Are we there yet? A journey in the development of an automated mining machine

Speaker: Prof Ross McAree

Abstract:

In this talk I want to take you on a journey—one filled with highs and lows, adventure and mis-adventure, unexpected turns and hard-won lessons. It’s a journey of collaboration and the benefits that come from this. It's been a fun journey, though not always an easy one. When it began, I optimistically predicted it would take 10 years. Fifteen years later, I'm still going, and the destination remains tantalizingly ahead but still out of reach. Yet it's also been an uplifting journey, and one I hope you'll enjoy hearing about.

The story began in 2008/9 with a series of serious incidents involving bulldozers working on coal stockpiles, one of which involved the death of the operator. This stimulated my interest on whether technology could be developed to eliminate the fatal risks involved in this work. And in turn this translated to exploring what it would take to create robotic bulldozers that could complete useful work with minimum human intervention. What followed was a journey that had some nice research breakthroughs, early translation wins, a sobering safety incident that reminded us of real-world stakes, confounding results that challenged whether the idea we were pursuing had any benefit or value, and a breakthrough that delivered significant productivity improvements.

Yet technical triumph was followed by translation challenges that several times have led me to think: "it might be time to give up on this – there are other things to do". However, the compelling need for a technology that removes operators from the dangers of working in complex mining environments and the prospect of achieving significant performance benefit though automation has kept me on the hook. This journey reveals the complexity of translating research into meaningful impact, and concludes by examining where automated mining technology might be heading in light of the lessons learned along the way.

Bio:

Professor Ross McAree is Head of the School of Mechanical and Mining Engineering. He has been a T&R Academic at UQ since 1999 and prior to this was a lecturer at Oxford University. His research interests are in the control and automation of machinery, a theme he has pursued in the context of mining equipment automation over the last 25 years. He teaches control engineering and system design into undergraduate and postgraduate curriculum at UQ. His dog is named ‘George Lazenby’ in tribute to the greatest actor to have played the role of James Bond.