THUNDER BAY – Epiroc, a company focused on developing and innovating the mining industry, has opened a new location in the city.
The new facility, located at 1239 Amber Drive, is 9,862 square feet with warehouse space and a rock drill repair centre.
The grand opening hosted many people from the mining industry, as well as Mayor Ken Boshcoff and Fort William First Nation Chief Michele Solomon.
Formerly known as Atlas Copco, Epiroc is a manufacturer and productivity partner for the mining industry.
The company manufactures everything from drill rigs to haul trucks and utility vehicles equipped with cutting-edge automated technology.
Epiroc’s digital solutions manager, Seth Patterson, says the automated equipment can go where it’s unsafe for an operator.
“It allows underground scoop tram or surface hull truck or drilling machines to continue drilling, continue hauling when you don’t have an operator available or it’s too risky to put an operator in that situation or in the underground environment. The best example would be between shifts where you’ve blasted, and you can’t put people underground, but you want to continue that productivity so you can keep the machines running if you don’t have people underground,” he told Newswatch.
Patterson says the machines are also equipped with asset tracking systems, such as gas sensors. When triggered, they will automatically stop the machine from entering that dangerous area or alert employees that they cannot enter that area.
However, these machines are not AI-operated. They are controlled remotely, Patterson said.
He says these machines have three levels of control. First is where an operator stands behind a machine controlling it with a remote. Then there is tele-remote, where the operator is removed from the line of sight into a safe location, looking through cameras, and operating the machine. Finally, semi-autonomous, which is where the operator is sitting at an operator station.
