Mining Automation By Professor Hugh Durrant-Whyte, Australian Centre for Field Robotics and Centre for Mining
Technology and Equipment, Department of Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering, The University of Sydney Professor Hugh Durrant-Whyte summarised why the mining industry needs to automate and reviewed the
current automation technology - its risks, costs and benefits. Why automate? The drivers for automation include: safety, productivity, quality control and reduced manning,
equipment utilisation, maintenance, and organisation and planning. Durrant-Whyte recommended starting out with a picture of a fully automated mine and working backwards
through a systematic analysis of benefit and risk. This also involves looking at the impact of the total automation
on current mine design, and identifying the key technologies.