Rio Tinto kicks automation plan into gear

Rio Tinto will expand its fleet of autonomous haul trucks at its iron ore operations in the Pilbara by more than 50 per cent by 2019 after signing agreements with leading manufacturers Caterpillar Inc. and Komatsu Ltd. to convert traditional trucks to autonomous vehicles.

A total of 29 Komatsu haul trucks will be retrofitted with Autonomous Haulage System (AHS) technology starting in 2018. The project at the Brockman 4 operation is scheduled for completion by mid-2019, allowing the mine to run entirely in AHS mode once fully deployed.

A further 19 Caterpillar haul trucks at the Marandoo mine will also be retrofitted starting mid-2018 for completion by the end of 2019.

The retrofit is a first for Caterpillar and Rio Tinto, while Komatsu has worked with Rio Tinto since last September when the world’s first retrofitted Komatsu autonomous haul truck was deployed at the Hope Downs 4 operation.

Once completed, the retrofit projects are expected to make a significant contribution toward Rio Tinto’s $5 billion productivity programme.

Currently, about 20 per cent of Rio Tinto’s existing fleet of almost 400 haul trucks in the Pilbara is AHS-enabled. Following the completion of the projects with Komatsu and Caterpillar, Rio Tinto will have more than 130 autonomous trucks, representing about 30 per cent of the fleet.

Rio Tinto Iron Ore chief executive, Chris Salisbury, said the world-first retrofitting initiative will help to improve safety, unlock productivity gains, and continue to cement Rio Tinto as an industry leader in automation and innovation.

“We are studying future additions to our autonomous fleet in the Pilbara, based on value, to help deliver our share of $5 billion of additional free cash flow for the company by 2021,” he said.

“Rio Tinto is committed to working closely with our workforce as we transition to AHS including providing opportunities for new roles, redeployment, retraining and upskilling.”

AHS allows trucks to be operated by a supervisory system and a central controller, rather than a driver. It uses pre-defined GPS courses to automatically navigate haul roads and intersections. It also keeps tabs on all AHS-enabled trucks’ locations, speeds and directions at all times.

In fact, Rio Tinto has been deploying autonomous technology since 2008 on its drill systems and now, trucks. According to Rio Tinto, each of its autonomous haul trucks operated an additional 1000 hours on average last year and at 15 per cent lower load and haul unit cost than conventional haul trucks.

From a safety perspective, automation helps to reduce the number of people exposed to potential hazards as well as reduce the number of critical risk scenarios.