Caterpillar, Inc. is keen to establish fully autonomous machines in a wide variety of sector like Construction, Rail, Waste, Forestry, Marine, Oil & Gas and Mining. Latter took center stage in their case study provided by Don Edwards at the Automotive Tech.AD Detroit.
Safety concerns, reduced efficiency and people shortage are some of the main aspects calling for autonomous mining vehicles. However nature, topography and terrain are tough challenges even for machines. Caterpillar developed the “CAT Minestar System” to tackle these challenges providing everything from material tracking to sophisticated real-time fleet management, machine health systems and autonomous equipment systems.
Features of the CAT Minestar System:
- Remote operation can reduce or eliminate the need for people on site risking their life.
- Object detection using machine learning to distinguish real objects from false returns from dust or fog.
- Real time dynamic stability module constantly monitors truck driving, and adjusts for adverse conditions.
- Driving behavior based on real-time perception, driving parameters, health events and diagnostics.
Access the full Case Study “Automation at Caterpillar” with all its insights about the CAT Minestar System here.