Chapter2:

HISTORY OF THE ROVS INNOVATION

IN THE MINING INDUSTRY
1. Introduction

The process of introducing new technologies and innovations in underground and surface
mining, as well as in associated processes for treating the raw product, such as in milling,
separation and refining has a long history. The mining industry has evolved from a labour
intensive to a highly mechanised one. Mining was largely a manual production process until the
middle of the 20 th century when mechanized production became increasingly important.

Most innovations developed over the past century were reliant on guidance by a human operator,
but this is rapidly changing with the development of remotely operated and autonomous mining
equipment. Today, automation is widely seen as a major step change that must be achieved by
the mining industry in order to meet the many and various challenges

Two critical groups of people have driven ROV history: (i) dedicated visionaries and (ii)
exploiters of technology. Those who drove the development of ROVs had a problem to solve and
a vision, and they did not give up the quest until success was achieved.

2. Historical innovation trends in the mining industry

In underground mining, unmanned mining rail carriages were first deployed in the 1960s,
followed by automated drills, and remote controlled underground ore cutting machines in the
1970s. The most recent innovations relate to the remote operation of underground LHDs that use
scanning lasers to see tunnel walls and can navigate autonomously from ore face to a haul truck,
as well as automated shotcreting and rockbolting devices.

In surface mining, an increased capacity of machinery dramatically reduced the ‘cycle time’
required for the equipment to perform its assigned task, such as with the use of bucket wheel
excavators in large open pit coal mines, and advances in rubber technology that allowed for
longer and moulded belts. Significant increases in productivity were achieved as a result of
increasing truck sizes from a 25 tonne payload to some 400 tonnes today (along with
dramatically improved energy efficiency) and the use of safer and cheaper explosives. The
slower uptake of new technologies in surface mining may reflect the complexity of open-pit
environments and the associated technological hurdles in implementing effective automation.
Innovation is harder for a variety of reasons, including the fact that many more vehicles and
other objects share the same work space, that these operate at higher speeds, and that open pits
are subject to changing environmental and weather conditions.
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Some recent examples of these types of innovations are summarised in Tables 1, 2. These
innovations deliver a range of benefits, including enhanced employee health and safety, technical
efficiencies that make better use of equipment and cut down on materials and energy use, and
improved environmental outcomes.

Table 1. Selected recent mining industry innovations: Underground mining

Table 2. Selected recent mining industry innovations: Surface mining

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 3. Recent innovation trends

Mining innovation today is driven by the need to find and access new resources to meet rapidly
growing demand, often in complex and difficult to mine environments. Technological advances
in mining or practices have fundamentally change how mining is done.

These technologies can be sub-divided into three categories:

a) Tele-operations

It refer to mining vehicles controlled by an operator at a remote location with the use of cameras,
sensors and additional positioning software. Joysticks or other handheld controls are still used to
control the vehicle’s functions, and operators have greater access to vehicle telemetry and
positioning data through the tele-operation software.

b) Semi-automation

Refers to partly automated control of mining machines. Only some of the functions are
automated, and operator intervention is needed. Remote control technology is generally used to
enable mining equipment to operate in dangerous conditions such as unstable terrain, blast areas,
high-risk areas of falling debris and underground mining.

c) Full automation

refers to the autonomous control of one or more mining vehicles. Robotic components manage
all critical vehicle functions, including ignition, steering, transmission, acceleration and braking,
and implement control (that is, blade control, dump bed control, excavator bucket and boom,
etc.) without the need for operator intervention.

4. Conclusion

Figure 1. Past productivity and anticipated productivity from technology change

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While recent decades have seen a lot of innovation to increase productivity at mine sites (such as
larger, more durable and efficient shovels, haul trucks, crushers, grinding mills and flotation
cells, and better chemistry to improve processing recoveries), automation is expected to to
continue to rapidly increase productivity (between 7,000 and 8,000 tons/person-year) (Figure 1)

5. Questions:
 List the types, functions of recent mining industry innovations: Underground mining
 List the types, functions of recent mining industry innovations: Surface mining
 Explain the following : Tele-operations, Semi-automation, Full automation