5G Edge Innovations for Mining

Purpose and goal:

The overall purpose of the project is to create more intelligent mining systems that will further push the boundaries of autonomy, productivity and safety. The project aims to develop a modern edge platform and associated portfolio of edge-aware applications for the autonomous mine. Pilot demonstrations of 5G-connected drones in a mining environment are planned, innovative use of modern AI technology and a hardware and software stack for edge-to-cloud applications.

Applications include real-time video analysis, autonomous navigation and time-synchronized seismic sensors. Expected results and effects:

The project is expected to contribute to the next generation of digital infrastructure and new applications developed in Sweden for the mining industry. The SMEs involved will get a competitive edge by being early in the development of applications that utilize 5G networks with deep network edge computing, e.g. latency critical applications. Swedish attractiveness regarding research and innovation investments is expected to be strengthened and the competitiveness of Swedish industry will be improved.

Approach and implementation:

The partners represent multiple innovation ecosystem actors, including a university, a research institute, technology startups and corporates as well as a global technology and innovation leader within mining. The partners will together collect requirements, design applications and the overall edge-to-cloud system, implement software and other artefacts, and demonstrate the solutions in both a testbed and a mining environment. The existing testbed 5G Innovation Hub North will be used and extended with new features.