Development and Testing of Autonomous Mining Equipment in Underground Mines

摘要

The development and testing of autonomous mining equipment/vehicles in real miningenvironments is a challenging process, which is normally carried out by the OEMs (OriginalEquipment Manufacturer) when automating their own equipment (e.g. trucks). However, as theneed of more affordable, flexible and innovative automation solutions for miningequipment/vehicles has open the door for new technological solutions developed by METS (MiningEquipment, Technology and Services) companies and research centers, the development and testingof the autonomous systems need to be addressed using a different approach.In this context, this paper describes the development and testing of automation systems for LHD(Load-Haul-Dump) machines carried out by the Advanced Mining Technology Center (AMTC).