A review of the first 25 years of mobile machine automation in underground hard rock mines.

The first attempts at automation occurred in Sweden in the early 1970s when a 6-ton truck was equipped with automatic steering and speed control. Developments were then made involving line-of-sight control of machines. From the mid 1980s there was increased momentum in R & D with attempts to automate trucks, drilling machines, raise and tunnel borers and ground support machines. Within the last ten years much work has been carried out on the automation of LHDs, expecially in Sweden and Canada. Research to date has focussed on the monitoring, guidance and control of mobile equipment with not much consideration of the interaction between machine systems, the geological environment and mining methods. Research in these areas should provide the means to analyse the efficiency of mine production system design and optimisation. Eventually, the use of tele-remote/automated mine systems should improve efficiency by minimising throughput time, stockpiles, wastage and reworking. A far greater role for simulation, combined with animation and virtual-reality tools, will be central to further development.
The first attempts at automation occurred in Sweden in the early 1970s when a 6-ton truck was equipped with automatic steering and speed control. Developments were then made involving line-of-sight control of machines. From the mid 1980s there was increased momentum in R & D with attempts to automate trucks, drilling machines, raise and tunnel borers and ground support machines. Within the last ten years much work has been carried out on the automation of LHDs, expecially in Sweden and Canada. Research to date has focussed on the monitoring, guidance and control of mobile equipment with not much consideration of the interaction between machine systems, the geological environment and mining methods. Research in these areas should provide the means to analyse the efficiency of mine production system design and optimisation. Eventually, the use of tele-remote/automated mine systems should improve efficiency by minimising throughput time, stockpiles, wastage and reworking. A far greater role for simulation, combined with animation and virtual-reality tools, will be central to further development.