAIMC
SAIMC
The Durban branch of the SAIMC was pleased to welcome Vusi Sithole, managing member of Hybrid Control Corporation in Richards Bay, who presented\on the very pertinent topic of ‘Infrastructure monitoring and control for water loss management’.
Read more...SAIMC: Sunshine, swings and smiles: Durban Golf Day hits a high note Technews Publishing (SA Instrumentation & Control)
SAIMC
We say it every year, and we’ll say it again: May in Durban is hard to beat; but 9 May, when the Durban Golf Day teed off at Kloof Country Club, was something else. With sunny skies and temperatures in the upper 20s, it was a fantastic day, full of fun and great energy.
Read more...SAIMC User Advisory Council KS4I event: Bridging the industry/education divide
SAIMC
Horst Weinert, head of Didactic at Festo Southern/Eastern Africa, will be sharing some of Festo’s Didactic experiences of working across industry and education. He will cover training for productivity and employability in the public and private sectors, discussing especially the potential for inter-company training centres.
Read more...SAIMC: Johannesburg branch SAIMC
SAIMC
The local Johannesburg Branch of the SAIMC recently hosted a Technology Evening at Bryanston Sports Club on 9 April 2025.
Read more...SAIMC: Durban branch SAIMC
SAIMC
The April technology meeting for the Durban branch of the SAIMC was kindly sponsored by ProRisk, a subsidiary company of the Proconics Group of Companies. Process safety engineer, Guillaume de Swardt gave a fascinating presentation on the power of operational risk control by utilising CFD software.
Read more...SAIMC User Advisory Council KS4I event SAIMC Supplier Advisory Council
SAIMC
The SAIMC User Advisory Council started 2025 with its first event in the ‘Knowlege Sharing 4 Industry’ event series on the 19th of March.
Read more...Knowledge Sharing 4 Industry
SAIMC
In proud partnership with Innomotics, SAIMC will be hosting the first Knowledge Sharing 4 Industry event for 2025.
Read more...Getting your OT data into the cloud – the why and the how
SAIMC
As users recognise the benefits of a digital transformation strategy for their industrial plants and systems and start to adopt it, they soon face the challenge of getting operational technology data securely and reliably to a cloud service provider of their choice.
printer friendly version