Sundance was due to present at TAROS 21 alongside Aron Kisdi from GMV HSL. With the decision taken for the TAROS conference to be a fully virtual and online event, the presentation was given on Zoom instead. The upside of this is that we have a copy of the recording available to share which you can watch below.

TAROS is the longest-running UK-hosted international conference on Robotics and Autonomous Systems (RAS), which is aimed at the presentation and discussion of the latest results and methods in autonomous robotics research and applications. TAROS offers a friendly environment for robotics researchers and industry to take stock and plan future progress. It welcomes senior researchers and research students alike and specifically provides opportunities for research students and young research scientists to present their work to the scientific community.

As in previous years, the TAROS 2021 proceedings will be published in the Springer Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence series.

Autonomous Robotic InSpEction (ARISE) Project

The modern world is dependent on the supply of mineral resources to provide the raw materials to meet, current and future needs for energy, manufacturing and construction industries and demands are increasing exponentially due to population growth, life expectancy and a more technologically-focused, digital world which requires sophisticated mineral products.

The mining industry is committed to operating safely and reducing accident numbers, and it is increasingly migrating underground as surface deposits are exhausted. The underground environment is challenging due to: high rock stress, high temperatures, poor communications with surface, restricted access and lack of access to satellite positioning systems.

The key risk in deep level mining is geotechnical because ground conditions are exacerbated by high stress at depth and the unpredictable nature of the blasting process on stress redistribution. It is essential to undertake disciplined geotechnical inspections of newly exposed rock after every blast, but it is well known that this process is dangerous, time-consuming and subject to human error.

The ARISE project combines a cutting edge FPGA based on-board computer, leading autonomous navigation and planning software for mobile robotics and LIDAR developed for space exploration in a new application to assess the safety and efficiency of mines, particularly during blast mining.