Notes for Chris? ? Following Robots

Notes for Chris Chesher on ABC Northwest (Karratha)
chris.chesher@sydney.edu.au

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Mine sites are changing, as robotic technologies are taking on communication and control roles previously held by people. These changes have been coming for some time, but there has been a shift from trialling autonomous systems to using them in production.

In 2008 the first Komatsu trucks were first introduced as experiment, carrying waste products at Rio Tinto?s West Angelas mine. The trials seem to have been a success, as the five autonomous trucks between them covered 570,000 kilometres over 897 days at work until February this year.

These trucks have now been reassigned, to enter the production process, hauling ore at the Junction South East pit of Rio?s Yandicoogina mine.

The five trucks will undoubtedly be joined by more new autonomous trucks. Rio Tinto reached an understanding with Komatsu in Novermber 2011,? to buy 150 Komatsu Autonomous Haulage System trucks over the follow four years. It?s not clear what the impact of the iron ore price slump will be on these acquisitions, or how they will fit into Rio?s processes.

As you may know, these trucks are fitting with a range of sensors that allow them to operate very safely and accurately. They use laser, radar, GPS, and communications systems to move around the mine site with a lot of precision. The trucks are coordinated by Rio?s control centre in Perth.

In addition to these developments, Rio has committed over 400 million to automating trains.
Safety is one of the motivations for introducing these systems. A driverless vehicle can?t injure the driver. Autonomous systems don?t have lapses in attention, or drive erratically.

Another reason is to increase production efficiency. Autonomous trucks don?t take breaks. They don?t work in shifts. Together, these autonomous systems can work towards the goal of continuous production.

I?m an academic at the University of Sydney. I am here in Karratha trying to get a sense of how people in the Pibarra feel about the changes to mining work as mining automation is introduced. I?d appreciate if anyone with experience or opinions about mine automation to call in. I?m recording this program, and I?d like to use the transcript in my research. You can find more about my project on my blog http://followingrobots.wordpress.com

Whether these goals of safety and efficiency are achieved, it seems likely there will be changes to the experience of mining. It may affect the social life of mining towns.

To bring up a very different example, when mobile phones became available, they seemed at first to be just a phone you could carry around. In fact, they were quite different from fixed phones. They allowed people to change the way they organised their lives. Rather than make detailed arrangements ahead of time, people with mobiles could easily change plans at the last minute. With smart phones, people could make images and change them, making their own media.

As a cultural form, an automated mine is very different from the community of mobile users. The control centre gathers detailed information across mine sites, and centralise control. The mine site increasingly becomes a rock factory.

There are many potential benefits of automation for workers. It can take away dangerous, dull and dirty work that nobody wants to do. Mine automation may reduce risks of injury and death. It may reduce fly-in-fly-out work, allowing operators to work in urban control rooms. This may take social and economic pressure away from remote mining communities.

But there are some potential draw-backs: some people will lose their jobs to autonomous systems. The high degree of control over mine sites may be extended. The dependence on communications systems and technology may bring some fragility to the systems in comparison to human operated systems.

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Rio Tinto prepares mine for driverless trucks
http://www.itnews.com.au/News/296907,rio-tinto-prepares-mine-for-driverless-trucks.aspx

http://www.riotinto.com/media/18435_media_releases_21665.asp

Komatsu 930E-AT FrontRunner Autonomous Haulage System
Heavy equipment forums.com
http://www.heavyequipmentforums.com/showthread.php?15024-Komatsu-930E-AT-FrontRunner-Autonomous-Haulage-System

http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2012/s3580572.htm?

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Source: http://followingrobots.wordpress.com/2012/09/02/notes-for-chris/

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