Autonomous Trucks
At the Channar iron ore mine in the Pilbara, Rio Tinto continues to collaborate with partners, Scania and Wenco, to create an interoperable haulage solution for its autonomous haul trucks. The current project remains centred on what Rio Tinto calls a ‘Right Sized Autonomous Haulage System,’ part of its focus on new thinking on truck sizes in mining. Rio Tinto has stated: “Larger haul trucks, while already automated, consume more energy than current electric-vehicle power sources can generate. Using Wenco’s software, the driver defines a loading bay, where the autonomous truck is sent to be loaded. Once the autonomous truck is full, it leaves the loading bay and carries on to the dumping point.