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Autonomous 797

big ben

Senior Member
Joined
Aug 22, 2010
Messages
352
Location
Vancouver Island
I know this technology has been used and currently is in Australia and on other mine sites for decades but still interesting as it grows. Now on 797s in the Canadian oil sands. From -40C to plus 30C. From frozen ground to super soft underfoot conditions.

 

old-iron-habit

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 22, 2012
Messages
4,233
Location
Moose Lake, MN
Occupation
Retired Cons't. Supt./Hospitals
It's going to become more & more common in any country where operator salaries are a significnat part of the cost of operation of larege mining trucks IMHO.

I think they are going autonomous regardless of operator saleries. They never stop to pee or eat so when the programing gets good enough that they follow orders, they will be more productive and thats the name of the game, But as with all technology the support staff will get bigger and more sofiscated so wages will go up on that end. Progress never ends and workers will, as always, have to take the oppurtunities its provides to prosper.
 

Nige

Senior Member
Joined
Jun 22, 2011
Messages
28,973
Location
G..G..G..Granville.........!! Fetch your cloth.
One thing that has been noticeable to me is that most mining operations that are moving or have moved to autonomous truck operations are generally "shallow pit, wide open spaces" operations. From what I've seen so far, iron ore, coal, & oil sands. In that type of mine it's easy to construct wide haul roads with quite low ruling grades (see video) and also to separate non-haultruck traffic, even to the extent of using separate access roads for service vehicles. I'm thinking that would be a lot more difficult in a narrow deep copper or gold operation. it's not uncommon to see haul roads that aren't even wide enough for two trucks to pass on the move and where one has to pull into the side of the road and stop to allow the other to go past in the opposite direction. I feel that would present quite a few challenges for autonomous operation.

 

Tones

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 15, 2009
Messages
3,059
Location
Ubique
Occupation
Ex land clearing contractor, part-time retired
Autonomous trucks give the haulroads hell according to one bloke I've talked to as the stay in the same grove all the time. I don't think graders will be autonomous though.;)
 

92U 3406

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 3, 2017
Messages
3,098
Location
Western Canuckistan
Occupation
Wrench Bender
It's going to become more & more common in any country where operator salaries are a significnat part of the cost of operation of larege mining trucks IMHO.

Haul truck operators in the oilsands were making well over $150k/year during the last boom. Can't say I blame the companies for wanting to eliminate that expense now that oil is worth less than half the price now.
 
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