TECHNOLOGY
The future of mining With driverless technology expanding across every sector , autonomous mining equipment will only continue to improve in productivity while dropping in cost . Eventually , mining equipment industrywide will be manned from within a control center or preprogrammed for each phase of the mining process . Due to the expense of the equipment , autonomous technology developers extensively test their systems to avoid rolling out a dangerously incomplete control mechanism or software program . Across every industry , worries about automation revolve around skilled job elimination for all but the select few accepted for the control room positions . Although adoption of this technology has the potential to cause a downward trend of job availability , the safety improvements alone may make the switch well worth the initial growing pains . Keeping the operators far from potential hazards and pitfalls could transform the industry from one of the most dangerous for workers to the safest . In an industry with ongoing labor shortages , however , a downward tick in skilled job demand may actually be accepted with open arms . With operators having the ability to control multiple vehicles from the control room , problems associated with recurring seasonal labor shortages could quickly disappear , resulting in steady productivity year round . Drivers interested in remaining in the industry can receive the training they need to move into the control room and remotely pilot the automated vehicles .
12 April 2016