GSL Machine Robotics · Monitoring system
sentinel
Continuous highwall monitoring. Anywhere on site. No infrastructure required.
The sentinel is a trailer-mounted ground movement monitoring system built by GSL Machine Robotics around RIEGL laser scanners — the benchmark hardware in terrestrial laser scanning. Set on a pad with line of sight to the slope, it scans the entire face around the clock, detects sub-centimetre movement, and alerts your team the moment anything changes. It runs entirely off-grid, and it is available on fully managed hire.
Why it matters
Know about movement before it becomes a problem.
Highwall instability is one of the most significant safety and production risks in open-cut mining. Conventional monitoring asks a lot of an operation: prism-based systems need targets installed and surveyed near the wall, fixed installations need power and civil works, and any hardware downtime means flying blind.
The sentinel was built to close that gap — survey-grade monitoring brought to any face on site, without targets, without infrastructure, and without putting people near the wall.
How it works
Position. Scan. Alert. Review.
Position
Towed to a clear pad with line of sight to the face — fully operational within minutes of arriving on site.
Scan
Scans the entire face automatically at configured intervals, day and night, without an operator on site.
Alert
Every scan is compared against a reference. Movement beyond your thresholds triggers instant SMS and email alerts.
Review
Clear 3D change models through a secure web link — accessible to your team anywhere, on any device.
The platform
Built on RIEGL. Connected by the GSL relay.
Every sentinel is built around RIEGL VZ and VZi-series terrestrial laser scanners, paired with GSL’s own automation layer — scan scheduling, change detection, data processing and alerting — designed to run unattended, around the clock.
The ruggedised, road-registered trailer is engineered in-house: vibration-isolated, self-contained, no civil works, no permanent footprint. Solar and battery power keep it scanning, and all data leaves site by satellite through the relay — no site power, no site network, no problem.
Fully managed. On your terms.
Flexible hire with no capital commitment. GSL can run the system end to end, or hand it to your team with full training and technical backup — and a maintained fleet means scheduled servicing never creates a gap in your monitoring.
Every engagement includes
- Delivery, installation and commissioning
- sentinel trailer with solar/battery power and satellite communications via the GSL relay
- High-precision RIEGL laser scanner
- Monitoring software with web-based results and automated alerts
- Training for your team and ongoing technical support
Case study
Developed with RIEGL Australia.
The sentinel was developed by GSL Machine Robotics in collaboration with RIEGL Australia, after GSL’s survey teams identified the gap between high-end monitoring capability and the practical realities of deploying it in active mining environments.