🇸🇪 Greener mining with autonomous drones?
Could autonomous drones with spectral cameras make the mining industry greener, safer and more optimised? The answer is yes. With the help of Luleå University of Technology, together with many partners, the mining of tomorrow will be done today.
M4mining is a project which aims to create maps of open-pit mining sites by utilizing images captured by drones and satellites. Thus, the new and enhanced maps will assist in planning material removal and environmental management, as well as ensuring safe closures of mined areas.
Project name: M4mining
Period: Jan 2023 – Jan 2026
Financier: European Union
Project coordinator: NORCE
The result of this project will help people working in mining to optimize the identification of the materials to be extracted, while reducing the environmental impact, and it will point out areas that require closer inspection to ensure safety. The main characteristic of the project is the new advanced technology which makes this project possible, specifically the spectral camera. By using the images captured with the spectral camera one could create a highly accurate digital representation of the site where the type and the distribution of the various materials will be feasible.
Drone technology
To get these results and complete the objective of this project the renowned robotics and AI team at Luleå University of Technology is needed. The researchers will fit an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) with spectral cameras and make the UAV fly fully autonomously and scan the walls of a quarry or any other type of open-pit mine.
The team will need to create the algorithms for the UAV and test it. The entire process will be optimised and the most dangerous area of operation will be made much safer.
— This is our area of expertise. We will make the drone and the entire process autonomous. We will enable the robots to operate in harsh environment and in unstructured and unknown areas without the need of additional infrastructure, George Nikolakopoulos, Chair Professor on Robotics and AI, says and continues.
— This project highlights the flexibility of the drone technology, equipped with advanced sensor capabilities. Changes happen very often at an active mine site, sometimes daily and this is the reason why fully autonomous drones can be utilized daily and easily, to detect changes and contribute to a greener mining production.
A landslide of positive effects
As previously mentioned, one aim of this project is to fit UAV:s with spectral cameras and have them scan and survey an open-pit mine. However, the overarching goal is helping the people who work in mining. By using the spectral camera and autonomous UAV:s the workers can create detailed maps which are easy to understand. But how does this map and digital projection of the site help the workers?
With highly accurate images, it becomes easier to identify and locate materials for extraction, as the technology can detect them with better and more accurate precision beyond human capabilities.
It also enables geologists to give precise coordinates about where to put the explosives and where to drill. Among many things this results in a safer work environment as you do not need to have humans operating in the most dangerous site of a mine. The workers will not need to go into unstable areas as the drones can fly and scan the wall or wherever there are minerals to be extracted. Naturally it will also save a lot of time for the workers.
For a greener future
With the current energy transition taking place in Europe as well as the fact that European territories does not house enough raw materials the demand will be going up. The demand on copper is estimated to rise by 40% and nickel and cobalt are expected to rise by 60%-70% till 2040.
The EU have a lot of ongoing projects to make the future a little brighter and we are proud to play a part in one of those projects. Currently the EU is almost completely reliant om imports for its metals (75%-100% reliance). The global progress towards a clean energy future could substantially be slowed down and made more expensive when critical raw material needs are left unaddressed.
This is a multidisciplinary project with roboticists, geologists, material surface experts and researchers from different academic fields. A melting pot of different countries which comes together to make the mining industry greener and safer. Shortly, there is a lot to learn about this project, read more here.
