Safe mixed traffic in mining environments

Sweden is a mineral rich country. 1000 meters underground, hundreds of truckloads of ore travel daily from bottom to ground level. It's dark, damp, and monotonous to drive a truck in a mine - far from an ideal working environment. Self-driving mining trucks would be an ideal solution but until now, there has been no safe and effective solution as self-driving mining trucks must coexist with normal mining traffic.

We have developed a unique solution for efficient and safe sharing of infrastructure. The research combines a proven-correct algorithm that stops vehicles before a potential accident occurs, with a method for safety analysis that enables certification to relevant standards of the entire system of self-driving and manual vehicles.

Close collaboration with Boliden ensures realistic assumptions, paving the way for mine-deployment, boosting productivity, reducing environmental impact, and improving the working environment.