{"id":6597,"date":"2026-01-19T16:22:37","date_gmt":"2026-01-19T21:22:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.hexagonmining.com\/?p=6597"},"modified":"2026-01-19T16:23:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-19T21:23:12","slug":"my-name-is-dave-heres-my-confession","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.hexagonmining.com\/en\/my-name-is-dave-heres-my-confession\/","title":{"rendered":"My name is Dave. Here\u2019s my confession"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Dave Goddard<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

About 30 years ago, fresh out of university, I worked for Trimble on the Panama Canal. High-precision GPS technology ensured dredgers guaranteed vessels a six-inch draft \u2013 and not an inch more. Remove even one extra inch of material from a 50-mile canal and you are extracting vast, unnecessary tonnage at significant cost.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Then, as now, measurement mattered.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When Caterpillar and Trimble began applying this technology to mining equipment, I was involved in designing and developing some of the industry\u2019s first high-precision machine guidance solutions. The goal was simple but transformative: give operators dig guidance versus plan directly in the cab, replacing physical staking and flagging of the muckpile.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It was an early example of a pattern I have seen repeated throughout my career \u2013 technology adapted from other industries to solve real mining challenges.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Another example is Hexagon\u2019s market-leading collision avoidance system. It began life in the Swiss Alps, developed by glider pilots worried about near misses and mid-air collisions. The context changed, but the principle stayed the same: precise measurement saves lives.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Three decades of change \u2013 and uncertainty<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n
\"\"

Dave Goddard at Future Minerals Forum panel session “Startups and next-generation technologies that will redefine the future of minerals”, 15 January, 2026<\/p><\/div>\n

For the past 30 years, I have been involved in most of the major technological developments the mining industry has seen. I have listened to more panel discussions about the \u201cmine of the future\u201d than I can remember, and I have participated in a few myself.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Today, as president of Hexagon\u2019s Mining division, my role is to connect measurement and high-precision positioning solutions across surface and underground operations. We apply data-driven insights to help customers optimise resources and move material safely.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So here is my confession: I do not know what the mine of the future looks like.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But I do know how we get there. Progress depends on listening to customers, building trust, and investing in the miners of tomorrow.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Lessons from the 1990s<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

If we go back to the mid-1990s, the \u201cmine of the future\u201d would have been imagined around a few clear objectives:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n