UNEXMIN important events in 2018

The UNEXMIN project is soon going to enter its 3rd running year – a very important turning point, with the first UX-1 prototype entirely ready and trial missions in real-life environment. For this purpose, a timeline with the major events for the year 2018 is delineated, so stakeholders can easily know and follow UNEXMIN milestones for this year.

The year 2018 will bring a tight schedule in the UX-1 development to the UNEXMIN consortium. The project partners will have to prove the operability of the robotic system, both in hardware and software, in two mines in Europe: Kaatiala (Finland) and Idrija (Slovenia). The trials will be preceded by important deliverables related to software improvements. Among other checkpoints for this year, here are the most important ones:

  • A report on robot software/hardware documentation (February)
  • The inventory of Europe’s flooded mines (April)
  • The first software and post-processing tools developed and ready for UX-1 (May)
    • Real-time navigation and mapping
    • Low level control and exploration
    • UX-1 robot mission control
    • Three-dimensional visualisation software
  • UX-1 first prototype fully operational (May)
  • The trial in the Kaatiala Mine in Finland, and subsequent pilot report
  • The trial in the Idrija Mine in Slovenia, and subsequent pilot report

Delivering all the milestones in a timely manner will provide the perfect leverage for the last year of the project – due to end in October 2019.

Bringing to life an autonomous robotic system for the exploration and mapping of flooded mines was never achieved and this year can prove the absolute value of the UNEXMIN technology to a whole range of stakeholders, from the raw materials to the robotics communities.