Remote Mining
Elliot Duff
Senior Research Scientist
Nov 2007
CSIRO. TeleRobotics
Mining
Equipment
Shovels
Trucks
Draglines
Excavators
Drilling
Shearers LHD
Loading
Exploration & Mining
Sensors &
Communications
INS
LasersGPS
RadarVision
WiFi
GSM/GPRS CDMA/3G
Adhoc
UWB
TIP/MS/MST
Traditional Roles in CSIRO
CSIRO. TeleRobotics
Sensors &
Communications
New navigation and position
systems
New distributed sensor
technologies
Mining
Equipment
Intelligent control systems
Real-time reasoning
Specialising in the development of intelligent
systems for the autonomous operation of mining equipment
10 Years of Collaboration
CSIRO. TeleRobotics
Example 1. Dragline Swing Assist
CSIRO. TeleRobotics
Example 1. Dragline Terrain Following
CSIRO. TeleRobotics
Example 2. LHD Auto Tramming
CSIRO. TeleRobotics
Example 3. Explosive Loading
CSIRO. TeleRobotics
Mining
Equipment
Sensors &
Communications
Humans
SafetyHMI
Mine Awareness
• Failsafe communications
• Reliable localization
• Asset management
Mine Telerobotics
• Visualization
• Immersion
• Haptic Feedback
OH&STraining
Productivity
Improving health and safety for workers in hazardous environments,
as well as, enhancing equipment utilization and consistency of production.
Mine Automation
• Shared Autonomy
• Cooperative Behavior
• Material Handling
New Directions in Mining
CSIRO. TeleRobotics
Mine Tele-Robotics and Remote Mining
Mixed-RealityTele-Robotic
Robot
Tele-Operation
Machine
Autonomy
Shared
Autonomy
Autonomy
Manual
User
Interface
Intelligent
Behavior
Extent of
Knowledge
Communications
Latency
Global
LocalReactive
Proactive
Augmented
Reality
Augmented
Virtuality
Supervisory
Assistive
Real
Virtual
Mine Automation Mine Sensing and Comms
Mine Tele-Robotics
Development of shared perceptive space
(distributed model of the world) that facilitates
communication and task planning between
humans and machines with different levels of
sensing and autonomy.
Development of an augmented virtual user
interface that is capable of supervising a
number of remote machines and integrating
complex geological data with real-time data
streams from multiple remote sensors
CSIRO. TeleRobotics
Future Control Room
• Industry Drivers
• Underground - Remove people from dangerous environment
• Surface - Improve productivity (dig-to-plan & cooperative)
• Requirements
• Visual and Haptic user interfaces that are capable of integrating
complex geological data with real-time data streams from multiple
and remote machine sensor
• Visualization
• Putting disparate and numerous data sets into a coherent hole.
• NOT Virtual or Simulated data - augmented virtuality
• Based upon actual state of the machine/environment in real-time
• Immersive and Interactive
• Experience of being fully present - Not necessarily HMD or stereo
• Appropriate presentation of data to the user - single modality
• Engage operator in a natural and intuitive manner - 3D and Haptic
CSIRO. TeleRobotics
Enabling Technology – Localization
• Inertial Navigation Systems
• Global Positioning System
• Beacons / Tracking
• Laser
• Radar
• Vision
CSIRO. TeleRobotics
Enabling Technology - Environmental Sensing
• Conventional sensors
• Vision / Stereo
• Scanning Range Laser
• Ad-Hoc Sensing networks
• Radar
CSIRO. TeleRobotics
Enabling Technologies – Digital Terrain Mapping
CSIRO. TeleRobotics
Enabling Technologies – Active Controls
Dragline
Controls
Haptic
Workbench
• Seamless Set-point Transfer
• Intuitive Feedback
• Operator Acceptance
• Interchangeable
CSIRO. TeleRobotics
Example 4. Excavator Guidance
Real-time 3D Digital Terrain Map
Simulation based upon measured joint angles
Laser Bucket Tracking
Bucket
Ground
Excavator
Truck
CSIRO. TeleRobotics
Example 4. Excavator Reconciliation
CSIRO. TeleRobotics
Example 5: Shovel Truck Interaction
CSIRO. TeleRobotics
Example 5: Shovel DigAssist
CSIRO. TeleRobotics
Example 3: Scale Dragline
CSIRO. TeleRobotics
GUI Development
Trees
Machine
Centre
Trailer
Dig face
CSIRO. TeleRobotics
GUI Contour Plot
Mark dig and
dump point
CSIRO. TeleRobotics
Tele-Excavation over the Internet
QCAT
Redbank
ADSL
WiFi
JPL
Internet
CSIRO. TeleRobotics
Full Automation
CSIRO. TeleRobotics
Before and After
Contact Us
Phone: 1300 363 400 or +61 3 9545 2176
Email: enquiries@csiro.au Web: www.csiro.au
Thank you
ICT Centre
Elliot Duff
Senior Research Scientist
Phone: +61 7 3327 4632
Email: elliot.duff@csiro.au
Web: www.csiro.au/asl
CSIRO. TeleRobotics
Autonomy Spectrum (Digging)
Manual AutonomousDigToPlan DigAssist
Plan
Safety
Tool
Position
Encoders
3D
Display
Realtime
DTM
Lasers
Immersive
Display
Machine
State
Haptics
INS etc
Force
Feedback
Visualization
GPS
2D
Display
Offline
DTM
Situation
Awareness
Comms
Mission
Collaborative
Interfaces
CSIRO. TeleRobotics
State of the art in Excavation?
0
50
100
Digging
Swing
Dump
Walk
Maintenance
Integration
Autonomous
Manual
DigAssist
DigToPlan
CSIRO. TeleRobotics
Longwall Automation
Remote visualization of longwall driven by real data in realtime
CSIRO. TeleRobotics
Where to now?
CSIRO. TeleRobotics
Gaming ?
Eve - Asteroid MiningSecond Life

2008 remote mining