By : Franyi Sarmiento, Ph.D., Inspenet, August 26, 2022
Engineers from Codelco El Teniente Division and the Advanced Mining Technology Center (AMTC) of the University of Chile developed a totally autonomous rock chipper for use in underground mining, pioneering technology for the industry worldwide.
The robotic hammer uses cameras, three-dimensional sensors, image perception algorithms, and three-dimensional modeling to recognize the position, quantity, and characteristics of the rocks to be broken. The operation of the hydraulic arm and its hammer are carried out without direct human intervention.
This innovation, financed by the Fund for the Promotion of Scientific and Technological Development, in 2019, in the virtuous mining category, completely robotizes a machine that, in its standard version, must be controlled by an operator.
The manager of El Teniente Mine, Rodrigo Andrades explained that “it is a technology that corroborates that our Division is at the forefront of underground mining worldwide. For example, today one operator takes one hammer at a time and that generates waiting times in LHD equipment (front loaders). With these robotic hammers, this delay is eliminated, we increase productivity and generate safer working conditions, by eliminating the exposure of workers and workers”.
After the successful tests carried out in the laboratory with a real hammer at a 1:2 scale, the validation process began in a real environment, in the Pacífico Superior mine of El Teniente.
This portalminero.com portal material was edited for clarity, style and length.
By : Franyi Sarmiento, Ph.D., Inspenet, August 26, 2022
Source and photos : https://www.portalminero.com/wp/el-teniente-impulsa-innovador-proyecto-de-martillo-autonomo-para-mineria-subterranea/
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