Robotized Installation of Infrastructure in Underground Mines

Purpose and goal

In the current industry push to automate and digitize the mining industry, very little has been done for the heavy and potentially dangerous work of installing, transporting, or removing infrastructure in underground mines. ROBOBUILDER will investigate how various modern technologies (robots, autonomy, 5G connectivity) can enable the robotization of selected routine tasks for infrastructure work in the mine - all demonstrated and tested in relevant field environments.

Expected effects and result

ROBOBUILDER hopes to create a platform for research and to develop industry interest in a use case with great potential for commercialization. The vision of the "zero entry" mine is not possible as long as routine tasks are still carried out through heavy manual work, and in ROBOBUILDER we hope to take a step towards the total automation of underground mines making them safer, more sustainable, provide better working environment, and open up new possibilities for mine design.

Planned approach and implementation

The project brings together end users at Boliden, as well as robotics research at Luleå University of Technology, but will also involve relevant players in the industry. All technologies in ROBOBUILDER will be demonstrated at two test sites: Renströmsgruvan (Boliden) will be the test-site for large-scale demos for robotic solutions and autonomy, and LTU Robotics & AI´s "Subterranean Lab" will act as a test bed for 5G connectivity for teleoperation of robotic arms and real-time sensor data.