A remote control emergency Stop-It system that can be fitted to anything mechanical from a jet ski to a 800-tonne face shovel will be put on the open Australian market for the first time in Toowoomba this week.
Inventor Mike Thompson will be on the Eco-Tec System’s site at the Surat Basin Expo at the Toowoomba Showgrounds on June 15-16.
Given the spate of horrendous deaths involving machinery, his invention promises to provide some comfort for frustrated employers.
After a lifetime in heavy transport and now the mining industry working with Veolia’s dozers, excavators, graders, trucks and machinery on the Arrow Energy’s CSG sites at Moranbah.
Even though some machinery had emergency stops installed, the drivers were not convinced rescuers could get inside the designated 30-metre safety exclusion zone to trigger the mechanism in an emergency.
“They would joke they could throw rocks at it (the emergency shutdown) and hope they hit it, but it was obvious something wireless was needed,” Mr Thompson said.
After two years of research and development, the Eco-Tec System is only two weeks old and the first stop is the Surat Basin Expo.
“Now in responsible hands, we have the technology to stop anything mechanical up to 1km away.”
Eco-Tec Systems, with a capacity for 17 billion combinations of security, is not unlike your remote control for a garage door to look at. Mr Thompson says his invention is all-Australian technology.
To find out more visit www.suratbasinexpo.com.au