The European Southern Observatory (ESO) is one of the world’s leading intergovernmental astronomy organizations, operating some of the most advanced ground-based observatories globally. The Paranal Astronomical Observatory, located in northern Chile, is home to the Very Large Telescope (VLT), one of the most powerful optical telescope systems ever built.

The VLT plays a critical role in advancing our understanding of the universe, requiring engineering systems that operate with extreme levels of precision, continuity, and reliability.

The Challenge

At the core of each VLT unit is the azimuth cable wrap system, responsible for continuously managing the supply of power, data, optical fibres, and cooling systems as the telescope rotates during operation.

This system must meet strict mechanical and operational requirements, ensuring:

• Continuous rotation without interruption
• Precise handling of highly sensitive connections
• Zero tolerance for failure, given the direct impact on scientific observations

ESO required an upgrade to the existing system to improve performance, reliability, and long-term operability, without compromising the integrity of its highly complex and mission-critical infrastructure.

The Solution

Godelius engineered and implemented a comprehensive upgrade of the azimuth cable wrap system on one of the VLT units, focused on enhancing performance while ensuring seamless integration with existing systems.

The solution included:

• Redesign and upgrade of critical mechanical components, improving durability and stability
• Precision engineering and alignment, ensuring smooth and continuous operation
• Integration with existing infrastructure, maintaining full operational compatibility
• Rigorous validation and testing, aligned with the high standards required for scientific applications

Every component of the system was designed to meet the extreme reliability and precision demands of astronomical observation.

Outcome

The upgraded system delivered measurable improvements in performance and operational reliability, supporting the continuous operation of one of the world’s most advanced telescopes.

Key outcomes included:

• Enhanced system stability and reliability
• Increased confidence in long-term operational performance
• Strengthened collaboration with ESO, leading to additional work on other telescope units

This project demonstrates Godelius’ capability to deliver high-precision engineering solutions in environments where performance is critical and failure is not an option.

From mining operations to world-class scientific infrastructure, we design and implement systems that operate with accuracy, reliability, and purpose.

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SQM (Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile) is a global mining and chemical company, recognized as one of the world’s leading producers of lithium, specialty plant nutrients, iodine, and industrial chemicals. Its operations include critical logistics infrastructure, such as port facilities, where efficiency, safety, and reliability are essential.

The Challenge

At SQM’s port operations in the Port of Tocopilla, operating the ship loader arm is a critical activity for material handling. Traditionally, this task exposes operators to potentially hazardous conditions, including accessing the equipment cabin, working at height, and operating under adverse environmental conditions such as wind and rain.

SQM aimed to improve:

• Operator safety, by reducing direct exposure to operational risks
• Efficiency, by minimizing travel time to the equipment and improving working conditions
• Operational control, by providing operators with better tools to manage the process

The challenge was to enable the remote operation of a high-capacity ship loader arm while ensuring smooth control, real-time feedback, and high reliability under demanding conditions.

The Solution

Godelius designed and implemented a teleoperation system that allows the ship loader arm to be operated remotely from a safe and controlled environment.

The solution included:

• Remote operation station, replicating the operator interface with high fidelity
• Real-time video and data, providing full visibility and operational feedback
• Low-latency communication systems, ensuring precise and responsive control
• Integration with existing infrastructure, maintaining operational continuity

Prior to deployment, the system underwent a Factory Acceptance Test (FAT) at Godelius’ Robotics Development Center, where performance, safety, and reliability were validated under simulated operating conditions.

Results

The implementation enabled SQM to transition from a traditional operation to a remote-controlled system, achieving:

• Improved safety, by eliminating operator exposure to hazardous conditions
• Enhanced operational control, with more consistent and precise operation
• Increased reliability, through improved operating conditions

This project demonstrates how remote operation technologies can modernize critical industrial processes, combining human expertise with advanced engineering solutions to enhance safety and efficiency in real-world operations.

Picture: Factory Acceptance Test (FAT) at Godelius’ Robotics Development Center

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Codelco is a Chilean state-owned company that leads the world in copper production, driving the country’s development. Its reserves account for 6% of the global copper reserves. The company operates seven mining divisions: Chuquicamata, Ministro Hales, Radomiro Tomic, Gabriela Mistral, Salvador, Andina, El Teniente, as well as the Ventanas Smelter and Refinery.

Currently, the El Teniente Division is involved in a structural project aiming to deepen the exploitation of the El Teniente deposit, adding reserves estimated at approximately 2.000 billion tons, with an average copper grade of 0.86% and 220 ppm of molybdenum. This will enable the division to continue processing 137,000 tons of ore per day for over 50 years.

Challenge

In the world of underground mining, the loading and transfer chute is a vital component for block caving and panel caving operations.

Our mission was clear: develop an advanced Remote-Control System for Loading Chutes, a game-changing innovation that would enable remote opening of the discharge system through a masterful gate, expertly regulating the passage of valuable ore. But we didn’t stop there – our ingenious system also incorporates intelligent features that can detect overloads and other potential issues, ensuring seamless and efficient operations.

Solution

Codelco’s El Teniente Division has contracted SK Godelius for the development and implementation of a Loading Chute Remote Control System, which includes cabinets, control panels, CCTV cameras, sensors, sirens, beacons, overload detectors, lights, spare parts, and services. The project encompasses the following:

• Engineering services, including the provision of blueprints and technical information.
• Qualified personnel services for assembly supervision, commissioning, system startup, and testing.
• Training for maintenance and operation personnel at the buyer’s facility, including necessary technical documentation in Spanish and support materials.
• Configuration Acceptance Test (CAT), Factory Acceptance Test (FAT), and Technical Assistance for Site Acceptance Test (SAT).
• Preparation of material/equipment for export, transportation, and delivery of equipment and components under DDP terms to the buyer’s warehouse (site).
• Progress reports on engineering, manufacturing, delivery, and general status.
• Technical field assistance for assembly, preliminary testing, pre-operational, operational with load, and performance (ramp-up – startup) phases.

We are with you every step of the way

From preparing material and equipment for export to on-site technical field assistance during assembly, preliminary testing, pre-operational, operational with load, and performance phases – we are committed to your success.

Join us in shaping the future of underground and open-pit mining. Partner with SK Godelius, and let’s take your mining operations to new heights of excellence!

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The Stacked Mineral Treatment Plant (PTMP) area consists of two leaching grounds, measuring 1,200 meters by 400 meters. The mineral stacker operates assembling the new stack with the ore from the post-crushing stage. Simultaneously, the bucket wheel that extracts the material from the leached pile sends it through conveyor belts to the gravel area, to be finally deposited by the gravel stacker or spreader. The presence of people in the heap leach vicinity poses a significant risk to employees’ health. There are direct effects of the acid, such as burns and irritation on the respiratory tract caused by acid vapours, and indirect effects through accidents caused by moving structures.

Codelco’s goal was to reduce the risks to personnel’s health and safety while handling both the spreader and the bucket wheel of Chuquicamata and improve productivity.

Challenge

• Design and implement a turnkey solution to make remote stacker and bucket wheel operations viable. The project had to be carried out while the machines were in operation. Therefore, the time restrictions for intervention were very significant.
• Design and deploy an innovative solution for the stacker’s teleoperation and the bucket wheel excavator of the Stacked Mineral Treatment Plant (PTMP), taking out workers from the machines’ direct operation. The entire system would be operated from the teleoperation centre, which had to be designed and built to relocate workers.

Solution

Development of a customized teleoperated operations centre to provide safety and quality of life to the personnel, taking out the operators from the stacker and bucket wheel excavator. The project includes:

• Remote operation consoles.
• Multiple cameras, a high-definition video system
• Wireless network for data transport that used both mobile machine structures to define topology and redundancy.
• Development and integration of remote control and security routines into the native control devices (PLC) of the machines.

The turnkey project redefined the control logic of the device. It involved constructing telecommunications networks with low latency, high availability, and a bandwidth capable of transporting multiple high-definition video signals. The hardware choice was consistent with demanding conditions like high solar radiation, gusts of wind and dust, and considerable thermal oscillation and acid atmosphere.

Furthermore, the stacker structure suffers significant vibrations during its operation, so devices had to include vibration resistant features and connectors. Finally, a special resistant corrosion epoxy paint was applied in mounting supports, and all connections had to be sealed.

Result

• When the project was completed by November 2012, these Chuquicamata systems became the first teleoperated machines of their kind in the world: a milestone in the global mining industry.

The customized project of the teleoperated bucket wheel and stacker helped to change many operational and cultural paradigms. It improved radically both safety and productivity, gaining rapid adoption and praise from all the people directly involved.

The post Teleoperation of Large Machines: Stacker and Bucket Wheel, Chuquicamata, Codelco, Chile appeared first on SK Godelius.

Challenge

• Create a functional solution to monitor the operation of the pumping station Ojos de San Pedro. This area is difficult to access, and it is an extremely relevant station for the mining operation in Chuquicamata Division.

Codelco had defined it as an objective to safely monitor the pumping station, control all the operations, and identify efficiently and quickly possible adjustments. Access to the station was the first challenge of the project due to its geography: high altitude, extreme temperatures and the access roads’ adverse conditions. The journey to Ojos de San Pedro took several hours a day in all-terrain vehicles, which transported the workers, materials, and adequate daily equipment to carry out the tasks that the project demanded.

Solution

Development of two personalized systems to work simultaneously:

• A wireless network platform to monitor variables in the field captured through PLCs.
• A remote control platform with robust high-definition CCTV cameras to work in extreme environments, installed in strategic points.

During the first phase of the project, SK Godelius developed foundations, civil works, lifting of towers and mounting of antennas, installing communications infrastructure, and CCTV outdoor cameras system. It also has created a system of photovoltaic power for all the equipment to provide adequate electrical autonomy. SK Godelius was responsible for executing all the installation, provisioning, commissioning, and delivering training to users.

Both systems are work-integrated and are responsible for monitoring different variables in operation. All the images are captured in high definition and sent through a complex wireless transmission network to a monitoring centre at the Chuquicamata site.

The operations centre allows the workers to review the status of all the wells online and act remotely on them according to their operational criteria.

Result

• Both systems favour workers’ safety since they allow remote operations in the field, such as executing diagnosis or performing tasks, so an in-person action is required in the area only if it is strictly necessary.

Even if workers need to execute a task on the site, they will be safer since there are people in the operations centre to guide and protect them. Furthermore, the employees can have online information about each of the wells’ behaviour and status, so it is possible to adapt water flows from the wells efficiently. The project also allows providing crucial data to the regulatory authority.

The post Monitoring and Remote Operation of Water Pumping Systems, Ojos de San Pedro Station, Codelco, Chile appeared first on SK Godelius.

Challenge

• The main challenge was related to time constraints.

On the one hand, there were limitations on the total time available to finish the project. On the other hand, the scarce availability of stops to intervene in the machine was also part of the challenge. An electronic and electromechanical workshop was installed at the mine, which supplied the assembly and configuration teams.

Solution

Develop a customized teleoperated operations centre to provide safety and quality of life to the personnel, taking out the spreader’s workers. The project includes:

• Remote operations console.
• Video system with cameras to allow a single operator to get a full view of the spreader and the environment around it.
• Ad hoc design of specialized network for data transport.
• Development and integration of remote control and security routines into the native control devices (PLC) of the spreader.

The turnkey project involved the development of connectivity of telecommunications networks with low latency and high availability. The system ensures reliability and the transport of multiple high-definition video sources, and the essential signals from the control network. It also made the remote operation possible by creating an entirely new console system for the remote operator.

The hardware choice was consistent with demanding conditions like high solar radiation, gusts of wind and dust, considerable thermal oscillation and an acid atmosphere.

Furthermore, the stacker structure suffers significant vibrations during its operation, so devices had to include vibration resistant features and connectors. Finally, a special resistant corrosion epoxy paint was applied in mounting supports, and all connections had to be sealed.

Result

• A control/telecommunication/automation system for the spreader that allows its remote operation.

The workers are now located at a teleoperation centre with enormous safety and efficiency gains. The operators feel a real improvement in their quality of life, so they quickly adapted their routines to the new system. Remote operation allows you to significantly reduce travel times, shift changes, and handling contingencies. Its impact on productivity is significant.
Gaby has been at the forefront in the adoption of autonomous equipment. This teleoperated spreader has accentuated this trend. As in other cases, it improved radically both safety and productivity, gaining rapid adoption and praise from all the people directly involved.

The post Teleoperation of Large Machines: Spreader, Gabriela Mistral, Codelco, Chile appeared first on SK Godelius.

Challenge

• Design and implement a turnkey solution to make remote stacker operations viable. The project had to be carried out while it was in operation. Therefore, the time restrictions for intervention were very significant.

SK Godelius was requested to develop a new wireless network, following the specification that communications towers should be fed by solar-powered energy.

Solution

Development of a customized teleoperated operations centre where workers operate the stacker from this new site.

• Design and building of a remote operations console.
• Video system with multiple high-definition cameras on the stacker.
• Specialized wireless network for data transport.
• Developing and integrating remote control and security routines into the native control devices (PLC) of the stacker.

The turnkey project redefined the control logic of the machine. It also involved constructing telecommunications networks with low latency, high availability, and high bandwidth, capable of transporting multiple high-definition video and automatic control signals. The robustness of the solution was achieved through mesh network functionalities with redundant directional links. Furthermore, a new solution of video cameras was incorporated, including new compression technology, resulting in less bandwidth consumption and even less latency in rugged hardware capable of working in desert environmental conditions. All connectors were chosen and installed to stand relevant vibrations, as well as the corrosive atmosphere. A corrosion-resistant epoxy paint was applied in mounting supports, and all connections had to be sealed. An electronic and electromechanical workshop was installed at Godelius’ facilities in Calama, which supplied the assembly and configuration teams.

Result

• A radical improvement in safety and productivity through the stacker’s teleoperation results in fully satisfied end-users, managers, and sponsors.

By the second semester of 2020, an ongoing SK Godelius remote service was delivered, guaranteeing the pandemic’s operational continuity.

The post Teleoperation of Large Machines: Stacker, Radomiro Tomic, Codelco, Chile appeared first on SK Godelius.

Challenge

• Create a solution to reduce the high risk to the workers’ safety and health during the Stacker Bridge 13 at Minera BHP Billiton’s Spence.

BHP acknowledges that its workers’ security and quality of life are fundamental issues during its daily operation. The company was looking for a solution for eliminating workers’ exposure to the risks caused by equipment operation in specific conditions.

The operation in sulfuric acid leaching areas represents a high-risk environment for workers’ safety and health, where hydrochloric acid emanations reach dangerous levels. The acid exposure can cause direct effects, such as burns and irritation on the respiratory tract due to the acid vapour. Besides, the Minera BHP Billiton’s Spence also incorporates salt in the process, which generates hydrochloric acid emanations, a colourless gas with a pungent odour highly dangerous to skin and eye health. The gas can cause severe irritation of the upper respiratory tract, even causing pulmonary edema.

Solution

Development of a customized teleoperated operation centre to provide safety and quality of life to the team, taking out the stacker’s operators. The project includes:

• Remote console operation.
• Sensors and video systems with cameras on the stacker.
• Wireless network for data transport.
• Developing and integrating remote control and security routines into the native control devices (PLC) of the stacker.

The turnkey project redefined the control logic of the machine. It involved constructing telecommunications networks with low latency, high availability, and bandwidth to transport multiple high-definition video signals and automatic control. SK Godelius also designed and implemented the operator’s console and all the display platforms.

The harsh environmental conditions, such as high solar radiation, gusts of wind and dust, and extended thermal oscillation, have required the development of rugged hardware to work in those situations. Furthermore, the stacker structure suffers significant vibrations during its operation, so devices had to include vibration resistant features and connectors. The hardware had met IP66 or better certification to avoid the entry of acid vapour inside the devices. A special resistant corrosion epoxy paint was also applied in mounting supports, and all connections had to be sealed.

Result

• The stacker’s teleoperation caused positive changes in both security and productivity and fully met the end-users’ and personnel’s demands involved in the operation.

The teleoperation system reduced the operation time associated with the transport of personnel to the work area, the exposure of workers to highly dangerous hydrochloric acid emanations, and standardized operations due to the ease of supervising the operation directly.

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