Universal Harness Design for Autonomous Mining Fleet Integration

Executive Summary

Fortescue Metals Group (FMG) operates an advanced autonomous haulage fleet across its mining sites. To maintain safety and operational efficiency, manned vehicles must continuously report their real-time positions. This telemetry hardware is housed in a ruggedised enclosure known as the Site Aware Box (SAB). FMG required a solution to integrate legacy and next-generation hardware components within the existing SAB footprint. We designed a modular, universal wiring harness from the ground up, enabling seamless cross-compatibility, reducing electronic waste, and lowering capital expenditure.

The Challenge

• Hardware Fragmentation: FMG needed to support multiple generations of positioning hardware and varying radio technologies, specifically WiFi and LTE networks.
• Spatial Constraints: The new internal layout had to fit perfectly inside the original physical dimensions of the SAB enclosure to avoid costly vehicle retrofitting.
• Complexity: The existing setup relied on fragmented, small wiring bundles that increased assembly time and potential failure points.

The Solution

We engineered a robust, universal wiring harness built on three core design pillars:

• Ground-Up Architecture: Redesigned the entire electrical distribution network to accommodate both old and new hardware platforms concurrently.
• Consolidated Modularity: Combined fragmented, small harnesses into unified, large assemblies, significantly streamlining installation while retaining plug-and-play modularity.
• Form-Factor Preservation: Optimised internal routing so the upgraded SAB retains its original physical dimensions, requiring zero structural modifications to FMG’s fleet.

The Results

• Capital Savings: FMG can fully reuse existing, high-cost legacy hardware alongside new components, avoiding premature equipment retirement.
• Environmental Impact: Extending the lifecycle of older telemetry hardware directly reduces electronic waste and supports corporate sustainability goals.
• Operational Flexibility: The universal configuration allows field technicians to swap hardware generations instantly based on site-specific network availability (WiFi or LTE).