Innovative logistics in modern day coal mining

Logistics and Supply Chain Management

Driverless trucks

Coal, a black brittle rock is a vital source of energy in this world. An estimated of 41% of world’s electricity and about 30% of total primary energy requirement of the world was fulfilled by coal. In developing countries like India, coal extraction is a tedious task and takes a toll on both the environment and the personnel involved. The miners of coal have to work in a surrounding with high probability of physical injuries plus an additional exposure to diseases like carbon lungs due to prolonged working in a hostile environment. Developing countries like India tend to overlook such health hazards due to lack of technological and capital muscle however developed world countries have overcome this issue with optimal use of technology.

           
 Developed world countries like Australia, Canada and USA have overcome these issue by use of modern machinery in their logistics and coal extraction processes. Companies like Rio Tinto and Catepillar have developed an army of Robot trucks which go miles into the hazardous extraction sites without any human driver at their helm. In Canada the trucks go miles on thin and melting ice in over 200 days per year. Rio Tinto, in 2013, has used these trucks to carry about a 100 million tons of coal in Australia. Come 2020 these trucks will be used world over for transportation of hazardous materials from harsh environment.

A revolution in logistics

The trucks are a modern day wonder of an engineering field called mechatronics (Mechanical + Electronics). A programmable computer is at the heart of in place of the driver of human driver in these monstrous trucks which controls the breaking, 

acceleration and the speed at which these trucks move. The obstacle sensors detect the surrounding objects in the vicinity of the truck and steers the away from any possible collision. These trucks are connected to a satellite via a communication equipment on top of the truck which communicates with a control center which is miles away from the extraction site. The location of the trucks is visible on a screen where operates monitor the trucks performance for possible breakdowns or defects. The logistical process is depicted in the diagram besides. The truck starts from the loading side, where an automatic extractor fills it with coal, and moves through the hauling road to reach the dumping side where it is unloaded. The position of the truck is tracked at all times by GPS system installed on the truck.

            A sensors are located on the truck which tracks obstacles and slows down and changes its path and steers away. In case there is multiple obstacles, the vehicles just come to a complete halt and are then controlled trough the control panels in the control center. Companies like Catepillar are trying to develop an artificial intelligence super computer unit to control the movements of the movements of these units from a remote location. When implemented, this would become a 100% automated system. As a Rio Tinto spoken person has said “Autonomous trucks are said to be more efficient than the same vehicles driven by humans, as they are driven with fuel-saving efficiency, don't need as much downtime and operate 24x7 if required.”

Future scope:

The technology has change the dynamics of coal extraction in the developed world and is potentially pegged to be a stepping stone towards future technologies like completely automated public transportation system. There will come a time when trains, buses or even airplane flights will be controlled by such autonomous systems. The technology would even control private vehicles and would make the concept of driving a car obsolete. Make way for robots, the future is here.

Contributed by:

  Pankaj Kute

    Rachit Gupta

  IIFT Kolkata.