Autonomous underground tramming for center‐articulated vehicles

Abstract This paper describes the design, implementation, and field testing of an infrastructureless system for autonomous tramming (or hauling) of a center‐articulated underground mining vehicle. Such vehicles are ubiquitous in underground mining, and effective automation of their tramming function has been a sought‐after technology for more than a decade. This paper reports on the successful development of a fast, reliable, and robust “autotramming” technology that does not require the installation of fixed infrastructure. Included are descriptions of the chosen control architecture, map‐based localization technique, and the results of integration and field testing. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.