Five years after the company officially opened its doors, Eacon Mining has made a name for itself in the autonomous driving solutions market.
Eacon Mining was founded with a vision: making transportation easier.
Encompassing algorithms and software for autonomous driving, Eacon is responsible for the integration and commission of the whole autonomous driving solution, from start to finish.
The company has enjoyed a well-earned ride to the top since its opening, operating three mines in China and developing a fleet of over 70 autonomous trucks.
“As a new entrant in the industry without additional resources or project endorsements, we reached out to many mining enterprises to promote our autonomous driving solutions,” Eacon Mining director of overseas strategy Elaine Jin said.
“After a year of testing, debugging, refining and iterating our autonomous driving solutions, we succeeded in making one fleet of trucks that can perform all haulage tasks together with our dispatching platform.
“The fleet was deployed in a real mine site in 2020.”
After another two years of production and deploying its autonomous haulage fleet in China, Eacon decided to expand into the Australian market.
“Mining is a pillar industry in Australia, with vast opportunities for autonomous haulage,” Jin said. “Australia is at the forefront of autonomous haulage.
“There are also excellent mining schools in Australia that have trained outstanding engineers, so we have a strong confidence in the technical cooperation between the two countries.”
Australia has hit the ground running when it comes to adopting autonomous haulage solutions, with entire mines making the switch from traditional fleets to unmanned options.
Traditional mining trucks can be retrofitted with autonomous haulage technology, something that Eacon is particularly keen to do for Australian clients.
“The retrofit includes retrofitting the truck into a drive-by-wire version and the installation of autonomous driving software and hardware, collaborative systems for on-site mobile equipment, and cloud-based dispatching and management platforms,” Jin said.
“Our vehicle engineering team of over 30 people possesses experience in whole-vehicle design and has successfully retrofitted over 200 mining trucks.
“In terms of safety, we have implemented complete fault-diagnosis strategies which monitor the vehicle’s status and initiate back-up activation, deacceleration, or braking procedures where necessary.”
Automation also comes with larger goals in mind. Reducing emissions and hitting net-zero by 2050 is a long-term goal for most companies, and Eacon is no different.
“It is crucial to replace fleets with zero-emissions trucks, because carbon emissions from haulage trucks account for 50 per cent of the overall Scope 1 emissions that come from mine sites,” Jin said. “Autonomous driving systems can be set up to ensure the truck takes the best route to reduce unnecessary travel time and avoids unnecessary braking, which will all help to reduce fuel consumption and carbon emissions.”
Having unmanned trucks on a mine site is a safer and more environmentally friendly than traditional fleets, while also helping to improve efficiency.
“Our solutions can adapt to various working environments, particularly crowded sites and complex routes,” Jin said. “Using Eacon’s system, trucks can bypass or go over obstacles and will always adjust to the right of way based on its situation.
“The remote driving function also helps trucks out of trouble, which improves overall operational efficiency.”
With a mine’s permission, Eacon can use data gathered from the autonomous haulage trucks to improve future algorithms and boost productivity for the individual miner, or all mines depending on the terms.
Information on factors such as weight, material type, truck speed, and dumping cycle can be collected to help Eacon stay on top of its solutions. The data can also be used by the miner to check maintenance or servicing needs.
Now that it has amassed such an impressive portfolio in a short amount of time, what’s next for Eacon?
“Eacon’s goal is to be a top autonomous haulage company,” Jin said. “We hope that autonomous driving technology can be applied across the globe so all mines can benefit from it.
“We aim to do away with rigorous and harsh mining environments and make mining safer and more environmentally friendly.”
This feature appeared in the July 2023 issue of Australian Mining.
