Mining dates back to prehistoric times when humans mined flint, gold, and copper for tools and trading. Now, the mining process for phosphate and potash minerals is no longer a job for a caveman — it’s a job for a robot.
Spot is a four-legged robotic platform, capable of advanced autonomous navigation, data acquisition, and environmental manipulation and it’s one tool in the innovation toolbox at Mosaic. It can operate for up to 90 minutes on a single battery charge, withstand temperatures over 100 degrees Fahrenheit, and even climb upstairs and traverse rough terrain.
Why Spot
Global food systems are facing complex challenges. Feeding a global population of more than 9 billion by 2050 while making agriculture more sustainable is a defining challenge of our time. Mosaic is committed to finding more ways to not only produce more but also overcome limitations, lessen impact and adapt to extreme conditions.
To meet these challenges, Mosaic works to help farmers maximize crop yields while maintaining the health of the soil and surrounding environment. The next generation of nutrient solutions still requires materials that can only be obtained through mining. To help minimize risk, Mosaic deploys the help of man’s best friend – well, a robot version.
Spot is more than an old dog with new tricks to help bolster human safety in necessary mining operations. The robot can reduce the risk of dangerous data collection tasks, automate dull and hazardous inspections and improve operational efficiency with preventive maintenance.
“Spot’s goal is to improve the safety of day-to-day operations by giving our employees another tool in their toolbox. The main difference from other tools is it doesn’t require the operator to leave a control room to get real time information about the facility” says Ben Seibert, Mosaic Process Engineer.
The Future of Spot
Spot is still a pup. It’s currently being tested in a variety of environments and use cases to explore the frequency it’s needed on job sites, the value it could add and more. After use case testing, it will move into a pilot stage to evaluate its long-term robustness, active time and workload.
“Spot is just one tool that the Mosaic Applied Research team is testing. We will continue working with Spot, Drones, and other custom robotic tools. With these first steps we are paving the way for future advanced robotic integrations in our operations. ” explained Murray Schultz, Mosaic Director of Applied Process Technology.