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Autralian Mining Companies Increasing Use of UAVs

Posted by Unknown on from the tracking-down-nightrider dept.

aesoteric writes "Australia's top miners have opened a new front in their march to automation, flying unmanned aerial vehicles in increasing numbers at remote sites across the country. They've been used to inspect a fire-damaged oil rig, perform aerial photography and stockpile surveys. There is also a trend towards non U.S.-built UAVs, due to the lag in receiving export approvals for the aircraft and spare parts."

15 of 67 comments (clear)

  1. As an Autralian ambassador... by Samantha+Wright · · Score: 5, Funny

    I would like to know why this has been tagged as being about "Australia" and not my home country, "Autralia". Stupid Americans! I suppose you think Autria is the same country, too!

    --
    Bio questions? Ask me to start a Q&A journal. Computer analogies available for most topics!
    1. Re:As an Autralian ambassador... by ganjadude · · Score: 2

      "Murrkins, FTFY

      Fuck yeah!

      --
      have you seen my sig? there are many others like it but none that are the same
    2. Re:As an Autralian ambassador... by TapeCutter · · Score: 2

      Yuh dickhead, that ain't ow yuh spell Oz-stray-lee-ah.

      --
      And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
    3. Re:As an Autralian ambassador... by TapeCutter · · Score: 2

      Not sure how you spell it, but a 'murkin' is a pubic hair wig used by actors.

      --
      And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
    4. Re:As an Autralian ambassador... by jhoegl · · Score: 2, Insightful

      It is also how ignorant ass alcoholics who got "gentlemans Cs" in college, went MIA from the Coast Guard, and started two wars whilst never paying for them and removing consumer and environmental protections while his rich buddies get richer by betting against the middle class pronounce "Americans".
      Fuck GWB.

    5. Re:As an Autralian ambassador... by Zuriel · · Score: 5, Informative

      Australians use the word 'prawn', actually. Just so you know.

      When Australian comedian Paul Hogan used the phrase, "I'll slip an extra shrimp on the barbie for you" in an American television advertisement, it was intended to make what he was saying easier for his American audience to understand, and was thus a deliberate distortion of what an Australian would typically say.

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prawn#Shrimp_and_prawns

    6. Re:As an Autralian ambassador... by circletimessquare · · Score: 4, Funny

      Is your country the one where Arold Scharzenegger is from?

      Or Croodile Dunee?

      --
      intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
    7. Re:As an Autralian ambassador... by Brain+Damaged+Bogan · · Score: 2

      nah, It's 'Straya fuckin' wanker.

      --
      -- Sex is the antonym of pringles. Once you pop it's time to stop.
    8. Re:As an Autralian ambassador... by sirdude · · Score: 4, Informative

      Interesting to see Merkin also now mentions that it's used as a pejorative in the UK. I've seen a couple of comedians use it in their gags (Rory Bremner comes to mind), but haven't come across any day-to-day usage as such.

  2. So what? by Rosco+P.+Coltrane · · Score: 5, Informative

    The grand word "Unmanned Aerial Vehicle" hides the very simple concept of an oversized radio-controlled plane. Amateurs have been doing aerial photography - and sometimes very good aerial photography - on the cheap with RC planes for a long time. Nothing earth-shattering here...

    --
    "A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
    1. Re:So what? by XiaoMing · · Score: 5, Informative

      If you look at the video in TFA, or even at any of the $20 RC toys that are out there now, you will see one ubiquitous characteristic not present a decade ago that explains why they are such an attractive option: the gyro-stabilization.

      Even a few years back when toy RC copters were just becoming popular, the kludgiest self-righting unit could sell for $100's, and reviews were always comparing their self-righting capabilities and ease of use. Nowadays, the RC gyro units go for pocket money, and the user-friendliness of gyro-copters compared to an RC plane is like WSIWYG vs. LaTeX.

      Now you couple that evolution with the task at hand (taking good pictures/video w.r.t. VTOL vs. Hand Launch, Hover vs. Fly By), and you immediately begin to see why it's taking off (haha!).

    2. Re:So what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      This is earth shattering the way everything in the industrial era is earth shattering. That is, it's the mass manufacture of an object with a more convenient packaging and simpler user experience. In this case, the more convenient packaging largely has to do with better avionics (the VTOLs can stay stationary in mid air even in heavy cross winds) and a much longer flight time (better batteries, something we've been building up to for some years).

      Yes, a hobbyist could have built this crap 10 years ago, using off-the-shell parts, some machining equipment, and perhaps some state-of-the-art pieces here and there. But you (the user) had to have all that know-how yourself, including piloting. Now there's a market, not just in the aircraft itself but in support and piloting.

  3. Many commercial and civil uses... by bughunter · · Score: 5, Interesting

    You hear a lot of hyperbole lately from across the political spectrum bemoaning dire consequences from the use of UAVs. But having worked for a UAV manufacturer in the past, I know with certainty that they are preparing many flavors of unmanned systems for civil and commercial uses. Land management, asset management, traffic reporting, forestry, mining, oceanography, geology, communications, medevac, and cargo applications are just a few of the things that they could do... and will one day.

    However, the only people now with enough money to purchase them are military customers. Thats why almost all of the UAVs out there are military ones.

    --
    I can see the fnords!
  4. Stockpile Monitoring by pitchpipe · · Score: 2

    The use of an UAV for stockpile monitoring sounds like a bit of hype to me. Stockpiles are constantly changing not only in size, but in shape as well. Hence, they need to be constantly monitored. Show me an UAV that can constantly monitor a stockpile in real time 24/7, then we'll talk.

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    Look where all this talking got us, baby.
    1. Re:Stockpile Monitoring by Dr+Max · · Score: 2

      Airship uav maybe.

      --
      Rocket Surgeon.