AUTONOMOUS OPERATIONS: Sandvik partners with Exyn for underground digitalization

[caption id="attachment_1003740442" align="aligncenter" width="550"] Underground drone Credit: Sandvik[/caption] FINLAND – Sandvik Mining and Rock Technology has announced a partnership with Exyn Technologies, a company pioneering autonomous aerial robot systems (drones) for complex, GPS-denied environments, to provide mapping and visioning solutions for underground mines. According to Sandvik, its customers will benefit from the unique combination of its digital mining solutions with Exyn’s deep knowledge of autonomous aerial robot systems. “We are committed to empowering a transformation to autonomy in underground mining,” Patrick Murphy, president of rock drills and technologies with Sandvik Mining and Rock Technology, said in a release. “This partnership will open up unique benefits, build on our industry leading automation offering and drive faster decision-making in mining processes to seize new opportunities for improving production performance.” Through this partnership, Sandvik is working with Exyn to provide efficient solutions for mapping underground mines, which will make a substantial difference when it comes to locations that are hazardous, hard to reach or conventionally time-consuming to survey and inspect. Sandvik’s OptiMine, combined with data collected by Exyn’s aerial robots, can create a progressive visualization of the mine’s environment. This collaboration will include research on how to generate three-dimensional views of underground spaces autonomously, while leveraging the full potential of Sandvik’s AutoMine system. “For the first time, customers will be able to map the entirety of their underground operations, even in dangerous GPS-denied environments, while making mining safer and improving productivity. Through this partnership, we hope to empower efficient decision-making for customers and drive towards the vision of fully autonomous mining operations,” added Nader Elm, CEO and co-founder of Exyn. Sandvik’s AutoMine covers all aspects of automation, from remote and autonomous operation of a single piece of equipment, to multi-machine control and full-fleet automation using automatic mission and traffic control capabilities. For more information, visit www.RockTechnology.Sandvik or www.Exyn.com.