Hitachi Construction Machinery says it will work with Rio Tinto over the next five years to develop “remote operation technologies” for large mining hydraulic excavators. The Japanese company has said it wants to build an interoperable platform capable of running multiple ultra-class, partially automated excavators by 2030.
The two companies have signed a new agreement in Brisbane, Australia, after saying last March they would conduct a verification test of an excavator operator assist system at one of Rio Tinto’s Australian mines.
HCM and Rio have also been assessing the durability of large hydraulic excavator booms and arms and will now take a closer look at autonomous operation technologies in diverse site conditions. They say partial autonomy will enable operators to instruct an operating system on the initial digging position and dump truck loading position to automatically repeat a series of subsequent operations.
“Since entering the mining machinery business in the late 1970s the Hitachi Construction Machinery group has driven technology innovation for ultra-large hydraulic excavators in the industry,” said Hiroshi Kanezawa, executive officer and vice president of HCM’s mining business.
“Our new concept LANDCROS embodies our desires for … reliable and open solutions for our customers and expresses the direction that the [group] wishes to take. Under this concept, we are confident that open collaboration with Rio Tinto, which has extensive expertise in mining operations, will accelerate the development of highly versatile autonomous operation technologies for the benefit of the whole mining industry.”
HCM recently reported FY25 mining capital machinery sales of US$710 million and parts and services revenues of $1.16 billion. Original equipment sales were down year-on-year while aftermarket was up. Group revenues were about $9 billion.
