Project Structure
Organization and Methodology
Overall approach and methodology
The Dig_IT project has a proposed duration of 42 months and is divided into four phases which include the following activities: R&D and Validation activities (VAL), Dissemination and Exploitation Activities (DEC), Project management activities (PM). Phase 1: R&D activities (WP1-WP5) for the development of Dig_IT IIoTp systems after specifying user requirements and defining the IIoTp and systems specifications. In WP2 Data acquisition all data of the project is collected, to feed data warehouses and relevant systems i.e. the digital twins, intelligent components. Phase 2: Integration (WP6) of Dig_IT IIoTp systems, is when all systems and data streams are put together in a unified framework. The goal of this phase is to prepare the system for its validation according to use case scenarios. Phase 3: Validation Activities (WP6), Dig_IT technologies will be validated in relevant mine use-cases (TRL5). The integration activities from Phase 2 will offer vital input to make any necessary adjustments before the VAL phase. The accumulated results will give feedback to Phase 2 in order to monitor the required actions and perform an evaluation of the KPIs. Phase 4: Project Management, Dissemination/communication and exploitation activities: all the three Phases (WP7-9) are parallel activities along the whole course of the project. This Phase runs the whole duration of the project in order to keep track of all the involved activities (R&D, VAL) and act when it is required.
WP 1
Project Specifications and Industry needs
The objectives are:
– to detail the scope of Dig_IT and overall requirements that drive the R&D activities in the project across all relevant conceptual levels i.e. Context, Assets, Data and Human Level.
– to delineate use cases in appropriate level of detail in order to shape functional needs and technical requirements as per the monitoring and analysis of data, assets and operations.
– to harmonise end users’ expectations and system requirements (regulations, life cycle cost, expected development) on each respective level.
– to define the validation criteria and establish a set of related KPIs applicable for each use case scenario, level and overall system performance.
WP 2
Data Acquisition
The objectives are:
– to develop a Critical assets monitoring system for measuring all asset-bound mining operations.
– to develop a Geotechnical monitoring system for open pit mine monitoring and geotechnical data acquisition as well as for , and b) provide measured geotechnical data for input and validation for real time predictive numerical simulations.
– to develop a distributed EHS and sustainability monitoring system for measuring emission and working environment condition – to design and develop Smart Garment for sensing mining personnel’s OHSE parameters, biometrics with communication and speech recognition
WP 3
IIoTp: data & devices management and cybersecurity
The objectives are:
– to implement a downstream to the IIoT platform harmonisation layer.
– to develop a sensors platform able to guarantee high-quality data acquisition.
– to design the architecture of the Dig_IT Platform.
– to define the Dig_IT data management technologies.
– to achieve communication security among devices and IIoT platform.
– to provision edge computing devices planning and interoperability.
WP 4
Digital Twins Layer
The objectives are:
– to develop digital twins of individual engineering assets (mining machines)
– to develop SoS-level digital twin of entire mine.
– to develop geotechnical digital twins
– to develop fluid digital twins of fluid dynamic processes occurring in mining operations for the different user cases.
– to provide a platform module for building real-time digital twins based on model order-reduction techniques.
– to develop two-way dynamic data exchange between different digital twins.
– to develop software platform to consolidate digital twins
WP 5
Intelligence Layer
The objectives are:
– to establish a novel optimization framework for phase-based evolutionary computation
– to implement Software of the smart scheduling tools for optimal planning of mining operations
– Real-time applications of the smart scheduling tools for optimal management and operation.
– to design and develop the DSS including the interactive dashboards, AI insight incorporation, and alerting functionalities
– to develop the machine learning modules that comprise the OHSE intelligent toolbox
– to use LCA to understand the environmental footprint of the IIoTp systems developed and their contribution to decrease the mining operations environmental footprint.
WP 6
System Integration and Validation in relevant environment
The objectives are:
– a specific evaluation procedure for each layer; and (ii) an incremental and lean evaluation cycle that will allow to assess the prediction models and associated procedures of each layer at an early stage of the project and improve them based on the evaluation results are proposed. Three evaluation cycles are foreseen, one for the initial model and another two for subsequent upgrades.
The following aspects will be evaluated:
(i) Data acquisition and management systems,
(ii) Geotechnical digital twins,
(iii) Digital twins of fluid dynamics processes,
(iv) Decision support systems,
(v) Data transmission and communication system in the mine.
WP 7
Academy, Workplace and Society outreach
The objectives are:
– Effective community outreach demonstrated through two demonstrators
– Creation and management of a group of external stakeholders, to provide information and guidance, and validate the usefulness and applicability of the results of project.
– Contribute to improving the awareness across the EU about the importance of raw materials for society, the challenges related to their supply within the EU.
– Propose solutions to improve society’s acceptance of and trust in sustainable raw materials production in the EU.
– Creation of a roadmap for revision of and new standards influenced by the work in Dig_IT.
– Building a blockchain platform for the visualization of all the data generated during the mining supply chain, by partners, users and stakeholders of the project. Market outreach
WP 8
Market outreach
The objectives are:
– Dissemination activities and communication measures aim at wide project promotion across EU.
– Exploitation objectives include:
a) to be constantly aware and update about technology evolution, patent landscape and market opportunities;
b) adequate management of innovation.
– To promote the developed technique and maintain a technology transfer program.
– To ensure a widespread use and awareness of the developed project’s technology as widely as possible within the mining industries and to maximise exploitation opportunities for the partners.
– To make appropriate actions for the protection of IPR knowledge.
WP 9
Project Management
The main objectives of this WP is to carry out the administrative and technical coordination of the project, facilitating the communication between partners and ensuring the achievement of all project objectives.
– This will include: technical coordination of the WPs, timely submission of deliverables and assurance of their quality;
– Setting up communication and project management structures;
– Financial administration of the project;
coordination and compilation of the periodic reports;
– Management of all communications with the EC and steering the project to deliver all the technical objectives.
WP 10
Ethics requirements
The objective is to ensure compliance with the ‘ethics requirements’ set out in this work package.
