Volvo Introduces Autonomous Trucks for the First Time in a Norwegian Mine

September 29, 2023, 5:07 p.m
PiataAuto.md editors

There is a lot of talk about autonomous driving both among cars and among trucks. But for now in the world of trucks, there are no large trucks that can drive alone on public roads, without having a driver to at least ensure safety, not even in tests. Volvo, however, created 7 trucks driven absolutely autonomously, in the most difficult imaginable conditions, they will work in a mine in Norway, for the first time in the world.

The Bronnoy Kalk limestone mine has both surface extractions, as in a quarry, and deep, up to 150 meters below sea level. And here comes the uniqueness of this Volvo world premiere — large mining trucks that can drive autonomously on the surface, in quarries, still exist in the world, because quarries are somewhat easier to control. But autonomous trucks that operate on the surface, but can also go deep, driving through narrow tunnels, avoiding their ceilings — for now, they don’t exist, and Volvo is the first to implement them in this mine in Norway.

The difficulties in operating these trucks will be further accentuated by the fact that the surface level is 100 meters above sea level, so there is a difference in level of 250 meters altitude, which means that the operation will require continuous ascents and steep descents, with loaded trucks. The mine is located close to the ocean, and the air has more salinity in it, which will put more pressure on the wear of the trucks, not to mention the dust from the quarry and the bumps that the suspensions will endure permanently.

Well, if we are still talking about self-driving trucks and we know that Volvo has electric FH trucks, we could think that these 7 trucks now put to work in the mine in Norway would be electric, which is somewhat logical in the territory of a mine. But not in this case. Those at Bronnoy Kalk wanted these trucks to work 24 hours a day, non-stop practice, serving shifts one after another, so after many calculations and analyses, they chose Volvo FH diesel trucks.

But they have fully automated controls, from acceleration and braking, to steering and gearbox. The trucks have many more sensors on them than would normally run on public roads, with sensors also needed on the upper extremities of the bodywork and undercarriage, so that the trucks can properly avoid the relief of the ceilings in the dark tunnels.

It is true that all the development, calculations, design and implementation took several years, and what we see now implemented in the Bronnoy Kalk limestone mine is not some experiment for the sake of beautiful communication, but an already viable technology, put to real work in difficult conditions . The tests and adjustments were made here a long time ago. Now it’s time for real work and productivity generation for this mine, or, these 7 trucks working 24 hours a day, replacing 3 work shifts each, so about 21 shifts in total.

See below also a video, published by Volvo, with these trucks in action and with the environment in which they will work.

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