en.Wedoany.com Reported - A research team at the University of Adelaide has developed a swarm robot system for mining automation by mimicking the social collaborative behaviors of bees and ants, aiming to enhance the efficiency and adaptability of mining operations while reducing reliance on central control systems. The study, titled "Bio-Inspired Swarm Robots Design for Mine Automation," was published in Natural Sciences.
As mining activities expand into deeper, more remote, and harder-to-reach environments, traditional automation systems face challenges such as high costs, poor flexibility, and dependence on central controllers. To explore alternatives, the research team used small Zumo 2040 robots in a laboratory environment simulating mining conditions, evaluating three approaches: a basic system where robots return immediately after collecting ore; an ant-inspired model where robots divide tasks into locating resources and transporting them; and a bee-inspired system that actively explores and maps the area before collecting materials.
Dr. Joven Tan, lead author of the study and part of a doctoral research project at the University of Adelaide's School of Chemical Engineering, stated that social insects have developed highly efficient ways of solving problems collectively, and applying these ideas to robotics can create more efficient, adaptable, and reliable systems for the mining industry.
Laboratory tests showed that the bee-inspired method performed the best. Compared to the basic system, this approach reduced travel distance by up to 80%, cut energy consumption by approximately 50%, and increased ore delivery task completion speed by 60% by first exploring and memorizing resource locations before collection. The ant-inspired method also improved performance by assigning different roles to individual robots—one robot identifying resources and another transporting them.
Dr. Noune Melkoumian, project lead and co-author, noted that nature has spent millions of years developing efficient group collaboration methods, and learning from these systems can lead to new technologies that are more flexible, reliable, and efficient. The research team emphasized that these concepts were tested using physical robots in a laboratory environment, rather than relying solely on computer simulations.
Although further work is needed before deploying this technology in operational mines—including improving sensors, extending battery life, and adapting the system to unpredictable underground environments—swarm robot technology could ultimately be used in hazardous or hard-to-reach mining areas, improving productivity while reducing risks to workers. In the future, this technology may also be applied to space mining, where autonomous systems are expected to play a key role. The study, titled "Bio-Inspired Swarm Robots Design for Mine Automation," was published in Natural Sciences.
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