ABB robot sets explosives to keep miners out of danger

A mining robot has detected drilled holes in a rock face and installed explosive charges during what its developer called “industry first” tests.

Aimed at automating “one of few manual processes left in mining”, the Robot Charger from ABB completed the tasks during trials with mine operators Boliden and LKAB.

Blasting schedules vary in underground mines, but the process happens up to 15 times per day in larger mines as miners expand the chambers to extract mineral and metal ores. The ABB Robot Charger automatically detects boreholes and fills them with charges, meaning people no longer need to be near the unsupported rock face during blasting sequences.

During the tests at Boliden Garpenberg in Sweden, the world's most productive underground zinc mine, the robot was integrated with a carrier vehicle. A second robot arm was incorporated to assemble prime and detonator.

The final stage of development aims to execute the full blasting sequence with full control of the robot handed over to the customer. ABB is also starting discussions with other mine operators to join the co-development project, so that the technology can be tested in different mine environments and in regions beyond Northern Europe, with varying climate and rock composition.

The robot charger’s vision systems and automation solutions can communicate with the truck, crane and ABB industrial robotic arm. The solution can be retrofitted to “any” truck, the Swedish-Swiss firm said.

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