Tag Archives: Riku Pulli

Sandvik debuts fully autonomous, battery-electric, cabin-less AutoMine Concept vehicle

Sandvik Mining and Rock Technology has unveiled the direction it thinks the underground mining industry is heading: fully-electric, autonomous and cabin-less.

During its virtual Innovation in Mining event on September 29, David Hallett, Global Product Line Manager, Automation, and Jussi Puura, Research and Technology Development, Digitalization Lead, unveiled its next-generation AutoMine® Concept vehicle to back up this view.

Based on the latest technologies and equipped with completely new sensing capabilities and artificial intelligence to enhance mining operations, the AutoMine Concept vehicle perceives its surroundings and environment in 3D and reacts to it in real-time, Sandvik says.

These technologies provide clear customer advantages by allowing vehicles to adapt and plan their own routes, and to find the most suitable paths even in continuously changing environments, according to the company. The obstacle detection, collision avoidance and 3D online mapping capabilities, meanwhile, improve adaptability and increase flexibility.

During a demonstration of the machine tramming, loading and dumping material at the Sandvik Test Mine in Tampere, Finland, Hallett and Puura explained how this cabin-less, fully-electric machine worked.

“With this concept vehicle, we have the ability to not only showcase our future technologies, but build the platform and foundation for our next-generation automation products,” Hallett said.

“Subsequently, we will start to gradually deploy these technologies to our existing AutoMine products providing opportunities for our current customer base to realise value with the products they have today, and make them readily available for future customers, as well.”

Sandvik says the vehicle represents a foundation for using the AutoMine technology in various equipment types and can be applied to any vehicle.

Hallett added: “The AutoMine concept is not a manual machine we have adapted for automation, but rather the opposite in which the machine has been designed for automation in mining.”

Puura stated a key differentiator of this concept vehicle compared with the company’s existing AutoMine range.

“Our target is to make these autonomous machines work safely with people and manual machines in the same area without the need for area isolation or safety gates.”

Riku Pulli, Vice President, Automation at Sandvik Mining and Rock Technology, said the AutoMine Concept is the world’s first fully autonomous underground mining machine built specifically for automation.

“This technology raises ease-of-use, effectiveness of asset utilisation and adaptability to a new level, resulting in higher productivity,” he said. “These technologies will truly change the face and pace of autonomous mining.”

Sandvik AutoMine open-pit drilling automation offering surfaces

Sandvik Mining and Rock Technology is taking its underground automated drilling expertise to the surface with the release of AutoMine® Surface Drilling.

A leader in mining automation, Sandvik has for a number of years been helping mining companies across the world improve productivity and increase safety with the use of its intelligent AutoMine systems for trucks, LHDs and underground drill rigs.

Even so, the commercialisation of the AutoMine Surface Drilling system marks an important milestone for the company in surface mining automation, it said.

The system is designed to meet customer’s challenges and maximise productivity and safety while increasing drilling efficiency. It enables mines to operate multiple Sandvik iSeries drill rigs from a remote control room miles away.

AutoMine Surface Drilling is available for Pantera™ DP1100i, Pantera DP1500i and Leopard™ DI650i rigs as well as Sandvik DR412i and DR416i blasthole drill rigs. It will be available for the recently released DR410i in the December quarter, the company added.

“This game-changing technology is the most advanced commercialised autonomous fleet system in the world enabling customers to reap the benefits of an autonomous drilling cycle,” Riku Pulli, Vice President Automation at Sandvik Mining and Rock Technology, said.

Like the AutoMine Underground solution, AutoMine Surface Drilling dramatically improves the working conditions and immediate safety of the operator while keeping mine personnel out of hazardous areas, Sandvik said. This reduces the operator’s exposure to noise, dust, and vibration and the hazard of working close to high walls.

Automated on-board functions enable iSeries rigs to work autonomously while the operator monitors at fleet level. Automated drill operation, accurate rig control and positioning increase the drilling quality and the overall excavation efficiency, according to Sandvik, thus ensuring higher productivity for the mine.

“We look forward to working closely together with our customers to automate drilling operations and unlock the full potential of AutoMine Surface Drilling,” Pulli said.

Sandvik ramps up Automine truck automation efforts

Sandvik says it has released a new solution that will allow automated underground trucks to continue seamlessly through ramp portals to the surface to complete the dumping cycle.

Having offered a sneak peek of this product at the Digitalization in Mining event in Brisbane, Australia, in December, the company has now gone public with the launch.

AutoMine® for Trucks is a first for autonomous ramp haulage applications in the underground mining industry, providing autonomous truck haulage not only in underground environments but also now on the surface, according to the company. “It turns Sandvik’s intelligent mining trucks into unmanned robots; robots that keep running,” Sandvik said.

For many years, mining operations across the world have benefitted from Sandvik’s intelligent AutoMine systems for autonomous and unmanned truck haulage. “They help to reduce equipment damage, repair work and add the highest levels of efficiency and fleet utilisation, giving a lower cost per tonne,” the company says. They are scalable for different mining applications and can be supervised from remote locations.

Riku Pulli, Vice President, BU Automation, Sandvik Mining and Rock Technology, said: “Continuously setting the industry standard, we have now developed the industry-first, fully autonomous underground trucks that can operate in mining levels and mine declines including both underground and surface sections. These trucks are set to revolutionise the mining industry, bringing significant improvements in mine’s productivity and safety.”

A key requirement for an autonomous ramp haulage application is to enable the capability for trucks to operate autonomously not only underground but also on the surface. With this product release, Sandvik has unlocked this capability for its customers, it says.

The different elements of the newly added capabilities have been tested at many of mine sites with existing experience of AutoMine for Trucks, a Sandvik spokesperson confirmed.

A core innovation behind the new capability is the smart handover technology that allows trucks to switch from underground to surface navigation mode in real time. This allows trucks to continue through the ramp portal seamlessly to the surface to complete the dumping cycle.

AutoMine also connects directly to Sandvik OptiMine®, enabling production planning and automatic dispatching of tasks to AutoMine for production execution, according to Sandvik. The progress of production tasks is reported back to OptiMine giving mines real-time visibility of their automated and manual operations and enabling them to make informed decisions on their operation.

Other benefits of OptiMine include equipment and people location tracking, 3D mine visualisation and predictive analytics to transform data into actionable insights. Integration with My Sandvik Productivity allows mines to keep track of their trucks’ condition and know the real-time status of the fleet, the company says.

Sandvik to automate and digitalise Codelco’s Chuquicamata underground mine

Sandvik says it will automate and digitalise Codelco’s underground copper operation at Chuquicamata, in Chile, creating one of the “most efficient and advanced underground mines in the world”.

Sandvik’s AutoMine® and OptiMine® solutions will allow Codelco to operate its new fleet of Sandvik LH621 loaders in fully autonomous mode, the mining equipment maker said.

Codelco is converting Chuquicamata from an open pit to underground mine as part of a 10-year strategic project to prolong its existing operations. It is due to start up in 2019.

Sandvik said: “The open system integrates manual operations and autonomous equipment into one powerful solution with AutoMine and OptiMine, enabling full transparency and real-time control over the parallel production and mine development activities.”

Andrés Avendaño, Operations Manager, Chuquicamata Underground, said: “Using our mines to full effect is part of our focus on sustainability and a key driver for our business. Automation and optimisation are critical to getting the most from our mines and keeping our people safe while we do it.”

Sandvik and Codelco started their automation journeys together with the first-ever AutoMine loading system installation at Codelco’s El Teniente copper mine, in 2004, Sandvik said.

Riku Pulli, Vice President, Automation, Sandvik Mining and Rock Technology, said: “Codelco has been an important partner for us from the beginning. It’s fantastic to continue the partnership as our visions are well aligned. We look forward to working with Codelco to deliver even smarter, safer, more productive mining through digitalisation.”

Codelco is the number one copper producer in the world and is owned by the Chile government. It controls about 19% of the world’s copper reserves and is also the second producer of molybdenum worldwide, with 24,000 t produced in 2018.

Sandvik’s digital solutions, including AutoMine, OptiMine and “My Sandvik” are working in hundreds of mines around the world.

The AutoMine product family allows customers to scale up automation at their own pace, covering all aspects of automation, from remote and autonomous operation of a single piece of equipment to multi-machine control and full-fleet automation using automatic mission and traffic control capabilities. AutoMine installations have logged more than 2.5 million hours with zero lost time injuries, according to the company.

OptiMine, meanwhile, is a suite of digital tools for analysing and optimising mining production and processes. It integrates all relevant data into one source, delivering both real-time and predictive insights to improve operations, Sandvik said. OptiMine is open and scalable, giving customers the flexibility to build at their own speed and incorporate other equipment, systems and networks.

Sandvik and Nokia team up to offer miners LTE and 5G networks

Sandvik has signed an agreement with Nokia to further develop solutions for private LTE (Long Term Evolution) and 5G technology, continuing its focus on IoT solutions for the mining industry.

The Nokia Digital Automation Cloud (NDAC) platform offers pervasive connectivity enabling advanced applications and will initially be implemented and tested in the Sandvik test mine in Tampere, Finland, Sandvik said.

“Sandvik’s decades-long work in automation has grown to include robust data analytics and process optimisation offerings, where connectivity and local computing power are crucial. Applications requiring high capacity and low latency are becoming increasingly important,” the company said.

“Private LTE networks bring reliable and secure high capacity, low latency and wide coverage mobile broadband to serve mission and business critical industrial connectivity needs and offer a variety of terminals, sensors and other devices,” Sandvik added.

The Nokia digital automation platform will operate both underground and in open-pit mines and offers a flexible connectivity platform for testing and developing Sandvik technology, according to Sandvik. “This network enables operation of autonomous vehicles, real-time monitoring of underground and outdoor premises to keep people and equipment safe, remote diagnostics and predictive maintenance, as well as asset management, control and authentication,” the company said.

Riku Pulli, Vice President, Automation, Sandvik Mining and Rock Technology, said: “Our cooperation with Nokia is another important part of our strategy to develop open, interoperable solutions for future mining needs. Enhanced connectivity is critical for smarter and safer underground operations, and we’re proud to work with Nokia to develop these enhanced connectivity options for our test mine and mining industry going forward.”

Stephan Litjens, General Manager, Nokia Digital Automation, said: ”Pairing Sandvik solutions with 5G-ready NDAC architecture has proven to be an excellent match. We are truly motivated to continue collaborating to develop technology that meets the requirements of the often-harsh conditions they operate in – be it moist, hot, cold, and/or dusty.”

Sandvik’s Pulli concluded: “Sandvik is a leader in mine automation and digitalisation, and Nokia offers leading technology in wireless connectivity. Together, we create innovative solutions for mining customers.”

Recently Agnico Eagle Mines, which is pilot testing automated mining using the Sandvik AutoMine system at its La Ronde Zone 5 mine, confirmed it would install an LTE network at the operation in Quebec, Canada.