First automatic underground mining truck in Hubei put into trial run
By Chen Zai, Yichang International Communication Studio
As China's "hometown of phosphate mineral,” Zhangcunping Town of Yichang City boasts reserves of 2.6 billion tons and is home to 30 mining enterprises with more than 2,300 mining trucks.
In a mine 400 meters underground consisting of several crisscrossing roads, a truck full of phosphate mineral is running. It appears like an ordinary mining truck, but with a closer look, you will notice that the driver is not controlling the steering wheel or any other operating equipment. The vehicle is autonomously recognizing road information, moving forward and backward, braking, and steering.
A truck full of phosphate mineral is running in a mine 400 meters underground
This automatic driving mining truck, on trial run at Tiaoshuihe Phosphate Mine since December 16, was developed by Hubei Sanning Mining Co., Ltd and Dongfeng Commercial Vehicle Co., Ltd, together with the technical support of Wuhan University of Technology. The truck carries out various underground operations such as loading, transporting, and unloading ore.
Yu Jianhua, Expert of Dongfeng Commercial Vehicle Technical Center:
“So far, we have realized automatic loading and unloading, driving, as well as turning and bypassing other vehicles. We have essentially realized underground automatic driving and operating in all scenarios.”
Yu Jianhua, Expert of Dongfeng Commercial Vehicle Technical Center introducing the truck
Applying automatic driving technology to mines hundreds of meters underground where signals are weak, lighting is poor and road conditions are complex is a technical problem that has challenged experts for a long time.
Yu Jianhua, Expert of Dongfeng Commercial Vehicle Technical Center stated:
We used lidar mapping for positioning. We also used lighting guidance and QR codes to supplement the vision recognition for trucks. At the moment, we are still in the trial run. At later stages we work more on functionality and safety. After then we will be able to confirm that we have achieved complete unmanned operation.
Technology of QR codes are used to supplement vision recognition for trucks
The automatic mining truck is connected to a "vehicle-road-cloud" integrated control center. The monitoring video and parameter data of every road and vehicle can be synchronized in real time. Once the real driverless runs begin, only one "driver" will be needed to sit in the central control room to click the mouse. The underground automatic mining truck, just like a remote-control vehicle, will receive commands to operate. Intelligent and scientific management systems will improve the safety of underground mining.
A "vehicle-road-cloud" integrated control center
Xiao Hongxing, Safety Production Manager of Hubei Sanning Mining Co., Ltd added:
The use of underground automatic mining trucks in the Tiaoshuihe Phosphate Mine reduces the participation of workers in the mining process, which will greatly improve worker safety. Centralized allocation of vehicles and production efficiency are also improved. Judging from the previous trial run results, we will soon have all pre-conditions required for unmanned underground transportation. It is another important achievement of our construction of Intelligent Mine, laying the foundation for the further realization of our goal of replacing humans with machines and reducing human involvement with automation".
