Autonomous dump trucks could be coming to a quarry near you, as one of the world’s largest construction material producers teams up with a Silicon Valley robotics company.
Heidelberg Materials has set a goal of deploying more than 100 self-driving vehicles by the end of 2028, with 30 toward that goal being reached by the end of this year.
Rigid-frame dump trucks and other equipment outfitted with U.S. tech startup Pronto’s Autonomous Haulage System will be spread among the material supplier’s sites in North America, Australia and Europe.
The rollout follows a successful pilot of autonomous haul trucks at Heidelberg’s quarry in Bridgeport, Texas, Pronto says. The trial involved transporting more than 2 million tons of limestone in eight months with Caterpillar and Komatsu rigid-frame dump trucks equipped with Pronto’s aftermarket system, which it says can be used with any manufacturer’s trucks.
(To watch the autonomous trucks in action at the quarry, check out the video at the end of this story.)
“This operation represented North America’s first fully autonomous mixed-fleet quarry,” Pronto says. “By seamlessly integrating disparate equipment brands — including Caterpillar 775G and Komatsu HD605 series trucks — onto a single AHS, the system proved that dynamic autonomy can be achieved without requiring operators to replace existing equipment fleets.”
Printo’s system consists of advanced sensors, cameras and artificial intelligence. The system is designed “to autonomously operate haul trucks and other mobile equipment in complex, dynamic environments,” Heidelberg says.
The materials company adds that “the automation expansion further enhances safety and operational performance.”
The next U.S. deployments will be at Heidelberg’s sites in Mitchell, Indiana, and Servtex, Texas. Autonomous hauling deployments are also set for quarries in New South Wales and Western Australia. And Heidelberg plans to test an autonomous wheel loader at a sand and gravel pit in Northern Germany.
“Implementing the latest technologies across our production sites is an important driver of operational excellence and digital innovation at Heidelberg Materials,” says Axel Conrads, at Heidelberg chief technical officer. “By teaming up with Pronto, we will deploy a scalable solution to our fleet of haul trucks that will contribute significantly towards our production efficiency, safety and sustainability efforts, while also addressing the challenge of recruiting skilled operatives.”
Meanwhile, Pronto has had a busy year:
- In August, it signed with Komatsu to bring its aftermarket systems to the equipment manufacturer’s Smart Quarry Autonomous system for its haul trucks. The technology can be retrofitted to Komatsu haul trucks or be factory-fitted on new models.
- In April, Pronto announced it had been acquired by AI company Atoms to become the “core technology engine” of the Atoms Mining division.
Pronto was founded in 2018 with the goal of making “autonomous haulage practical, affordable and available to every mining operation.”
The company released the following video of its autonomous haulage system on rigid-frame dump trucks at Heidelberg's quarry in Bridgeport, Texas:
