Autonomous Underground Mining Vehicles Are a Thing Now

Depending on how tests of below-ground and above-ground equipment progress, multiple technologies could be incorporated into single vehicles to make them maximally adaptable to operator needs.

Mining 24 Hours a Day with Robots

Tom Simonite for MIT Technology Review:  Each of these trucks is the size of a small two-story house. None has a driver or anyone else on board. Mining company Rio Tinto has 73 of these titans hauling iron ore 24 hours a day at four mines in Australia’s Mars-red northwest corner. At this one, known as West Angelas, the vehicles work alongside robotic rock drilling rigs. The company is also upgrading the locomotives that haul ore hundreds of miles to port—the upgrades will allow the trains to drive themselves, and be loaded and unloaded automatically. Rio Tinto intends its automated operations in Australia to preview a more efficient future for all of its mines—one that will also reduce the need for human miners. The rising capabilities and falling costs of robotics technology are allowing mining and oil companies to reimagine the dirty, dangerous business of getting resources out of the ground.  Cont'd...

Gemini-Scout Mine Rescue Robot

Reliability, ability to travel across varied terrains, and accurate operation are essential elements for the drive system and camera controls on mining rescue robots.

Robots Explore Dangerous Mines with Novel Sensor Fusion Technology

The 3D Riegl scanning laser range finder and an Acumine 2D scanning millimeter wave radar were transported on Husky and used to record video footage and densely sampled data sets. The data is being submitted to the International Journal of Robotics Research to ensure that this insight and information is available to the robotics community.

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High Performance Servo Drives for localized and distributed control applications from Servo2Go.com

High Performance Servo Drives for localized and distributed control applications from Servo2Go.com

Engineered to drive brushless and brush servomotors in torque, velocity or position mode, Servo2Go.com offers a broad selection of servo drives in a wide range of input voltages and output power levels.

Robotics and Automation - Featured Company

MMP Inc. / MIDWEST MOTION PRODUCTS, INC.

MMP Inc. / MIDWEST MOTION PRODUCTS, INC.

The Leader in Rapid Prototyping of High-Quality Motion Control Solutions. MMP is actively engaged in the design, manufacturing and distribution of standard and custom motion control equipment, including fully reversible brushed and brushless DC gearmotors, motors with failsafe brakes and servomotors with feedback devices such as analog tachometers and encoders. We also provide fully-sealed IP-65 motor speed controls @ 12/24/48 VDC, AC~DC power supplies and a wide variety of 12/24 VDC linear actuators. If you need a sample right away, we can be a project saving convenience for you. We provide more than 8000+ released DC Gearmotor designs with cost-effective solutions for robotics and automation companies. These designs are unique and custom-built to suit the specific application requirements of the motion control projects.