What Is an Autonomous Haulage System?

An autonomous haulage system (AHS) is a set of driverless haul trucks, the software that dispatches them and the site infrastructure that keeps them and the people around them safe. Haul trucks move ore and waste around an open-pit mine for most of the day; AHS takes the driver out of the cab, so the trucks drive themselves on planned routes, keep safe distances from each other and from people, and report their position and condition to a control room.

The trucks do not roam freely. The mine is mapped in detail, and the fleet management system plans each route from the shovel or loader to the dump, crusher or stockpile. A truck receives its assignment, follows the route at a set speed, queues at the loading point, is loaded, and drives to the dump. If anything unexpected appears on its path, it slows or stops and the control room is alerted.

Commercial AHS began in the late 2000s in Chile and Western Australia and is now in use at large open-pit mines worldwide. Systems are offered by the major truck makers, including Komatsu FrontRunner and Caterpillar Command for hauling, and by independent automation suppliers that retrofit mixed fleets.

Every autonomous truck carries a sensor and computing package on top of the base vehicle:

Autonomy is as much about the mine as the truck. The site is divided into autonomous operating zones, and any manned vehicle that enters one, such as a grader, water cart or light vehicle, carries a tracking device so the fleet system knows where it is and routes the trucks around it. Loading tools carry the same kit, so a shovel operator can call trucks in and set the loading position from the cab.

The mine model has to be kept current as the pit changes shape every shift. Survey data, often from drones or the trucks’ own sensors, updates the roads, dump edges and berms, and the control room approves new routes before trucks use them.

Mines choose between three ways of running a fleet, and some run a mix.

Teleoperation suits short, dangerous jobs and is often a step towards autonomy; our teleoperation over 5G case study shows the link and video side.

Safety comes first. Haul trucks are large and the operator’s view from the cab is limited, so removing people from the most common vehicle in the pit removes a leading cause of serious incidents. Autonomous trucks also run more consistently: the same speed, the same route and the same braking on every cycle, which reduces tyre and component wear and makes production more predictable.

Utilization is the other driver. Trucks can run through shift changes and meal breaks, and the fleet system keeps them evenly spaced. Operators report higher productivity per truck, although results depend on the mine, its layout and how well the rest of the operation keeps up.

The trade-offs are cost, the need for a reliable site-wide network, strict traffic rules for manned vehicles in the autonomous zone, and new skills for the workforce, who move into control room, maintenance and systems roles.

Every truck in the system carries sealed computers for perception, control and recording, and they work in one of the harshest environments in industry: constant vibration and shock, fine abrasive dust, washdown, temperatures from below freezing to well above 40 °C, and a heavy vehicle electrical supply.

That calls for fanless, sealed systems with wide-range DC input, ignition-controlled power and locking connectors. Perception workloads add GPUs and many camera and LiDAR inputs. Our autonomous mining trucks case study shows how they fit, and our IP67 computers and rugged GPU computers cover the sealed and perception roles.

We supply sealed in-vehicle and GPU computers for mining automation with the operating system, camera and LiDAR interfaces set up as standard, and test each system before it ships. Send us your sensor list and vehicle supply and we will specify the build.