HI. Network tab

Owned by iarmstrong
Last updated: Jan 19, 2024
11 min read

RU

The Network tab is the main workspace in Haul Infinity, where you can draw a 3D road network over of existing pits and topographies, and interact with it to create nodes and routes for haulage.

 

Viewport and Toolbar

Viewport is the main area to draw and interact with the road network and mine elements.

A detailed description of the toolbar buttons and their use for interacting with the haul network in the viewport, see the HI. Toolbar section.

Depending on the selection, various control tools are available in the right-click menu. See the description in the sections below.

 

Left panel

On the left side there is a panel consisting of two areas sections:

  • Route Selections and History panel at the top and

  • Nodes, Segments and Blocks panels at the bottom.

See the description below.

Note that you can change the position and size of all the panels by left-clicking on the header and dragging to the desired position.

 

Route Selections panel

  1. Select a material type in the Material Type field, the available materials are defined in the Materials step.

  2. Select a loader from the Loader dropdown, the available loader types are defined in the Loaders step.

  3. Select a truck from the Truck dropdown, the available dump truck types are defined in the Models step.

  4. Specify the applicable operating conditions in the Operating Conditions field, defined in the Operating Conditions step.

 

History panel

Flags column - [number of flags with On state], [number of flags with Off state].

  • Select the haul route from the list to activate it in the viewport.

  • Double click on the haul from the list to zoom in to it in the Viewport.

  • Press the Clear History (eraser) icon to delete all previously selected routes.

Nodes tab

  • Drag fields from the Available Fields list to the Grouped Fields list. The added fields will be shown in the Attribute panel.

  • In the Attribute panel, toggle the nodes and their properties you want to display in the network viewport.

    • Click on the Attribute header to sort the nodes A-Z or Z-A.

    • Selecting in the tree structure, selects items in the Viewport.

    • To zoom in to the node, double click on it.

    • To delete nodes, select one or multiple in the Nodes panel and then right-click in the Viewport > Delete.

Example of the Nodes panel use with custom nodes see in HI. Node Exercises.

 

Segments tab

  • Drag fields from the Available Fields list to the Grouped Fields list. The added fields will be shown in the Attribute panel.

  • In the Attribute panel, toggle the segments and their properties you want to display in the network viewport.

    • Click on the Attribute header to sort the nodes A-Z or Z-A.

    • Selecting in the tree structure, selects items in the Viewport.

    • To zoom in to the segment, double click on it (may be useful for finding flagged segments).

    • To delete segments, select one or multiple in the Segments panel and then right-click in the Viewport > Delete.

Use the right-click dropdown to work with the selected segments.

Best practices for managing segments of the road network see in HI. Segments Exercises.

 

Blocks tab

  1. Expand the blocks tree to the desired level:

    1. When you click on a row in the tree, that row should be temporarily visible in the viewport.

    2. When you tick a row in the tree, that row should be permanently visible in the viewport.

    3. When you double click a row, it should center those blocks in the viewport.

  2. Use the eye ball toggles to show/hide all records or individual mine levels.

  3. Change the tree order with the blue arrows.

  4. Remove a row with the single red minus icon (this cannot be undone).

  5. Remove all blocks with the double red minus icon (this cannot be undone).

  6. Import or export joins to the ".blockJoins" file using the import/export options. Exporting joins can be a useful function for saving and backing up the connection made. More details see here.

 

 

8. Press the gear icon to open the Setup Blocks menu, where you can select Travel Level in Tree (in relation to the path RL), Travel Alignment (bottom, middle or top) and Block Type (Source or Destination).

 

9. Check if blocks are all connected to the haul network. A red exclamation mark in the Isolated Blocks column will show beside isolated blocks.

  • Connected blocks - green, isolated blocks - red.

  • By default, Blocks Without Joins will be displayed in yellow. You can select another color in the Display tab > Entities panel > Blocks Without Joins.

Right panel

The right side panel consists of 3 tabs:

  • Display, Layers and Flags

See the description below.

Display Panel

The Display Panel is used to control how objects and labels are visualised in the viewport.

The panel is broken into two areas:

  • Top controls global visibility of all objects.

  • Bottom controls visibility of specific entities.

Visibility of objects and labels can by toggling using the eye icon.

Customisation of label font is done by clicking one the text icon.

 

 

Custom Shading and Labels

Segments, Blocks and Nodes all have similar levels of customisation.

Default Labels and Shadings can be selected from the dropdown menu, they are displayed in bold blue. These options will change based upon what object type is selected.

Further customisation can be done via the Configure UI by clicking on the Cog icon.

Custom labels are only supported by C# code. See HI. Custom Labels for more information and examples.

 

Custom shadings is supported by C# code and simple shadings using a UI. See HI. Custom Shadings for more information and examples.

Layers Panel

The Layers Panel belongs to the Common User Interface Elements that can be found in all Alastri software.

Detailed description of all the Layers panel items and instructions for their use can be found in the HI. Layers panel section.

Flags tab

In this panel, you can add, remove, reorder, and import and export road and ramps flags.

More details on adding and assigning flags see in the HI. Flags section.

Bottom Tabs for the Network Analysis

These tabs are briefly described in the table below, while a full explanation, with examples and practical applications, can be found in the HI. Network Analysis section.

Tab

Overview

Tab

Overview

Properties

The Properties tab is used to display the properties of network components selected.

Use Selection buttons to change between the selected data:

  • Point, Block, Node, Segment.

The Properties panel view areas and fields change depending on the selected network items.

A further description of each of these items can be found in the section Properties panel below.

Error List

The Error List tab provides a list of errors and warnings.

Segments

The Segments tab is used to present detailed information on the selected network segments.

Charts

The Charts tab can be configured to display elevation, velocity, fuel burn and engine load over time or distance. Use this tab to compare fleet performance and find out where the trucks are slowing down, and why.

Truck Times

The Truck Times tab presents a stacked bar graph of the cycle time. Use this tab to compare the performance of two or more truck types.

Cycle Time Analysis

The Cycle Times tab displays the key performance indicators for the active haul. Use this tab to compare fleet sizes, cycle times, fuel burn, TKPH values, productivity rates and delays.

Schedule Auditor

The Schedule Auditor tab is a planning tool used to generate bulk haulage calculations across the entire schedule. To use this feature, you must supply an existing schedule that specifies sources, destinations, loaders, trucks, and materials moved. Haul Infinity will then generate the full cycle time breakdown and 3D haul strings for each schedule record. This can be used to estimate truck fleet mobilisation and utilisation over time.

Properties panel

By default, it is located in the lower right part of a screen.

Select an item which properties you wish to display. It can be:

  • Block,

  • Node,

  • Segment,

  • Point.

The Properties panel view areas and fields change depending on the selected network items, as shown in the table below.

Block

Review the information for the selected block, such as:

  1. Name,

  2. Full Name,

  3. Number of Auto joins,

  4. Number of Manual joins,

  5. Block geometry: Top, Bottom, Height, Travel RL, PathFinding RL.

    1. Note that Travel RL and PathFinding RL may differ.

      1. Travel RL is the top/bottom height of a block,

      2. Pathfinding RL is the height used by joins when joining to the bench. Use the PathFindingRL to diagnose auto join issues related to the segment not being at the same height as the RL

  6. If required, you can change time in seconds that truck is waiting at a dump (SpotAtDumpSeconds).

  • You can change the size and color of the block in the Display tab > Entities panel > Source Block and Destination Block.

  • Configure blocks labels and shadings in the Blocks panel on the right.

Node

 

Nodes are fixed load points (or dump points) that we manually connect to the network. Typically, these represent pit centroids, dump centroids, stockpiles and crusher bins.

  • Select a node from the tree in the Nodes tab, or find it in the Viewport, or create a new one using “Promote Point to Node” option (available from the right-click menu).

  1. Use the Node Type field dropdown to change type of the selected node, ie:

    1. BenchExit,

    2. Crusher,

    3. Stockpile,

    4. LiftEntry,

    5. Waypoint,

    6. Charger.

  2. In the Name field specify/change the node name according to the naming rule:

    1. Stockpiles/<StockpileName>,

    2. Crushers/<CrusherName>,

    3. Dumps/<DumpName>, etc.

  3. When a single node is selected, its X, Y and Z coordinates are displayed in the General table and can be edited.

  4. The DataSource and UID fields are locked from editing in this panel.

  5. If required, you can change time in seconds that truck is waiting at dump (SpotAtDumpSeconds).

  • You can change the size and color of the node in the Display tab.

  • Configure nodes labels and shadings in the Nodes panel on the right.

 

Segment

Select a network segment (in this example, road).

  1. The name of the segment can be changed as required.

  2. In the locked DataSource field, you can see whether the segment has been imported or drawn.

  3. Flag the Loaded/ Unloaded TrolleyAssist checkbox if a trolley drive is used on this segment for travelling with/without the load.

  4. Flag the SingleLane checkbox if the segment uses a single lane for hauling.

  5. Review and, if necessary, change the Network Parameters, such as:

    1. Rolling Resistance value,

    2. MaxSpeed,

    3. FinalSpeed,

    4. StopWaitTime.

  6. In the Metrics area, review the metrics that apply to the segment (they cannot be edited).

  7. If applicable, tick the appropriate flags for this road.

  • You can change the size and color of the segment in the Display tab > Entities panel > Segment.

  • Configure segments labels and shadings in the Segments panel on the right.

Point

 

  • Point is a minimum base point of the haul network.

  • When a single basic point is selected, its X, Y and Z coordinates are displayed in the General table and can be edited.

  • You can change the size and color of the Point in the Display tab > Entities panel > Point.

Description of the other tabs of the bottom panel see in the HI. Network Analysis section.

Drawing Network

Using the tools provided, draw roads on which truck fleet will run, to mimic your site haulage network. For a detailed description of the tools and examples of how they can be used to build a road network, see the HI. Drawing Network section.

 

Tools and Navigation

Explanation of the main Tools provided in the top toolbar see in the section HI. Toolbar and Navigation.