Construction and mining giant Caterpillar has reached a major milestone for its autonomous haulage system (AHS), reaching one million tons (!) of aggregate hauled by the company’s massive self-driving trucks.
The milestone was reached as part of an ongoing collaboration between Cat and Luck Stone’s Bull Run Quarry in Chantilly, Virginia to help demonstrate the worth of Caterpillar’s in-house AHS solution, and goes a long way towards proving to doubters of autonomous technology that AHS has what it takes to safely and dependably operate in a working quarry.
And, crucially, that the AHS Cats can keep an existing quarry running strong, even in the face of continuous labor shortages in the mining and aggregate industries.
Reaching the one million tons hauled autonomously milestone confirms that autonomous haulage can deliver consistent, repeatable performance. It also signals how autonomous solutions will address skilled labor shortages, improve site safety, increase operational efficiency, and upskill quarry employees to run autonomy.
Since the initial deployment of the autonomous tech stack-equipped Cat 777 haul trucks, the collaboration has focused on validating autonomy along with the people and processes in conditions that are typical in quarry operations but distinct from mining, where the benefits of autonomous operation has seen more significant deployment.
With the success of the Luck Stone pilot at Bull Run, however, that mining/quarry imbalance may not be the status quo for much longer.
“This milestone is a powerful demonstration of what’s possible when we collaborate with our customers to deliver solutions for their critical needs,” explains Denise Johnson, Caterpillar Group President, Resource Industries. “Reaching one million tons hauled autonomously at Bull Run shows that autonomy isn’t just for mining – it’s scalable, reliable, and ready to transform the aggregates industry. We’re proud to collaborate with Luck Stone to lead that transformation.”
Caterpillar hopes the Bull Run project sets a precedent for the broader aggregates industry, and they continue to explore opportunities to expand autonomy across additional Luck Stone sites and operations.
SOURCE | IMAGES: Caterpillar.
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