Huawei and Xuzhou Construction Machinery Group (XCMG) have co-developed an autonomous driving system for the coal mining industry.
This move would be advantageous for China, as companies search for ways to overcome a severe shortage of drivers, reduce diesel usage and cut operating costs.
Huaneng Yimin open-pit mine in Inner Mongolia turned to Huawei and XCMG for a comprehensive system supported by a private 5G-Advanced network to reduce use of manned vehicles and significantly improve safety.
Earlier in the year, it introduced 100 autonomous, electric trucks into its operations, claiming a first in China. The trucks represent about a third of its total dump trucks used at the mine covering 42.4 million sq km.
Huaneng Yimin mine director Shu Yingqiu told Mobile World Live and other media visiting the mine the recently upgraded operation is “one of the most advanced in the world”, adding it has entertained a number of executives from other mines keen to learn about the capabilities for possible adoption.
China is home to as many as 1,000 open-pit and underground coal mines alone. He highlighted the country also has about 5,000 other mines extracting metals and other minerals, creating a vast upside for the platform, which comprises the network, data centre and integrated management system.
The nation accounts for more than 45 per cent of the global intelligent coal mining market, Huawei stated.
While China has more than 80,000 mining trucks, only about 5,000 are autonomous, again the highest in the world. But that number is forecast to double by end-2026.
Solar powered
The mine, with an annual capacity of 35 million tons, required some 75,000 tons of fuel each year, with diesel costs accounting for as much as 50 per cent of overall variable costs. One electric truck can save CNY158,000 (about $22,200) a year, said Shao Qi, GM of Huawei’s open pit-mine division.
In addition to lowering fuel usage and costs, unmanned vehicles significantly reduce the need for drivers, which Shu noted are difficulty to recruit. The average age at the Yimin mine is more than 45 years. “Younger people are just not interested in those jobs, which require long hours and shift work”.
Since each truck requires multiple drivers, Huaneng Yimin estimates as many as 350 employees were shifted to other positions.
Huawei and XCMG spent five years developing a custom electric truck that weighs 45 tons, with the driver cab replaced by a lithium battery. Each truck has two cameras and multiple sensors (for lidar and mmWave radar), and can carry a load of 90 metric tons. A vehicle can operate continually in all temperatures and in harsh conditions, such as strong winds creating dust and impairing visibility, a joint statement claimed.
Production efficiency jumped significantly as trucks can now operate up to 22 hours a day; previously they ran for 17 to 18 hours in a day. An onsite solar cell farm generates sufficient energy to charge the batteries, which are swapped out quickly to eliminate down time.
The network
The 5G-A network features 500Mb/s uplink and 20ms latency, supporting HD video backhaul and cloud-based dispatching of autonomous trucks.
The entire stripping operation is equipped with about 800 cameras to monitor temperature as well as detect intrusion.
Huawei developed AI algorithms for open-pit mining, enabling precise sensing for autonomous vehicles, accurately identifying locations to the centimetre level.
Shu said Yimin is seeking the green light from its parent company, the owner of the mine and an adjacent coal power plant, to double the number of trucks by next year and deploy 100 per cent driverless trucks in the long term.
The next step will add complexity as it aims to move from dump trucks to heavy equipment involved in the excavation process.
Shao explained real-time communications between trucks enabled by 5G is critical, particularly with mixed operations (both unmanned and manned vehicles), requiring clear operational rules to be spelled out. It is working with authorities to set industry standards.
The mine deployed a lidar system with 85 detection points supported by BeDou (China’s satellite system) to monitor the conditions of the slopes, which are the riskiest aspect of the large-scale operation, he stated.
Because the slopes are changing due to traffic and moving retaining walls, the system must respond dynamically to shifts. The roads all require constant maintenance.
“We adopted AI to sense the dynamics on the ground. Using multiple sensors and AI, the system can navigate a truck through the whole route and make sure dumping is safe”, he noted.
Source: Mobile World Live
Image Credit: Huawei
