Mining co. says first autonomous freight train network fully operational

crimsonaudio · Jan 7, 2019

We've discussed this before, but the automation is growing more and more every day - it's fascinating to consider what the future will look like when many common jobs (even skilled jobs) are handled via automation / robotics...

The autonomous train system will allow Rio Tinto to cut down on the number of stops that the 2.4km (1.5mi) long, iron ore-hauling trains have to make to change drivers. Prior to the operation of the autonomous train system, the mining company shuttled train drivers 1.5 million km per year (932,000mi) due to shift changes. "The average return distance of these trains is about 800km with the average journey cycle, including loading and dumping, taking about 40 hours," S&P Global Platts wrote.

Additionally, the trains will be able to run six percent faster "by removing acceleration and braking variations caused by human drivers," per Perth Now. Rio Tinto expects that its AutoHaul system will allow it to increase the region's iron ore production capacity by 20 million tons.

Mining co. says first autonomous freight train network fully operational

Bamabuzzard · Jan 7, 2019

crimsonaudio said:
We've discussed this before, but the automation is growing more and more every day - it's fascinating to consider what the future will look like when many common jobs (even skilled jobs) are handled via automation / robotics...

Mining co. says first autonomous freight train network fully operational

I'm not sure if the automation will create a new job sector to somewhat compensate for the jobs it eliminates. It will not be a one for one replacement I can almost guarantee. It sure appears it could create an enormous supply of human resources with nowhere near the equal demand. Which could mean depreciation of wages for those jobs that that still require a person. Hopefully I'll be dead and gone by that time.

crimsonaudio · Jan 7, 2019

Looking down the line, you can kinda see a time when virtually all jobs center around designing, coding, building, and repairing automation. There's almost no job that cannot be done 'artificially', given time and processing power, and with more and more tech that's developed in one field being tweaked for multiple uses, it's just a matter of time. Depending how long we live, I suspect we'll see a radically different world in our lifetimes.

AlexanderFan · Jan 7, 2019

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.th...driverless-freight-train-derailed-in-tasmania

The downside.

Those trains will be the first for a simple reason : they are either loaded or empty. The industry labels them "unit trains" or "solid bulk commodity". Other examples are coal, rock, concrete, ethanol, etc. It's much easier to predict weight distribution and train behavior in a train when every railcar is virtually identical, including its weight.

The challenge in my job is keeping the train in one piece while not damaging the contents and moving as close to track speed as you can, all the while the cars behind you have varying characteristics and influence the handling of the train. Rail cars with liquids slosh back and forth, box cars with cushion underframes lessen the motion of the goods, but cause more slack action and potential train seperations.

Don't get me wrong, full automation is going to happen, most likely in my career (about 18 years to make it to 60, 13 for 30 years). The biggest obstacle I see that must be overcome is that these programs they utilize don't learn or gain experience. If this computer tears a train up doing x y z in spot a b c today, it will tear up the same train doing exactly the same thing tomorrow. Human engineers learn from their mistakes, so far these programs don't.

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crimsonaudio · Jan 7, 2019

Learning algorithms are out there and fairly commonly used, so while they might not be included in this particular system, it's a simple matter of time. At some point there will be (inexpensive) sensors all over these train cars measuring everything from weight to yaw, camber, vibration, etc - it won't be long before the computer knows far more about what's happening on those cars and processes that information far faster and more accurately than any human could ever hope to.

I don't know enough about your industry to speak intelligently about it, but I doubt it'll be 18 years before these systems are safer and more efficient than humans. How long it takes the industry to adopt them widespread will be the deciding factor, I'm betting.

AlexanderFan · Jan 7, 2019

crimsonaudio said:
Learning algorithms are out there and fairly commonly used, so while they might not be included in this particular system, it's a simple matter of time. At some point there will be (inexpensive) sensors all over these train cars measuring everything from weight to yaw, camber, vibration, etc - it won't be long before the computer knows far more about what's happening on those cars and processes that information far faster and more accurately than any human could ever hope to.

I don't know enough about your industry to speak intelligently about it, but I doubt it'll be 18 years before these systems are safer and more efficient than humans. How long it takes the industry to adopt them widespread will be the deciding factor, I'm betting.

The issue is that the railroads share everything but customers, and they even share those in certain situations. Railcars are in a NATIONAL pool. These cars traverse the country and are used by every railroad. How do you keep track of all these sensors and such?

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crimsonaudio · Jan 7, 2019

AlexanderFan said:
The issue is that the railroads share everything but customers, and they even share those in certain situations. Railcars are in a NATIONAL pool. These cars traverse the country and are used by every railroad. How do you keep track of all these sensors and such?

A closed network system would be quite easy to implement. Your car has more sensors that you can even count - heck, your cellphone probably has more sensors than they'd need to stick on train cars in order to relay the necessary data...

If it's national pool, then it will surely be mandated on the federal level.

It will take time, but it's coming. It's coming for every profession you can think of.

AlexanderFan · Jan 7, 2019

crimsonaudio said:
A closed network system would be quite easy to implement. Your car has more sensors that you can even count - heck, your cellphone probably has more sensors than they'd need to stick on train cars in order to relay the necessary data...

If it's national pool, then it will surely be mandated on the federal level.

It will take time, but it's coming. It's coming for every profession you can think of.

I'm not disagreeing, this is just what I think will be the biggest obstacle.

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