Operators at Coal Mountain, British Columbia, have begun using Teck’s remote controlled dozer as a solution to a geotechnical hazard in one of its pits. According to an article on the Teck website, a buttress had been constructed to prevent further collapse at a wedge failure, but crews could no longer safely access coal underneath.
So, Coal Mountain’s engineering team began investigating ways to send a dozer into the pit remotely. Crews decided to use an older shovel cab to set up the operator’s station because it was large enough to house the required monitors, and high enough to get a clear view of the dozer.
The dozer also has four cameras attached to it. In the shovel cab, the operator has a 42-inch screen with quadrants, displaying all four camera views—both front corners, over blade, and a reverse view. A second 42-inch screen has access to two overhead pit cameras, installed at the top of pit high-walls.
Finally, there’s the remote control itself, which sits on the operator’s lap and has joysticks to move the dozer.
By summer, crews had trained two operators and put the remote dozer into action.
“This is the first time in B.C. that the remote dozer has been used in a production setting and we are doing something that a year ago we didn’t think was possible,” says Ben David, senior engineer, mining, Coal Mountain. “We can now get coal from areas we never would have been able to access before and have safe production.”
Source: Teck
