News

Safer and more efficient mining transports in new SAFER-associated project

Jan, 04 2018

SAFER has a new project in its portfolio Systems for accident prevention; Auto pilot site to plant.

The purpose of the project is to build a safe and efficient fully automated transport system that is capable of operating in narrow spaces, such as a mine, and on public roads. The material from the mine will thus be able to be transported without a driver in the vehicle all the way from the mining area to the enrichment plant. The system should be able to work both with and without support from various infrastructure systems, such as GPS, WiFi and 4G. The advantage of automated vehicles within the mining industry is several; the working environment becomes safer and the work can be carried out more efficiently.

Two automatic vehicles are being developed
Within the project, two different transport systems of driverless trucks, which provide both high traffic safety and optimized use of the vehicles for mining, will be developed. The already existing infrastructure in the mining area will to a certain extent be adapted to the vehicles. One of the two autonomous vehicles will transport ore down from the mine up to the surface. The ore is then transported from the transhipment plan at the mine to the enrichment plant by the second vehicle, a self-driving truck and its trailer. The transports are being monitored via a traffic management system.

More knowledge and better technology
The project believes it is possible to deliver more, and better, automation functionality, as well as new knowledge about what is needed to achieve road safety for efficient transport solutions for the mining industry. The project will provide a first proposal for a general interface between different parts of the system. It also provides future opportunities for collaborations, both research and development beyond the now formed project group. Further work will be required to industrialize the developed technology. The project, which is ongoing until March 2019, is financed by Vinnova and AB Volvo is leading the project.