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Australian Autonomous Train is Being Called The 'World's Largest Robot' (sciencealert.com)
schwit1 shares a report: Mining corporation Rio Tinto says that an autonomous rail system called AutoHaul that it's been developing in the remote Pilbara region of Australia for several years is now entirely operational -- an accomplishment the company says makes the system the "world's largest robot." "It's been a challenging journey to automate a rail network of this size and scale in a remote location like the Pilbara," Rio Tinto's managing director Ivan Vella told the Sydney Morning Herald, "but early results indicate significant potential to improve productivity, providing increased system flexibility and reducing bottlenecks." The ore-hauling train is just one part of an ambitious automation project involving robotics and driverless vehicles that Rio Tinto wants to use to automate its mining operations. The company conducted its first test of the train without a human on board last year, and it now claims that the system has completed more than a million kilometers (620,000 miles) of autonomous travel.
Now time to replace the passengers with robots as well
And it has a built-in autonomous washing system called AutoWash, though the engineers refer to it as "Leeloominaï Lekatariba Lamina-Tchaï Ekbat De Sebat" for some reason.
To me, a âoerobotâ should need to be anthropomorphic in some way. Otherwise itâ(TM)s just a machine.
It's Baine the Mono!
This is the low-hanging fruit of the automation tree. The rail network for these ore trains might as well be on Mars. Very little risk mitigation needs to take place on a well-built rail network free of grade crossings and hauling only one commodity.
I'd be more impressed if it was the smartest. But that's probably harder to prove.
And it's a train, right? On rails? So it does't even have to steer. Just start and stop and the right places.
What the hell is so challenging about automating trains? I can't believe train conductors are still a thing, and they're still crashing trains. What's simpler to automate than a train? The tracks are fixed. There are very few tracks or trains in any system. The trains can only go two directions on the tracks. Why aren't all trains automated by now?
I don't respond to AC's.
While a million automated kilometers (of automated operation) may sound impressive in a headline, I doubt that the statistic really means anything. For a train running on a track, the distance traveled isn't very interesting, particularly if the track runs through the middle of nowhere. I would think statistics on numbers of automation decisions made would be more useful, particularly decisions that would have otherwise been made by a human operator. Perhaps statistics on number of grade crossings (where roads cross the tracks) traversed; counts on how many times the train sounded the warning horn, slowed down or stopped, because there were animals or people on the tracks; statistics on how the automation handled other abnormal events such as sticking breaks, loss of cargo, or other mechanical failures.
does it have beam sabres?
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This company has 400(!) train drivers with some making $240,000/Yr.(!)
They claim to have not let anyone go(forced redundancies), yet. But, no company is going to continue paying $50million per year if they don't have to.
I'm amazed that a train driver(engineer) is paid so much. I'm amazed that they have 400 drivers for 200 trains.
I'm wondering how people will find 400 such highly paid jobs in the near future and forever after.
Because the union contract specifies a quarter of a million dollars a year and 5 people to do the job that a $100K computer can do.
Have they named it Blaine yet?
Seem to be just fine with multi-billion corporations saving a few million a year in labor costs so as to line management and investor pockets with just that little bit more. Government can to pick up the tab in increased welfare costs. Oops, after tax cuts to the wealthy we handed out last year, we just can't seem to afford to fully fund social services this year.
It's kind of funny. While American companies fuss with the uphill battle and endless stream of edge cases that self-driving represents, the Australians will be collecting reams of useful test data because it is a case that is fully realizable and profitable. Seems they are more interested in building on top of demonstrable successes rather than making empty promises.
Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
A "semi autonomous" large ore train had to be deliberately derailed in November, because it was actually less destructive than letting it continue driving and come close to the "real" rail network or civilisation.
More info at https://www.abc.net.au/news/20...
So it's probably too early to claim success for autonomous trains, even though, as stated by earlier posters above, an autonomous train in the outback is a much easier challenge than one in the city. Far fewer level crossings, obstacles or pedestrians.
sustainable living
nope, it's her Sybian.
than pay conductors? Then it's ready for prime time.
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Machines traditionally only replaced very repetitive jobs. But over the next 50 years they are going to become much smarter.
Sure, over the next 20 years most of the truck drivers etc. will find some sort of underpaid work elsewhere. But over the next 50 there will be very little unskilled work.
But, as per Parkinson, bureaucracies will grow and grow to take up the slack from those with mediocre intelligence.
And then, maybe in 200 years, computers will be able to program themselves, and will no longer need hungry humans to help them.
Transports blocks of passenger in a chain, can only add, not remove (otherwise its a split i.e. two blockchains). Also usually issues its own tockens, called tickets.
The trains are being drive remotely, rather like the London Tube trains have been for years. There's still someone at the controls, but no one on the footplate. This means you can change staff half-way through a trip, without requiring a staff-car attached.
Given that in the news too, is where BHP derailed a train that ran away from the driver (who was inspecting the train), they used remote signalling control to throw a set of points and run it into a passing loop with no escape, it would be interesting. But this is a run-away train, the sort that has happened many times before on suburban networks.
I imagine that to forfill the full function of the driver, one needs to deal with the likes of hot axle boxes, cracked and broken tyres, and all sorts of other things before it would be fully remote.
OS/2 - because choice is a terrible thing to waste.
It's also being called "not a real robot". By me. Just now. I mean since anybody, without any peer review, can call it what they want and it makes the headlines, my update should make it into the news too, shouldn't it? Example for the editor:
Update: It is also being called "not a real robot" by anonymous slashdot poster.
All you folks who used to work here? G'day, and don't let the door hit you on the way out. What will you do for a living? Sorry, we don't care about that, that's got nothing to do with ROI for our CEO.
Just statistics twisted for marketing.
An autonomus train going in a 1 dimensional track in a Wilderness! The complexity of AI there is far far less, so that achievement
of 620k miles, may be equated to an automomus-car traveling 10 miles in San Francisco highway lowway roads.
- Train has no steering wheel (1D track)
- Trains do not need rear-view mirrors/cameras.
- After certain speed, trains can not stop instantly like cars (inertia), so certain decisions are out.
https://edition.cnn.com/2018/1...
Solution: get rid of the drivers!