Komatsu's new autonomous haulage vehicle is designed to eliminate K-turns at loading and unloading sites. By distributing equal load to the four wheels both when the vehicle is loaded and unloaded, and adopting four-wheel drive, retarder and steering, Komatsu's innovative unmanned vehicle provides high-performance shuttling in both forward and reverse travel directions.
In particular, Komatsu expects that this new vehicle will considerably improve the productivity at mines where existing unmanned haulage vehicles face challenging conditions, such as slippery ground due to frequent rain/snow fall as well as confined spaces for loading.
Komatsu has led the world by commercializing Autonomous Haulage System (AHS) in 2008. Since then AHS dump trucks have hauled over 1 billion tons (cumulative) of overburden and minerals at large-scale mines mainly in Chile and Australia. By continuing its efforts to optimize the performance of mining equipment and aggressively promote remote control and unmanned machine operation, Komatsu will help its mining customers significantly improve their productivity.
Komatsu plas to bring the new haulage vehicle to market in the near future.