The mining industry is seeing a shift toward electrifying mining machinery as a way of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. To meet the demand for sustainable mining solutions, Hitachi Construction Machinery began developing a fully electric dump truck in June 2021, in collaboration with ABB. The test machine was completed in January 2024 and shipped to First Quantum Minerals Ltd's Kansanshi Mine, located in the Republic of Zambia. Following the completion of assembly and basic operation testing at site, the trolley battery dump truck is now undergoing demonstration testing – a world first.

Trial of the Full Battery Dump Truck at Mine Site

Dump trucks equipped with Hitachi AHS can be efficiently dispatched through autonomous haulage by following the instructions of the Fleet Management System (FMS) of our group company Wenco International Mining Systems Ltd. This system is scalable to control up to 100 vehicles and can be used for autonomous operation at large-scale mines. In the near future, autonomously operated dump trucks and ultra-large hydraulic excavators will exchange information with other equipment and machinery to realize autonomous operation and improve safety and productivity at mining sites.

Autonomous Haulage System（AHS）

Hitachi Construction Machinery is developing a wide range of technologies to realize autonomous operation of ultra-large hydraulic excavators at mines. First, we are working on advanced remote control systems to further improve the working environment and safety of operators. Also, careful checking and operation by operators at mines is conducted to avoid collisions with other equipment and vehicles and to maintain vehicle stability. We are developing operation support systems to maintain these even during remote operation. Further, we are planning to develop a system that will enable a single remote operator to operate multiple ultra-large hydraulic excavators concurrently by automating part of the excavation and loading operations. Combining these technologies will allow us in the future to provide customers with ultra-large hydraulic excavators that have autonomous operation features.

To efficiently excavate mineral resources, it is necessary to excavate as much as possible per operation. However, if the load on the bucket becomes excessive during excavation, the hydraulic circuit protection function will be activated and the operation of the front attachment will stop intermittently, leading to reduced productivity due to lost work time and increased fuel consumption. The Digging Assist function automatically controls the hydraulic cylinder to release the bucket tip upward when the load on the front becomes too high during excavation. Even inexperienced operators will be able to perform stable excavation work with the help of this function.

Operator Assist System for Ultra-Large Hydraulic Excavators

When a hydraulic excavator turns to load excavated mineral resources onto a dump truck, the front attachment will automatically rise to avoid a collision with the dump truck. The operator can concentrate solely on turning the excavator, reducing the burden on the operator while enhancing safety.

We are developing a guide display function to support remote control operators in safely moving ultra-large hydraulic excavators. The excavator’s inclination is displayed, as well as distance markers to the surrounding terrain to the side of each crawler to help guide the operator. image: Example of Excavator Posture View

image: Example of Side Guidance View

We have constructed a virtual testing environment to allow us to efficiently conduct pre-evaluation of new functions within a simulated space. Our virtual testing environment has been reconstructed based on terrain and soil data from our actual test site, and is designed to allow flexible settings of weather, sunlight, and other environmental conditions. This will enable us to realistically replicate the behavior of the excavator in various operating conditions using high-precision simulation technology, that would normally be difficult to perform under real, extreme conditions. As a result, the efficiency of the development process is improved and validation costs can be reduced.

Development and testing of remotely operated ultra-large hydraulic excavators and other equipment is conducted at the Hitachi Construction Machinery Urahoro Test Site (Urahoro-cho, Tokachi-gun, Hokkaido). It's located on a vast 427-hectare land owned by the company, and is a digging and traveling operations test site where experiments can be conducted day and night. Mining machinery that requires operation 24 hours a day, 365 days a year is tested in a variety of environments, including at different times during the day and in different weather conditions, to ensure this machinery is able to work under a wide range of environments.