Robotic Mining
The use of robotic technology in mining has greatly improved the industry of mining. The technology itself can be and is in some cases implemented into the entire mining process from discovery to transportation to storage areas. While companies like Autonomous Solutions Incorporated focus solely on robotic mining, larger traditional mining and construction equipment companies like Caterpillar devote many of their resources to integrating autonomous products into their new lines of vehicles and equipment. Some of the main equipment that can be made autonomous includes articulated dump trucks (ADTs), haul trucks, excavators, bulldozers, and drills. The robotic systems that are used to automate the ADTs and haul trucks usually include a preprogramed route, a positioning system to update the truck about where it is located on its route, and a central computer loaded with all of the software and information to run the vehicle. As well as all of this, sensors on the front of the truck give information to the computer about obstacles in front of the vehicle. Much is the same for bulldozers and excavators, though they have a specific task programed into them as well as sensors, rather than a route. Automated drills are by far the most risk reducing vehicle because of the elimination of the necessity of having human workers in the mine shafts. This exemplifies one of the major reasons why mining companies have been and are switching from manually operated equipment to partially or fully automated equipment: it decreases the amount of risk that the human workers are exposed to. Other reasons include that the automated systems are more productive and are more cost and fuel efficient as well as requiring less maintenance than the manual operation does. In conclusion, the mining companies that use automated systems, either partially or fully automated, are safer and more productive than those companies that do not use robotic control[1].
[1] “Mining.” ASI Robots. Autonomous Solutions Inc., 2015. Web. 23 Sep. 2015. <http://www.asirobots.com/mining/>
[1] “Mining.” ASI Robots. Autonomous Solutions Inc., 2015. Web. 23 Sep. 2015. <http://www.asirobots.com/mining/>