The growth of automation offers an incentive for business leaders, technological strategists, and public policy supporters to effectively navigate the transition to an autonomous mining sector.
FREMONT, CA: Automation of operating machinery, technology functions, and business processes is a core component of digital innovation. Automation in different areas of the mining industry may help to increase safety and productivity. Although autonomous mining equipment necessitates substantial capital expenditure, it is compensated by lower operational costs.
Automating mining vehicles, such as haul trucks, will reduce the likelihood of driver exhaustion and increase long-haul transportation performance, providing even more value to the industry’s supply chain. Sensor technology has progressed to the point that autonomous trucks can identify even the tiniest of threats, such as a bird flying in front of them and respond appropriately. The growth of automation offers an incentive for business leaders, technological strategists, and public policy supporters to effectively navigate the transition to an autonomous mining sector.
The Broader Implications of Automation in Mining
Although full autonomy is the ultimate objective, many mining companies implement a semi-autonomous approach to many manual activities to maximize safety and efficiency. Various countries have passed legislation requiring collision avoidance systems on haul trucks and fatigue control systems for driver fatigue in recent years. While some of these developments may be similar to those found in the automotive industry, mining has its own range of safety and heavy machinery problems.
In semi-autonomous settings, a range of new and innovative safety technologies are being implemented that allows for the real-time identification of hazards with manual and automated systems to minimize risk. This real-time detection is related to the rise of remote operations centers, which track and manage several ‘digital’ facets of a mine operation.
While there is likely still a long way to go before robots totally eliminate all dangerous jobs in the mining industry, the rise of autonomous mining machinery does provide a basis for how mining firms can complement dangerous activities with AI counterparts. Mining workers have previously been relieved of tedious tasks such as reporting irregularities and flagging non-compliances through digital analytics platforms, enabling them to concentrate on higher-value tasks and lowering costs.