Caterpillar has reached 2 billion tons (2.2 billion short tons) hauled using its MineStar Command system for autonomous hauling.
The company says it has doubled the amount hauled in the 16 months since reaching 1 billion tons hauled in November 2018.
“In just a bit over six years we’ve safely hauled 2 billion tons—a milestone we achieved significantly faster than our competitors,” said Sean McGinnis, MineStar Solutions product manager. “This milestone makes Command for hauling the most productive commercially available solution, and it’s something mining people are noticing.”
Since commercially launching Command for hauling in 2013, Caterpillar has continued to improve the speed of implementation. “We’re launching Command on more sites and implementing it more quickly, so more of our customers can experience the safety and productivity gains that autonomous hauling delivers,” said McGinnis.
McGinnis credits input from Caterpillar customers for the success of Command for hauling. “One of the reasons that Caterpillar has been so successful in expanding Command and delivering results is because we listen to and partner with our customers. They identify features, functionality, and even the autonomous truck models they need for their operations.”
Over the last six years, MineStar Solutions has also continued to grow its expertise in autonomous operations—not only in hauling but also with autonomous dozers, drills, and underground loaders.
To date, Caterpillar has 276 autonomous trucks in operation – and counting. “The push toward autonomous mining doesn’t show any signs of slowing,” said McGinnis. “We have projects in the works with a number of large mining companies either looking to expand their current autonomous haulage operations or implement new ones.”
The Caterpillar autonomous fleet is made up of Cat 789D, 793D, 793F, and 797F trucks, as well as a fleet of Komatsu 930Es. The Cat 794 AC electric-drive autonomous truck will be ready for autonomous haulage later this year. Command equipped trucks have driven over 42.0 million miles without a lost-time injury, Cat says.
