Toyota to develop autonomous light vehicle run on Komatsu’s AHS
Published by Will Owen,
Editor
Global Mining Review,
Komatsu Ltd. and Toyota Motor Corp. have announced the launch of a joint project to develop an autonomous light vehicle (ALV) that will run on Komatsu’s Autonomous Haulage System (AHS).
Since the launch of the world’s first commercial application of an AHS in 2008, Komatsu has established proven performance in various mine environments and has earned a reputation for safety and productivity. Currently, when AHS-enabled autonomous haul trucks and manual light vehicles used for maintenance or transport are running on haulage roads at the same time, autonomous haul trucks may decrease their speed or stop when passing light vehicles to avoid possible collisions caused by human error. On the other hand, customer demand for improved productivity in mine operations when it comes to autonomous haul truck operating efficiency remains an issue.
Komatsu and Toyota’s hope their collaboration will help to solve these issues quickly. The project aims to realise further safety and productivity improvements in mines by running autonomous haul trucks and automated ALVs controlled by an AHS.
Komatsu is developing a new management programme for ALVs on its AHS supervisory system, while Toyota is working on ALVs capable of running automatically under AHS control. A concept ALV is already being tested at proving grounds, and there is a plan to have a proof of concept at a customer site by approximately January 2024.
Read the article online at: https://www.globalminingreview.com/mining/19052023/toyota-to-develop-autonomous-light-vehicle-run-on-komatsus-ahs/
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