From Dark Age to Imperial: what Age of Empires teaches us about instrumentation

Anyone who has ever played Age of Empires knows the frustration of realising too late that more villagers were needed. In mining and minerals processing, operators face a similar reality every day, just with significantly higher stakes.

At its core, Age of Empires is not really a game about combat. It is about resource management, information and the sequencing of investment decisions. That is precisely what makes it an effective analogy for instrumentation and process automation in modern plants.

The ages of automation

Progression in Age of Empires is deliberate. Skipping from the Dark Age to the Imperial Age without the right foundation inevitably leads to failure.

Minerals processing operations follow a similar maturity curve:

• Dark Age: Manual sampling, operator judgement and delayed lab analysis
• Feudal Age: Basic instrumentation, local PID control and PLC-driven operations
• Castle Age: Integrated DCS, real-time analysers and plant-wide visibility
• Imperial Age: Advanced process control (APC), optimisation and AI-assisted decision-making.
   

Attempting to advance too quickly, without reliable measurement and control, often limits performance gains.

Villagers, sensors and the economics of measurement

In Age of Empires, villagers underpin the entire economy. Idle or poorly assigned villagers directly constrain progress.

In processing plants, sensors play the same role. Flowmeters, density gauges and online analysers form the foundation of reliable mass balance, throughput visibility and quality control.

However, incorrectly specified, installed or maintained instruments deliver limited value. Measurement devices without verification or health diagnostics can generate misleading data, causing operators to lose trust and eventually ignore them.

This is why many operations are data-rich but insight-poor. The infrastructure exists, but confidence in the data does not. In practice, unreliable or unused data adds little value and can be worse than no data at all.

The analogy extends further. The ‘fog of war’ highlights a simple truth: decisions are only as good as the information available. Reliable and validated measurement is what enables operational visibility.

Build order matters more than technology

Experienced players understand there is no universal ‘best’ build order, only context-specific ones. The same applies to instrumentation strategy.

For example, flotation circuit optimisation depends on a structured progression:

• Accurate and robust reagent measurement
• Optimised reagent selection
• Stable flow control
• Ratio control implementation
• Metallurgical control such as mass-based dosing
• Management of transient conditions including start-up, shutdown and disruptions
• Integration of feedback signals such as mass flow and froth condition.
   

Only once these foundations are in place can plants achieve consistent metallurgical performance and improved reagent efficiency.

From operator intuition to system stability

Historically, mining operations have relied on highly experienced operators who make adjustments based on observation and intuition. While effective in the short term, this approach introduces variability and risk. Changes in personnel, operating conditions or ore characteristics can quickly expose these limitations.

Well-designed automation systems — supported by reliable instrumentation — do not replace operators; they enhance them. By stabilising routine control, they allow operators to focus on higher-value decisions and exception management.

Playing to win the long game

Before pursuing autonomy or AI, plants should focus on three fundamentals:

• Trusted and validated measurement
• Clear operational visibility
• A structured and appropriate automation roadmap.
   

Ultimately, performance is not defined by the sophistication of technology alone, but by how and when it is deployed. And in both game and processing plants, success often comes down to one principle: build strong foundations early.

And yes, probably build more villagers early on.

*Taylor McKertich is the Regional Industry Manager for Mining, Minerals and Metals at Endress+Hauser Group in the Asia–Pacific region, with a focus on process improvement, operational excellence and engineering solutions in the industrial automation field.

Top image credit: iStock.com/tifonimages