AUTONOMOUS MINING SYSTEMS

PART III
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ROBOTICS
First Law
A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction,
allow a human being to come to harm.
Second Law
A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings
except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
Third Law
A robot must protect its own existence as long as such
protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws.
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STAGES OF MINING
ALMOST ALL MINING OPERATIONS HAVE FIVE
FUNDAMENTAL STAGES:

1. PROSPECTING

2. EXPLORATION

3. DEVELOPMENT

4. EXPLOITATION

5. RECLAMATION
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(a) Examples of robotic vehicles in underground and surface mining. Unmanned surface
haul trucks (Photo: Mobular Mining Systems, 2011);
(b) an autonomous underground load-haul-dump (LHD) machine at the Kvarntorp mine,
Sweden (Photo: Joshua Marshall, 2007)
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A Robotic maritime research vessel conducting a bathymetric

survey of a mine tailings pond with overlaid example bathymetry
map (Photos: Clearpath Robotics, 2013)
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A rope shovel dumping into a haul truck (courtesy of Commonwealth Scientific and
Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), 2006)
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ROBOTIC DOZING

DOZERS ARE USED IN MOST SURFACE MINES.

OPERATING A DOZER UNDER CONDITIONS THAT ARE

DYNAMIC, WITH HAZARDS THAT CAN VARY AND BE
SUBTLE AND DIFFICULT TO RECOGNIZE, ADDS TO THE
COMPLEXITY OF THE TASKS THAT WORKERS PERFORM
ON THESE MACHINES.

MANY OF THESE TASKS REQUIRE OPERATORS THAT ARE

HIGHLY SKILLED IN GROUND-ENGAGING TOOL CONTROL
AND MACHINE POSITIONING.
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Rock breaker at rest over the (a) ROM bin and (b) breaking a rock on grizzly
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UNDERGROUND ROBOTS

A TEAM OF SCIENTISTS, ENGINEERS, AND TECHNICIANS FROM A

CONSORTIUM OF UNIVERSITIES, ORGANIZATIONS, AND COMPANIES
ACROSS EUROPE BOLDLY PREPARE A ROBOT TO GO WHERE NO
ROBOT HAS GONE BEFORE.
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THE ROBOT, UX-1

ENTER AND NAVIGATE THE NARROW, FLOODED

PASSAGES OF THE IDRIJA MERCURY MINE IN WESTERN
SLOVENIA.

THE SECOND FIELD TEST OF UX-1’ DONE RECENTLY

THE ROBOT CAN AUTONOMOUSLY NAVIGATE THE DARK,

MURKY WATERS OF THE CLOSED MINE AND USE ITS
MULTISPECTRAL CAMERA TO RECOGNIZE DIFFERENT
MINERALS.
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Julius, the robot,
can track people,
robots, and
machines, as well
as monitor
environmental
conditions, in
mines like this
one, the research
and teaching
mine Reiche
Zeche in
Germany.
Credit: Eckardt
Mildner
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ONE DAY IT WILL BE PART OF A MULTIROBOT PLATFORM

CALLED THE UNDERWATER EXPLORER FOR FLOODED
MINES (UNEXMIN)

CAN BE USED FOR “NON-INVASIVE AND AUTONOMOUS 3D

MINE MAPPING FOR GATHERING VALUABLE GEOLOGICAL,
MINERALOGICAL AND SPATIAL INFORMATION…THAT
CANNOT BE OBTAINED BY ANY OTHER WAYS, WITHOUT
MAJOR COSTS….”
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UNEXMIN IS JUST ONE EXAMPLE OF SEVERAL

EFFORTS ACROSS EUROPE, AND THE WORLD,
TO DEVELOP ROBOTS AND RELATED
TECHNOLOGY FOR USE IN AND AROUND MINES
TO PERFORM A VARIETY OF TASKS

………!!!!!
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The UX-1a robot
navigates underwater
at the Kaatiala trial
site in Finland. The
instrumentation seen
includes a set of
cameras and thrusters
that allow the robot to
perform basic
functions (movement,
navigation, mapping).
An umbilical cable (in
yellow) was used for
security of operations.
Credit: UNEXMiN

Intelligent NAVIGATION….
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Researchers launch
robot UX-1a for an
exploration mission at
the Borba shaft in the
Idrija mine in
Slovenia, 120 meters
below the surface.
The robot dove to a
maximum depth of
26.2 meters in the
shaft. Descent into
depth lasted for 1.5
hours, and rise from
the bottom lasted 0.5
hour. Credit:
UNEXMiN

Intelligent DIVE TECHNOLOGY ON MINE WATER

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Having access to an underground

environment like the research and
teaching mine Reiche Zeche is
important for researchers because
“progress in the surface environment is
helpful but not always directly
comparable to the underground,
irregular, and confined spaces in
mines,” says one scientist.
Credit: Freiberg University of Mining
and Technology
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ROBOTICS AND THE IOT HAVE A SYNERGISTIC

RELATIONSHIP: ON THE ONE HAND, ROBOTS CAN
PROFIT FROM IOT INFRASTRUCTURE, E.G. BY USING
SENSOR DATA FOR BETTER NAVIGATION, AND ON THE
OTHER HAND ROBOTS CAN HELP TO INSTALL IOT
INFRASTRUCTURE.
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ERP for Mining Industry

ERP provides Material Management, Planning & Production,
Finance & Accounting, Sales & Distribution, Customer
Relationship Management (CRM), Payroll and Plant Maintenance
module. ERP also has Business Intelligence solution and Mobile
Apps for workforce to be connected. ERP can also be seamlessly
integrated with Tally Software.
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Key Modules of ERP for Mining Industry

ERP for Mining Industry has modules designed, configured as per
the unique requirements of Mining Industry. ERP helps to
integrate and streamline critical business processes such as
procurement, inventory management, supply chain, asset
management, payroll and finance to ensure profitability
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Multi-Location Integration
ERP Multi-Company feature helps integrate diversified business
processes from multiple locations. This improves collaboration and
coordination across various locations, units and departments.
Management is able to view real-time, consolidated data as well as
detailed transaction level data and make informed decisions.
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Efficient Transportation and Logistics

Transportation and Logistics is a vital element of the Mining
Industry. It involves different modes of transport such as road, rail,
water and various carriers such as trucks, rail-racks, ships etc. ERP
provide logistics related features to handle bulk transportation,
freight order, freight invoicing. ERP records all transactions
involving transportation via rail, road, water and also records
accounting and compliances requirements in Logistics.
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Order to Cash Cycle

Order to cash (OTC or O2C) is primarily the business process which involves
receiving orders from customers for goods or services and fulfilling them as per
customer requirements. This cycle involves sub processes such as
documentation of order received, schedule for order delivery, order shipment,
invoice generation, payment received, payment recorded. ERP has
incorporated all the features to ensure an efficient Order to Cash Cycle.
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Purchase to Pay Cycle

Purchase to Pay also known as Procure to Pay, is essentially the business
process that covers aspects of procurement of raw materials, consumable &
capital items. It involves sub processes such as requesting for goods or
services, purchasing, receiving, paying and accounting for raw materials,
consumable & capital items. E-Procurement solution automates and
streamlines procurement processes. This enables efficient and transparent
procurement of raw materials, consumable & capital items. It ensures that right
materials are available at the right time in the right quantity at the right place.
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Material Requirement Planning

Mining Industry is material intensive industry. Mining Industries
must avoid situations of stock out or overstocking in all possible
ways. Hence, inventory control and material requirement planning
are critical for Mining Industry. ERP supports demand planning,
based on manual forecast, past consumption data, fixed level
inventories as well as adhoc material requirements. ERP provide
different type of material classification such as ABC, XYZ and
other analytical reports to plan and execute material requirement
planning. Material Requirement Planning reduces wastage,
ensures adequate inventory and enables timely order completion.
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Asset Management
ERP helps monitor all equipments, smooth functioning of
equipments, optimize equipment efficiency and operating costs.
ERP Asset Management Module is capable of handling:
Asset Management: It maintain records of all equipments, their
locations, equipment wise AMC Contracts, spares & warranty
details.
Plant Maintenance: It helps to set conditions that trigger
maintenance. It helps to record and carry out activities of
preventive and breakdown maintenance.
Inspection: It provides a daily log for maintenance and inspection
entry.
Vehicle Management: Mining Industries require lot of Vehicles for
its Operations. ERP supports features for operations and
maintenance of Vehicles in the Asset Management Module.
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Weighbridge Integration
ERP can integrate weighbridge operation directly. All Material
Movement activities such as raw material being received,
dispatched, or internal transfers can be captured directly in ERP.
ERP can integrate a single weighbridge or multiple weighbridges
with connected operations within a single company. This helps
keep a close watch on inward and outward movement of raw
materials. Since weighbridge data can be captured directly into
ERP it helps to prepare Good received notes, Dispatch
documents, etc.
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Payroll

ERP Payroll module helps to automates certain payroll activities

thereby improving capabilities and accuracy of HR department.
ERP maintains employee personal information, annual leave,
advances etc. It can be integrated with major attendance access
machines. This saves time, in processing payroll information,
preparing pay slips, registers etc.
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Finance

ERP Real Time Integrated Finance Module consolidates

financial data from multiple business units, divisions and GST
registered units in to a single database. This provides better
support for accounting standards, statutory requirements.
Helps monitors data of costing, valuation, cash flow,
profitability and MIS to ensure accurate reporting.
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Statutory Requirement

Mining Industry has to comply with stringent government

rules and regulations. It also involves a lot of documents
compliances with respect to GST, TDS, etc. ERP is equipped
to handle all these government documentation.
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Specific Reporting

ERP comes with a suite of standard reports created for the

Mining Industry. This includes precise reports designed as per
their key performance indicators and dashboards. In addition,
we also provide customized reports if required.