Remote Controlled Dozers?

Mother Deuce · Nov 11, 2019

Nige said:
All D10T and D11T models can be set up for remote control. It's called "Command for Dozing", and not just for hazardous environments. One operator can control up to three dozers.
http://s7d2.scene7.com/is/content/Caterpillar/C10338821

I find this all very frustrating. What in the #$%& are people going to for work? The techies are pretty much single handedly working towards rendering several million people jobless with autonomous vehicles. Cat reportedly had a truck and loader show running completely autonomous at the proving ground. Makes you want to take a techie designer out to a pile driver to observe the fall of hammer... from the pile top. "It's the way of the future" they say. Not my future. I have had the pleasure of working with people who took pride in their craft, that can fix it if it was broke, could diagnose it by sound, feel, sight, and knew the tests to run. They could fab it, weld it and design on the fly. Field engineering was promoted not shunned. The Seabees improved Henderson field in 1942 on Guadalcanal by quarrying coral onsite and repaired it daily after Japanese bombing missions and naval bombardment. They did this under fire with gear we refer as historic today. Those guy's could run and by comparison... I am not fit to carry their dinner boxes. Just like the guy who shows up to monitor the autonomous mining outfit isn't fit to carry your's or mine.

Nige · Nov 11, 2019

MD, the problem is in places like Oz where that video was shot, it's becoming harder & harder to get people to leave their families for a couple of weeks at a time and fly in & out of a remote mine site that might be anything up to a 3-hour flight from "civilization". That's before the challenge of giving them somewhere comfortable to stay while they're on site. Then there's the cost side of it for the mine operating company. I'd hazard a guess that it's a "horses for courses" scenario that might apply more to Australia than anywhere else in the world.

Mother Deuce · Nov 11, 2019

Nige said:
MD, the problem is in places like Oz where that video was shot, it's becoming harder & harder to get people to leave their families for a couple of weeks at a time and fly in & out of a remote mine site that might be anything up to a 3-hour flight from "civilization". That's before the challenge of giving them somewhere comfortable to stay while they're on site. Then there's the cost side of it for the mine operating company. I'd hazard a guess that it's a "horses for courses" scenario that might apply more to Australia than anywhere else in the world.

That is probably a fair assessment Nige. It seems to be a global problem. A lot of people that will be entering the workforce or have just entered it that think that all that equates to work comes out of a computer. They are working diligently to cripple skill sets that at least used to be important to the furtherance of the quality of life. Perhaps I am wrong and have became such an anachronism myself that I have lost touch. As you and I both know the miners don't throw money where it won't return profit.

Michael Shuder · Nov 12, 2019

LACHAU said:
They are optionnal of dozer. They have been using in the dangerous site usually.
I already have repaired it.

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That is so cool! Thank you for sharing this. I am amazed at how much technology has advanced in the recent years. Now, we can operate heavy machinery from 1,000 feet and potentially saving so many lives.

Nige · Nov 12, 2019

1,000 feet away.? The technology exists to operate machinery such as autonomous trucks from hundreds of miles away from the mine site. Lots of remote mine sites in Australia are using the technology big time.

Mother Deuce · Nov 12, 2019

Michael Shuder said:
That is so cool! Thank you for sharing this. I am amazed at how much technology has advanced in the recent years. Now, we can operate heavy machinery from 1,000 feet and potentially saving so many lives.

Saving so many lives?? Do tell...

JimInOz · Nov 15, 2019

I was told that the autonomous dump trucks can also run faster,as there are no people working in the area. So,no lunchtime,no bad back, & extra speed.....I guess the writing is on the wall..
As a younger man,I ventured onto remote minesites in Australia. I learned a lot,plus made a great living. Those opportunities will be gone soon.
It's just (r)evolution - the horse & cart vs cars thing.Unfortunate for older people,but younger ones probably won't give a damn.More time for gadgets & boredom!

Nige · Nov 15, 2019

JimInOz said:
Unfortunate for older people,but younger ones probably won't give a damn.More time for gadgets & boredom!

And that as I see it is the crux of the problem. The Millenials aren't interested in flying off to remote mine sites to spend day after day in (what they perceive as) mind-dumbing boredom driving a haul truck around in circles for 12 hours at a time.

seatwarmer · Nov 15, 2019

Question, will the remote operators be subjected to the same health and safety rules, eg drug tests ?
Next thing, I absolute hate car driving games on any computers due the arse feedback sensor that is missing, how I'm going to hear/feel that there is something wrong with the machine ?

John C. · Nov 15, 2019

You won't be running the machine at all. The AI will do everything and you will just sit at a console and watch, ready to hit a stop button should something go wrong.

seatwarmer · Nov 15, 2019

John C. said:
You won't be running the machine at all. The AI will do everything and you will just sit at a console and watch, ready to hit a stop button should something go wrong.

Yeah, the future holds watchers, not doers. Man that abandoned salt mine is much more of an option now to automate and sell the technology.

Mother Deuce · Nov 15, 2019

Nige said:
And that as I see it is the crux of the problem. The Millenials aren't interested in flying off to remote mine sites to spend day after day in (what they perceive as) mind-dumbing boredom driving a haul truck around in circles for 12 hours at a time.

That is a sad truth.

DIYDAVE · Nov 15, 2019

John C. said:
You won't be running the machine at all. The AI will do everything and you will just sit at a console and watch, ready to hit a stop button should something go wrong.

Just like Homer Simpson...

LACHAU · Nov 16, 2019

Nige said:
1,000 feet away.? The technology exists to operate machinery such as autonomous trucks from hundreds of miles away from the mine site. Lots of remote mine sites in Australia are using the technology big time.

Really Sir?? Manufacturers has just a concept machine because of safety reasons. So that I think the owners have modified and are solely responsible.

Following are concept machines of CAT; KOMATSU and HITACHI.

Nige · Nov 16, 2019

That's mostly for show.
If you look at Rio Tinto's iron ore operation in the Pilbara area of Western Australia as an example the autonomous truck controllers sit in an office in Perth 1700 kilometres away from the mine site. This is typical.

Nige · Nov 16, 2019

Here's a Cat one done for show where the operator is 150 miles away from the dozer.

Remote Controlled Dozers?

Mother Deuce

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Nige

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Michael Shuder

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