Autonomous construction machines

Autonomous construction machines like driverless dumper trucks have already proven their readiness for practical application at ore mines around the world. Now work is underway to produce autonomous excavators, though the technology is still in its infancy.

In the late summer of 2016, a project in the Swedish town of Eskilstuna provided a glimpse of the construction site of the future: at the site, Volvo Construction Equipment (CE) demonstrated how an autonomous wheel loader and a driverless dumper truck worked together. The wheel loader handled around 70 per cent of the volume normally loaded by a human-controlled machine. That’s a lot less – though the autonomous construction machines are able to operate round the clock. “The machines are able to perform the same task on a predetermined route time and time again, over protracted periods of time. But the technology is still in its infancy. We are working to devise solutions capable of delivering the safety and performance the market demands,” explains Jenny Elfsberg, Volvo CE’s Director of Emerging Technologies. “We still have a long way to go. So we don’t yet have any plans for implementation on an industrial scale,” she adds. The machine prototypes do not yet communicate with each other, for example. Yet that is vital in terms of avoiding collisions and simplifying efficient material flow. Nevertheless, Elfsberg is certain: “Autonomous machines will improve safety in a hazardous working environment, and eliminate the risk of accidents caused by human error. They will also perform repetitive tasks more efficiently and precisely than a human operator.”

24/7 operation: Drones supply topographical information, autonomous machines then move the required volume of earth precisely and highly efficiently on this basis.

Autonomous construction machines working together

Japanese manufacturer Komatsu is also working on autonomous construction machines. Its “Smart Construction” concept is already well advanced. The excavators and wheel loaders are only partially autonomous so far, however: the excavator operator now merely controls the boom, for example, while the bucket operates automatically. Its height and position are adjusted with the aid of cameras on the excavator and GPS sensors. The system “knows” how much earth has to be moved where. The necessary data is provided by thousands of aerial photographs captured by drones from US manufacturer Skycatch. The Skycatch software uses the images to compute a three-dimensional topographical model, accurate to within three centimetres. Based on several million measuring points, the volume of earth to be moved can then be calculated very much more precisely than using conventional manual methods.

Fully automated iron ore transportation

It will be a while before fully autonomous excavators are available. But fully autonomous trucks are already operating today: Australian mining company Rio Tinto, for example, introduced so-called Autonomous Haulage Systems (AHS) at its iron ore mines in the Pilbara region as far back as 2008. Today the company is the world’s largest owner-operator of autonomous trucks, running 71 autonomous dumper trucks. Actually, the word “truck” does not quite cover it: the Komatsu driverless dumper trucks transporting iron ore at the Yandicoogina, Hope Downs 4 and Nammuldi mines are the height of a three-storey building.

Higher productivity, less risk for staff

The dumper trucks are equipped with powerful computers which control the standard driving functions: starting the engine, accelerating and braking. The navigation system is GPS-based, and the trucks are fitted with distance sensors and collision-avoidance systems in order to identify and avoid any hazards. The vehicles are additionally monitored remotely from an operations centre in Perth, 1,500 kilometres away. Rio Tinto’s Mining Operations Manager at Yandicoogina, Josh Bennett, explains: “What we have done is map out our entire mine and put that into a system, and the system then works out how to manoeuvre the trucks through the mine.” The trucks are programmed to transport their loads as efficiently as possible. And they are a success: since 2008, the autonomous fleet has cut loading and transportation costs at the mines by 13 per cent. “Autonomous trucks reduce employee exposure to hazards and risks associated with operating heavy equipment, such as fatigue-related incidents, sprains and other soft-tissue injuries, and exposure to noise and dust,” says Yandicoogina Mining Operations Manager Josh Bennett.

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