With new autonomous train, Australia is now home to the world’s largest robot

digitaltrends.com ^ | January 3, 2019 2:13PM PST | Luke Dormehl

[BenLurkin]

“This is a world first,” a spokesperson for Rio Tinto told Digital Trends. “It is the first fully autonomous, long-distance, heavy-haul rail network in the world. The successful deployment is the culmination of a $940 million project and has the potential to transform the productivity and flexibility of the 1,700-kilometer network between our 16 iron ore mines and two ports.”

But why turn this job over to machines to run? According to the company representative we contacted, there are several reasons. (And, no, immediately getting rid of employees isn’t one of them. Rio Tinto says that no layoffs are expected in 2019 as a result of the new train line.)

“We are already seeing cycle time improvements through consistent driving strategies and productivity benefits by removing the need for driver changeovers,” the spokesperson continued. “There are also benefits to safety. It greatly reduces the 1.5 million kilometers of light vehicle travel by drivers who have had to travel to meet trains for changeovers. Other benefits include reduced risk at level crossings and automated responses by the train to speed restrictions and incidents.”

[onedoug]

Is this the same Rio Tinto involved in television distribution?

[Candor7]

heavy Hauler Ping!

[KC_Lion]

And it will still find a way to kill you.

[highpockets]

Works well with limited human interactions over huge low population geography.

How get it to work though 5 thousand R R crossings.

[buckalfa]

The railways in Oz must not have to deal with featherbedding labor unions.

[DesertRhino]

And nobody gets to be an engineer.

[cyclotic]

That should be pretty easy. There’s not much a train engineer can do if someone is blocking the crossing but drive on through. It takes miles to stop a train.

I hate the idea of autonomous cars. I’m a lousy passenger and get carsick really fast if I try to read in a moving car. Plus I like to drive.

But stuff like trains or ships have lots of validity.

[ClearCase_guy]

I’m waiting for Gigantor the space-age robot. He’s bigger than big, you know. Also quicker than quick, which would be handy for a train.

[shanover]

What could possibly go wrong? I know of no system that cannot be hacked.

[bgill]

Let one speck of dust get into one computer chip and carnage everywhere.

[Fred Nerks]

RIO TINTO

Our Pilbara operations – including a world-class, integrated network of 16 iron ore mines, four independent port terminals, a 1,700 kilometre rail network and related infrastructure – are designed to respond rapidly to changes in demand, supported by our Operations Centre in Perth. We’re expanding our operations in the Pilbara to epic proportions while introducing next generation technologies to deliver greater efficiency, lower production costs and improve health, safety and environmental performance.

[Army Air Corps]

Coming soon, this summer: Death Train.