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Robotics is Revolutionizing the Mining Industry

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Robotics is Revolutionizing the Mining Industry

The mining industry is one of the most important industries in the world, providing raw materials for a variety of products and industries.

However, mining operations can be dangerous and expensive, with many challenges such as underground mining and harsh environmental conditions. Robotics has the potential to revolutionize the mining industry, making it safer, more efficient, and more cost-effective. In this article, we will explore how robotics is being used in the mining industry through various examples including its benefits and challenges.

Benefits of Robotics in Mining

Benefits of_Robotics_in_Mining.png

Source: McKinsey

There are several benefits of robotics in mining operations:

  • Increased Safety: Robotics can reduce the risk of accidents and injuries in mining operations. Autonomous vehicles and robotic equipment can operate in hazardous environments, such as underground mines, reducing the risk of harm to human operators.

  • Improved Efficiency: Robotics can perform tasks more quickly and efficiently than human operators, improving productivity and reducing costs. Autonomous vehicles can operate 24/7, reducing the need for shift changes and increasing the amount of work that can be done in a given period.

  • Cost Reduction: Robotics can reduce labor costs by reducing the need for human operators. Additionally, autonomous vehicles can reduce fuel consumption and maintenance costs by optimizing routes and reducing unnecessary movement.

  • Environmental Benefits: Robotics can reduce the environmental impact of mining operations by reducing the amount of waste and emissions produced. Autonomous vehicles can optimize routes, reducing fuel consumption and emissions, while robotic equipment can perform tasks more accurately, reducing the amount of material wasted.

  • Increased Accuracy: Robotic equipment can perform tasks more accurately than human operators, improving the quality of mining operations. For example, robotic drilling equipment can drill holes more accurately and consistently than human operators, improving the efficiency of the drilling process.

Use Cases of Robotics in Mining

hammerbot5a.png

Source: Engineer Zero

There are several use cases of robotics in mining, including:

Autonomous Mining Vehicles

Autonomous mining vehicles are one of the most significant applications of robotics in the mining industry. These vehicles can operate without a human driver, reducing the risk of accidents and increasing productivity. They can also operate in harsh environmental conditions, such as extreme temperatures and dust.

For example, Rio Tinto, one of the world’s largest mining companies, has been using autonomous mining trucks since 2008. These trucks can operate 24/7 and have significantly reduced the risk of accidents and increased productivity. Rio Tinto has also been developing autonomous drilling systems, which can operate in remote locations and drill holes more accurately and efficiently than human operators.

Robotic Mining Equipment

Robotic mining equipment is another application of robotics in the mining industry. These machines can be remotely controlled or operate autonomously, and can perform a variety of mining tasks, such as drilling, blasting, and excavating.

For example, Sandvik, a Swedish engineering company, has developed a range of robotic mining equipment, including remote-controlled drill rigs and loaders. These machines can operate in hazardous environments, such as underground mines, and can perform tasks more quickly and efficiently than human operators.

Inspection and Maintenance Robots

Inspection and maintenance robots are another application of robotics in the mining industry. These robots can inspect equipment and infrastructure for damage and wear and tear, reducing the need for human inspection and increasing safety.

For example, ABB, a Swiss-Swedish multinational corporation, has developed inspection robots for mining operations. These robots can crawl along pipes and tunnels to inspect them for damage and wear and tear, reducing the need for human inspection and improving safety.

Challenges and Limitations of Robotics in Mining

Despite the potential benefits of robotics in the mining industry, there are still challenges and limitations that need to be addressed.

Challenges_of_Mining_Robotics.png

Source: McKinsey

One of the challenges is the cost of implementing robotics in mining operations. The initial investment can be significant, and there may also be additional costs for training and maintenance.

Another challenge is the need for specialized expertise in robotics and AI. Mining companies may need to hire experts in these fields or partner with companies that specialize in robotics and AI.

Conclusion

Robotics is revolutionizing the mining industry, making it safer, more efficient, and more cost-effective. Autonomous mining vehicles, robotic mining equipment, inspection and maintenance robots, and AI systems are just a few examples of how robotics is being used in mining operations. While there are still challenges and limitations to overcome, the potential benefits of robotics in the mining industry are significant. As the technology continues to evolve, we can expect to see even more innovative applications of robotics in mining, improving the safety and efficiency of this essential industry.

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Next-gen chips, Amazon Q, and speedy S3

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AWS re:Invent, which has been taking place from November 27 and runs to December 1, has had its usual plethora of announcements: a total of 21 at time of print.

Perhaps not surprisingly, given the huge potential impact of generative AI – ChatGPT officially turns one year old today – a lot of focus has been on the AI side for AWS’ announcements, including a major partnership inked with NVIDIA across infrastructure, software, and services.

Yet there has been plenty more announced at the Las Vegas jamboree besides. Here, CloudTech rounds up the best of the rest:

Next-generation chips

This was the other major AI-focused announcement at re:Invent: the launch of two new chips, AWS Graviton4 and AWS Trainium2, for training and running AI and machine learning (ML) models, among other customer workloads. Graviton4 shapes up against its predecessor with 30% better compute performance, 50% more cores and 75% more memory bandwidth, while Trainium2 delivers up to four times faster training than before and will be able to be deployed in EC2 UltraClusters of up to 100,000 chips.

The EC2 UltraClusters are designed to ‘deliver the highest performance, most energy efficient AI model training infrastructure in the cloud’, as AWS puts it. With it, customers will be able to train large language models in ‘a fraction of the time’, as well as double energy efficiency.

As ever, AWS offers customers who are already utilising these tools. Databricks, Epic and SAP are among the companies cited as using the new AWS-designed chips.

Zero-ETL integrations

AWS announced new Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL, Amazon DynamoDB, and Amazon Relational Database Services (Amazon RDS) for MySQL integrations with Amazon Redshift, AWS’ cloud data warehouse. The zero-ETL integrations – eliminating the need to build ETL (extract, transform, load) data pipelines – make it easier to connect and analyse transactional data across various relational and non-relational databases in Amazon Redshift.

A simple example of how zero-ETL functions can be seen is in a hypothetical company which stores transactional data – time of transaction, items bought, where the transaction occurred – in a relational database, but use another analytics tool to analyse data in a non-relational database. To connect it all up, companies would previously have to construct ETL data pipelines which are a time and money sink.

The latest integrations “build on AWS’s zero-ETL foundation… so customers can quickly and easily connect all of their data, no matter where it lives,” the company said.

Amazon S3 Express One Zone

AWS announced the general availability of Amazon S3 Express One Zone, a new storage class purpose-built for customers’ most frequently-accessed data. Data access speed is up to 10 times faster and request costs up to 50% lower than standard S3. Companies can also opt to collocate their Amazon S3 Express One Zone data in the same availability zone as their compute resources.  

Companies and partners who are using Amazon S3 Express One Zone include ChaosSearch, Cloudera, and Pinterest.

Amazon Q

A new product, and an interesting pivot, again with generative AI at its core. Amazon Q was announced as a ‘new type of generative AI-powered assistant’ which can be tailored to a customer’s business. “Customers can get fast, relevant answers to pressing questions, generate content, and take actions – all informed by a customer’s information repositories, code, and enterprise systems,” AWS added. The service also can assist companies building on AWS, as well as companies using AWS applications for business intelligence, contact centres, and supply chain management.

Customers cited as early adopters include Accenture, BMW and Wunderkind.

Want to learn more about cybersecurity and the cloud from industry leaders? Check out Cyber Security & Cloud Expo taking place in Amsterdam, California, and London. Explore other upcoming enterprise technology events and webinars powered by TechForge here.

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HCLTech and Cisco create collaborative hybrid workplaces

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Digital comms specialist Cisco and global tech firm HCLTech have teamed up to launch Meeting-Rooms-as-a-Service (MRaaS).

Available on a subscription model, this solution modernises legacy meeting rooms and enables users to join meetings from any meeting solution provider using Webex devices.

The MRaaS solution helps enterprises simplify the design, implementation and maintenance of integrated meeting rooms, enabling seamless collaboration for their globally distributed hybrid workforces.

Rakshit Ghura, senior VP and Global head of digital workplace services, HCLTech, said: “MRaaS combines our consulting and managed services expertise with Cisco’s proficiency in Webex devices to change the way employees conceptualise, organise and interact in a collaborative environment for a modern hybrid work model.

“The common vision of our partnership is to elevate the collaboration experience at work and drive productivity through modern meeting rooms.”

Alexandra Zagury, VP of partner managed and as-a-Service Sales at Cisco, said: “Our partnership with HCLTech helps our clients transform their offices through cost-effective managed services that support the ongoing evolution of workspaces.

“As we reimagine the modern office, we are making it easier to support collaboration and productivity among workers, whether they are in the office or elsewhere.”

Cisco’s Webex collaboration devices harness the power of artificial intelligence to offer intuitive, seamless collaboration experiences, enabling meeting rooms with smart features such as meeting zones, intelligent people framing, optimised attendee audio and background noise removal, among others.

Want to learn more about cybersecurity and the cloud from industry leaders? Check out Cyber Security & Cloud Expo taking place in Amsterdam, California, and London. Explore other upcoming enterprise technology events and webinars powered by TechForge here.

Tags: Cisco, collaboration, HCLTech, Hybrid, meetings

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Canonical releases low-touch private cloud MicroCloud

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Canonical has announced the general availability of MicroCloud, a low-touch, open source cloud solution. MicroCloud is part of Canonical’s growing cloud infrastructure portfolio.

It is purpose-built for scalable clusters and edge deployments for all types of enterprises. It is designed with simplicity, security and automation in mind, minimising the time and effort to both deploy and maintain it. Conveniently, enterprise support for MicroCloud is offered as part of Canonical’s Ubuntu Pro subscription, with several support tiers available, and priced per node.

MicroClouds are optimised for repeatable and reliable remote deployments. A single command initiates the orchestration and clustering of various components with minimal involvement by the user, resulting in a fully functional cloud within minutes. This simplified deployment process significantly reduces the barrier to entry, putting a production-grade cloud at everyone’s fingertips.

Juan Manuel Ventura, head of architectures & technologies at Spindox, said: “Cloud computing is not only about technology, it’s the beating heart of any modern industrial transformation, driving agility and innovation. Our mission is to provide our customers with the most effective ways to innovate and bring value; having a complexity-free cloud infrastructure is one important piece of that puzzle. With MicroCloud, the focus shifts away from struggling with cloud operations to solving real business challenges” says

In addition to seamless deployment, MicroCloud prioritises security and ease of maintenance. All MicroCloud components are built with strict confinement for increased security, with over-the-air transactional updates that preserve data and roll back on errors automatically. Upgrades to newer versions are handled automatically and without downtime, with the mechanisms to hold or schedule them as needed.

With this approach, MicroCloud caters to both on-premise clouds but also edge deployments at remote locations, allowing organisations to use the same infrastructure primitives and services wherever they are needed. It is suitable for business-in-branch office locations or industrial use inside a factory, as well as distributed locations where the focus is on replicability and unattended operations.

Cedric Gegout, VP of product at Canonical, said: “As data becomes more distributed, the infrastructure has to follow. Cloud computing is now distributed, spanning across data centres, far and near edge computing appliances. MicroCloud is our answer to that.

“By packaging known infrastructure primitives in a portable and unattended way, we are delivering a simpler, more prescriptive cloud experience that makes zero-ops a reality for many Industries.“

MicroCloud’s lightweight architecture makes it usable on both commodity and high-end hardware, with several ways to further reduce its footprint depending on your workload needs. In addition to the standard Ubuntu Server or Desktop, MicroClouds can be run on Ubuntu Core – a lightweight OS optimised for the edge. With Ubuntu Core, MicroClouds are a perfect solution for far-edge locations with limited computing capabilities. Users can choose to run their workloads using Kubernetes or via system containers. System containers based on LXD behave similarly to traditional VMs but consume fewer resources while providing bare-metal performance.

Coupled with Canonical’s Ubuntu Pro + Support subscription, MicroCloud users can benefit from an enterprise-grade open source cloud solution that is fully supported and with better economics. An Ubuntu Pro subscription offers security maintenance for the broadest collection of open-source software available from a single vendor today. It covers over 30k packages with a consistent security maintenance commitment, and additional features such as kernel livepatch, systems management at scale, certified compliance and hardening profiles enabling easy adoption for enterprises. With per-node pricing and no hidden fees, customers can rest assured that their environment is secure and supported without the expensive price tag typically associated with cloud solutions.

Want to learn more about cybersecurity and the cloud from industry leaders? Check out Cyber Security & Cloud Expo taking place in Amsterdam, California, and London. Explore other upcoming enterprise technology events and webinars powered by TechForge here.

Tags: automation, Canonical, MicroCloud, private cloud

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