This paper reviews the issues of mining machinery automation with
special emphasis on underground applications. Automation is desirable
because it offers the following advantages: increased safety by reducing human exposure to hazards of
underground mining; higher productivity; and reduced wear of equipment. In spite of these advantages and in spite of numerous attempts over the
past several decades, mining automation has been a difficult proposition,
partly because no two mining operations are exactly alike and these
operations are carried out in an unpredictable environment. This is the
main difference between automation in factories and in mines and that is
why mining automation has been lagging so far behind factory
automation. Automation is possible only when the machine 'knows' its workspace.
In a factory, this workspace can be 'described' to the machine because it
is sufficiently controlled. In a mine, the environment undergoes
continuous change and the only way the machine can 'know' its
workspace is through real-time sensing.