It is a challenge to realize unmanned multi-marshalling operation of mines.，It is also a barrier。

Author | Xiao Ying

Drive from Urumqi Airport to an open-pit coal mine in Zhundong Economic Development Zone, Changji，The whole journey is more than 240 kilometers.。Out of Urumqi，The farther north you go.，The more obvious the sense of desolation is.。Approaching the destination，A network of rows of high-voltage wires are reflected in the car windows.，Trucks are waiting neatly in the parking lot.，These sights are telling you.，This is an energy kingdom interwoven with coal and electricity.。

Xinjiang is the largest province in China.，A vast desert、Stone desert，Xinjiang gives people the impression of desolation.。And under a vast desert.，It is an extremely rich sea of coal.，Xinjiang has become the largest area of coal and coalbed methane reserves in China.。According to《Statistics of National Mineral Resources and Reserves in 2021》，Proved coal reserves in Xinjiang rank the second in China，Second only to Shanxi Province。

The coal mine we visited this time is a super-large open-pit coal mine.，It is the largest open-pit coal mine in China at present.，Approved production capacity of 4000 tons/Year，Nearly 600 mining cards operate here every day.。Coal shipped from here.，Part of it will follow the truck.、The train is transported to other places，Some will be converted into electricity at a nearby power plant.，And then transported to thousands of households.。

If you look down from an aerial perspective,，There is an unreal industrial aesthetic here.。A cascade of mines，It's like a big sand table.。In this big sand table.，There is a small world.，Nearly 40 driverless mining cards with easy control and intelligent driving are busy here.。

01

The normal operation of the sixth marshalling is expected to add another 100 unmanned vehicles.

Easy to control intelligent driving，An autonomous driving technology company dedicated to mine scenarios，Friends who pay attention to automatic driving or mine transportation，Will not feel strange to this enterprise.。

Not so long ago，Easy Control Intelligent Driving has just celebrated its fifth anniversary.。Compared with other mine self-driving companies，Easy control intelligent driving is not the first to be founded.，And in the exploration of commercialization.，But it's ahead of the curve.。

The coal mine we visited this time.，At present, there are nearly 40 wide-body vehicles.，It can carry out unmanned operation of 6 groups.，It can also be composed“ Someone is here +No one”Mixed mode operation。The day of the visit，Due to temporary engineering operations in the mine，An excavator was pulled out.，During the visit，The vehicles are divided into five groups and are busy in operation.。

【The specific operation can be viewed by clicking the video below.】

November 2020，Easy control intelligent driving comes here for driverless test.，In 2022, it took the lead in realizing the 24-hour normal operation of the safety officer getting off the train.。As of March this year，Easy Control Intelligent Driving has accumulated 980000 kilometers of driverless transportation and operation in this coal mine.，This figure leads other players in the industry.。

Looking at these two sets of figures alone may not make any sense.，Qualitative Change of Mine Driverless Commercialization Caused by Numbers，But it is very worthy of attention.，It is taking mine driverless to the next level.。This should be understood from two aspects of technical polishing and commercial operation.：

On the one hand，Mine autopilot andRobotaxiCompared with bicycle intelligence.，More like based onV2XVehicle-road coordination landing scene。Logically, the algorithm should not only consider the execution ability of bicycle intelligence.，More consideration should be given to the operational efficiency after the formation of vehicles.。

It can be said，Fleet with different number of formation，Operational strategies will be different.，The more vehicles、The more groups，The more scenes the vehicle involves.，For the single-vehicle algorithm、The test of the overall scheduling algorithm capability is also exponential growth.。

In essence，From a few cars to dozens of cars，To hundreds of cars.，The difficulty of operation is totally different.，It is a process of establishing rules.。For enterprises, it is not only a challenge, but also a process of establishing barriers to competition.，Who can run through this logic and rules first?，Who has one more competitive advantage?。

During the mine visit，We and Easy Control Intelligent Driving TechnologyVPLin Qiao had an in-depth exchange.。He talked about，Easy to control intelligent driving to obtain such cognitive ability and rule system，It has gone through three stages of development.。

Easy Control Intelligent Driving was first tested in a small coal mine in Ordos, Inner Mongolia.。

Lin Qiao recalled，When unmanned driving was first put into test.，The initial stage is only 3.、Four cars，It is mainly the test and polishing of the single vehicle operation.，So that that unman driving system can realize the operation of collect, transporting and discharging，However, it has not been closely integrated with production.。

Initially, the team was mainly driven by autopilot.、Composition of vehicle technicians，At that time, there was no more understanding of mine transportation.，Still just trying to figure out the rules.。

As the ranks grow，Easy Control Intelligent Driving has introduced outstanding talents in the mining industry.，It began to study the operation rules of mine driverless.。

2020，When I came to Xinjiang to start the operation test.，The Easy Control Intelligent Driving Team has established some basic rules in a muddled way.，But at that time, it was mainly based on single formation operation.。

You can see，The first stage of easy-to-control intelligent driving，Experienced from the bicycle intelligence test，Run through the process of formation operation test。

The second process is to enter Zhundong Open-pit Coal Mine and South Open-pit Coal Mine in Xinjiang to start real operation.，The fleet has been expanded from single marshalling to double marshalling.，And then to the fourth formation.。After the fourth marshalling, it is necessary for site management to intervene and consider the operation of excavator arrangement.，Which means，Operation logic originally developed based on single marshalling，Continuous iterative development is required from double-marshalling operation to four-marshalling operation.，And start to make a balanced scheduling strategy.。

Lin Qiao said，These thoughts are only when the vehicle reaches a certain scale.，Only when you really land and run.，Will be established.。Otherwise，You don't think about it at all.。

Talk about the nature of being ahead of other players.，Lin Qiao gave a very simple answer.，“Easily controlled to run more”。

The driverless industry is always data-driven.，In Lin Qiao's opinion，Mine driverless data-driven essence，It is to absorb field operation experience.，Into data，And then drive the algorithm to keep iteratively upgrading.。At the same time，These engineering experience data，It will also accumulate.，Form the operation standard and solidify it.。

Realize multi-marshalling unmanned operation，It is a moat，It also builds up stronger confidence for partners.。

The scale of the vehicle determines the support and attention of the scene side and the supplier.。People may not take it seriously when it comes to small-scale tests.，After the scale is up，Willingness of all parties to participate、Degree of investment、The degree of cooperation will be higher.。

“After dozens of cars went down the mine.，It gives everyone a lot of confidence.，This means a big step forward.，From a pilot project，To a real commercial project.”，Lin Qiao said。

In this coal mine.，Easy to control intelligent driving is available“Climb over 100 meters、6. Waste discharge outside marshalling”The ability to work，And realized the normalization of unmanned driving.，So as to win enough trust from the mining side.。A larger vehicle launch program，It's about to unfold。

The next stage，That is, before the end of this year，Easy Control Intelligent Driving Plan Launches Another 100 Unmanned Mine Vehicles。That means，It will take the lead in the commercial batch application of 100 mining cards in China.，It is predicted that the annual production capacity can reach 30 million cubic meters.。

Based on the rapid advance of easy-to-control intelligent driving in the operation of flat plate and waste dump，As well as the realization of normal unmanned continuous operation in the external dump with higher technical requirements.，The mine decided to entrust the inner dump, which is more closely integrated with production, to Easy Control Intelligent Driving.。

Developing an internal dump also means，The mining side has a deeper recognition of the transportation capacity of the easy-to-control intelligent driving.。At the same time，Be able to reach a larger scale with old customers、A deeper degree of cooperation，For easy-to-control intelligent driving，It is undoubtedly the most valuable affirmation.。

02

Deep focus、Heavy operation，Easy to control intelligent driving to establish core barriers

It is understood that，At present，Other players in the mine driverless track，The largest number of vehicles in a single mine is almost no more than 20.，The operating fleet of Easy Control Intelligent Driving can be said to be twice that of its competitors.，And with the successive launch of follow-up vehicles,，This gap will continue to widen.。

Easy Control Intelligent Driving has made a breakthrough in this coal mine.，Benefit from two important business strategies：One is that the business is highly focused.，One is heavy asset operation.，This is also an important feature of Easy Control Intelligent Driving, which is different from other players on this track.。

Mine driverless seems to have a single scene.，Actually，Coal mine、Metal mines and other different mines，Different operating conditions and mining environments。In addition，On the means of transport，Mine transport vehicles are also divided into mine cards.、Wide-body car、Rear eight wheels and other different types。These factors will affect the algorithm logic of automatic driving.，And overall operational management。

Unlike competitors that were just set up from a variety of mines.、Simultaneous promotion strategy of vehicle type，Easy to control intelligent driving initially in the scene selection，Mainly open-pit coal mines，Transport vehicles are the first to use wide-body vehicles.。

Easy to control intelligent driving based on real business needs，Use the same 70-ton vehicle as the manned vehicle.。On the choice of products，Jointly developed by Easy Control Intelligent Driving and Main Engine Factory，To meet the needs of unmanned operation in mines.，At present, it has landed two generations of models.，The third generation model is also about to land.。

Another distinguishing feature is that，Easy control intelligent driving not only provides software and hardware solutions for automatic driving，It also deeply participates in the operation scenario by holding vehicles.。Such a business model，Help Easy Control Intelligent Driving to become the most thorough understanding of the unmanned operation of the mine scene driverless player。

Lin Qiao said，Traditional mining and driverless technology and vehicle technology，The three should be deeply integrated.，Track enterprises should understand both cars and driverless cars.，They should also understand the operation specifications of the mine.。Only deep involvement in operations，It is possible to coordinate all links.。

It can be said that it is precisely because of business focus.、Deeply involved in operations，Easily controlled intelligent driving can integrate unmanned operation into mine operation process more quickly.。In addition to the decision-making advantages at the strategic level，Easy to control intelligent driving has also formed a core barrier at the technical level.。

Lin Qiao introduced，Easy Control Intelligent Driving already has end-to-end development capability.，Including the whole vehicle controlled by wire、Unmanned driving algorithm and system，And operation scheduling、Fault diagnosis、Simulation system and other full stack development capabilities from vehicle to cloud。

In addition，Among track players，Easy Control Intelligent Driving is also the only mining area automatic driving enterprise with a vehicle team.，System integration mastered、Vehicle electronic control、Three core technologies of thermal management。

Vehicles to achieve large-scale landing operation，There should also be a perfect fault diagnosis system.，Quick response to vehicle problems、Diagnose accurately，This also needs to be established through a large number of real operations.。

Not only that，The whole process simulation system is also built for the easy-to-control intelligent driving.，It can support the scheduling simulation of more than 500 vehicles.，Including advance verification of complex scheduling and global planning algorithms，Thereby realizing rapid adaptation of the scene application.。

Cut in with open-pit coal mine and wide-body vehicles，After the formation of platform architecture capabilities，Easy to control intelligent driving to achieve rapid scene expansion capability。2023，Easy Control Intelligent Driving has achieved rapid replication and deployment from coal mines to sand and gravel mines within 60 days.，And realized the normalization of people.。

Based on the advantages accumulated in technology and operation，The next stage，Easy to control intelligent driving is to do.，Further improve operational efficiency。

Compared to other driverless scenarios，The biggest advantage of the mine scenario is that the scenario is closed and the traffic participants involved will be controlled.，It won't be like an open road scenario.，There are many uncertain traffic participants.。

It has experienced five years of development.，Easy control intelligent driving has basically covered all operation scenarios of the mine.，The next biggest challenge is to reduce costs and increase efficiency.、Commercialization landing。

The key to efficiency improvement，The stability is better.、Replicability should be strong，From the perspective of business performance，It is the stability and continuity of the fleet operation.，This is the key point of easy control intelligent driving now.，Lin Qiao said。

03

Revenue equals operating costs，Take the lead in realizing commercial closed-loop

From single marshalling operation to multi-marshalling operation，From several to hundreds，The account of unmanned operation of mines，When exactly will it be a draw?？In the mine driverless business model，There are several key items in the cost expenditure.，Vehicle procurement、Infrastructure construction、Operation and maintenance management，And the most critical employment cost of maintenance personnel。

Among，The first three items are almost a hard expenditure.，Cost reduction space depends on the overall scale of operation。

Because most of the intelligent driving hardware in the mine scene can be used universally.，With the development of the whole industry,，The cost of intelligent components represented by lidar is declining rapidly.，There is still room for further cost reduction in vehicle procurement.。At the same time, with the increase of vehicle size,，Easy to control the purchase of intelligent driving bicycles in the financial cost.，It will also gain more room for cost reduction.。

Base station、Infrastructure such as networks and servers，Auxiliary excavator、Forklift、Road grader、Sprinkler、Command vehicles and other equipment，These initial investments are still relatively large.，The core logic is also increasing with the number of operating vehicles.，The cost will be gradually amortized.。

At the operational level，The strategy for unmanned vehicles is to catch up first.，Go beyond again。

Operational efficiency can be divided into two levels to evaluate: single vehicle operation time and overall operational efficiency.。On the working hours of the bicycle，Driverless vehicles have more advantages.，Traditional manned is usually 18.-19 hours，Unmanned driving can achieve 20-21 hours，That's about two hours more than someone else.。

Easy Control Intelligent Driving has set a target internally.，Unmanned vehicle operation will eventually reach 22.5 hours。Why not 24 hours?，Because some maintenance time will be deducted from the vehicle.，As well as other engineering operation time such as mine blasting。

In terms of overall operational efficiency,，Unmanned driving still has some room for optimization.。The advantages and disadvantages of multi-marshalling intelligent dispatching mainly depend on whether the dispatching of the whole vehicle is reasonable.，Is the waiting time for comprehensive production the shortest?。

Lin Qiao gave an example.，For example, optimize the action of pulling the hand brake when the vehicle turns around or stops temporarily.。Every time the handbrake is pulled and loosened，It takes five seconds.，Five seconds for one car.，A car can run 40 times a day.，That's 200 seconds.，100 cars, that's 20,000 seconds.，The loss of efficiency is great.。

The algorithm team is now optimizing the efficiency of some fine projects.，Identify which scenes are temporary parking，Which are long-term parking，We need to optimize the 200 seconds.。

So，The overall optimization logic for the operation link is，Improve efficiency through more refined optimization。In the early stage, we should keep catching up.，Equal to manned operation，The follow-up is more efficient than others.，Achieve value enhancement。

The core commercial value of unmanned driving lies in the substitution of unmanned driving for unmanned driving.。

Lin Qiao introduced，Operating 100 vehicles，At least 200-300 drivers，Because it is necessary to reserve a certain space for the flow of personnel.。Every new driver in the mine has to go through nearly a month of training.，The mine also provides dormitories for its employees.、Infrastructure such as canteen，And taking security risks.、Manage risk，Therefore, the mining side is very motivated to promote the unmanned landing.，This can be said to be just needed for them.。

Take the 6-marshalling operation of easy-to-control intelligent driving as an example.，Traditional engineering companies operate in 3 shifts，Management personnel+Driver+Digging machine+Auxiliary equipment driver，About 160 people are needed.。At present，The driverless operation team only needs 70 people to meet the operation.，And that personnel can be continuously reduce subsequently.。

After the large-scale operation of the real mine driverless，Sometimes there are some working conditions that are not suitable for driverless driving.，A small percentage of people on the ground will still be needed.。From the current mode of operation，The mixed assignment with and without people is the optimal solution.，A team of people can do some non-standard work flexibly.。The most typical case is the ramp.，Someone will be more efficient.。

Considering the control of labor cost，These drivers who temporarily participate in the operation，Be able to reuse，In the daily work plan.，It assumes some post responsibilities itself.，Uch as a remote driver、Vehicle checker。

With the following 100 cars going down the mine,，Easy control intelligent driving will usher in the break-even point of single mine operation level.。At the same time, driverless production capacity is in line with traditional operation.，It is also a step closer to implementing operational safety.、Manage security。

04

Write at the end

Driverless Dispatch Center，It is the brain that commands the unmanned operation of the mine.。There is a small dispatching room in the office area of this coal mine.，About 50、60 square meters，The most conspicuous in the room，It is a large scheduling screen composed of two screens.，There are two engineers in front of the dispatching desk to monitor the operation status in real time.，Next to it is a remote cockpit that can take over the vehicle.。

The day I visited the mine.，In a small room.，It was crowded with nearly 20 people.。The staff of Easy Control Intelligent Driving introduced to me.，Who works here.，There are unmanned system tests stationed in mines all the year round.、Vehicle Test Engineer，There are also people who often work overtime on the night shift to catch up with projects.，Even R & D engineers on two shifts.，And specially from Beijing.、Algorithm engineer from Shanghai，Everyone is preparing for different versions of R & D iterations and the launch of new models.。

In order to make the mine unmanned.，With Autopilot Talent、Vehicle engineering talents、Mine technical specialist is the representative.，Everyone gathered here.，Actively open up each other's knowledge system，Collide with each other、Fusion，A set of operational services and technical solutions exclusively for mine driverless driving has been polished.。

Relatively relaxed working environment compared to Internet companies，The operational requirements of the mine will be more standardized.、Process-based，It permeates every aspect of daily work.。Big enough to attend the morning shift meeting every day.、Night shift meeting，As small as even which side the vehicle is parked on，There are clear requirements for the orientation of the front of the car.。

The two different cultures have merged together.，Just like unmanned driving has been integrated into the mine operation scene.。

At present, the mine is still ruled by manned driving.，Wait until unmanned vehicles reach 90%Above，The whole will make rules based on the operation logic of driverless vehicles.，Lin Qiao predicts that this time point will not be too far away.。

Google was founded in 2009.WaymoProject to date，Unmanned driving has experienced more than 10 years of development.，The industry has focused on high-end algorithms.、Technology，It has entered the stage of focusing on the commercial ability of landing.。Lin Qiao thinks，The whole industry is becoming more and more rational.，This is a good thing for the easy control intelligent driving which focuses on the application of mine driverless driving for a long time.，“We finally got the guy we always wanted.”，That's all for now，He gave a casual smile.。