I retired 4 years ago from Imperial Oil/Exxon at the Kearl Lake oil mine, where they have a fleet of Cat 797 autonomous haul trucks. I still have many contacts there who keep me up on the progression and expansion of this project. I am also told that the autonomous trucks are getting beaten because of no operator input. A computer cannot read the conditions, but only follow a pre-programmed haul route. Haul truck frames are cracking and there are many stoppages. It seems that autonomous can eliminate the driver but not the in pit issues or driver discretion.
I retired 4 years ago from Imperial Oil/Exxon at the Kearl Lake oil mine, where they have a fleet of Cat 797 autonomous haul trucks. I still have many contacts there who keep me up on the progression and expansion of this project. I am also told that the autonomous trucks are getting beaten because of no operator input. A computer cannot read the conditions, but only follow a pre-programmed haul route. Haul truck frames are cracking and there are many stoppages. It seems that autonomous can eliminate the driver but not the in pit issues or driver discretion.
If they integrate VR, it might help eliminate that.