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Save the date: UNEXMIN final conference

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Save the date: The UNEXMIN final conference will be hosted in Brussels, on the 26th of September 2019! Take this unique opportunity to learn more about the project’s results and its link to European Raw Materials Policies and robotics.

About the UNEXMIN Final Conference

UNEXMIN will hold its final conference on 26th September 2019 in Brussels, ahead of the project’s closing in October. Project results, including the presence of one of the UX-1 robots, will be shown, discussed and demonstrated.

The programme will include high-level discussions on European raw materials policies, support from the UNEXMIN project to those policies and the European industrial innovation, and on the capabilities and future application of the exploration system.

Who should participate?

The UNEXMIN final conference will give a unique opportunity for stakeholders to discuss the UNEXMIN project’s main fields of work: raw materials exploration, mining, robotics, ICT development and others. Therefore, this event is particularly relevant to EU policy makers, academics, mineral exploration and exploitation companies, cave exploration companies, SMEs focussing on geological consultancy and minerals surveying, and robotics and ICT experts from private and public institutions.

Venue

Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences
Vautierstreet, 29 I 1000 Brussels I Belgium

More information and registration

Registration will open by 29 April 2019.
To pre-register, send an email to /">.

UNEXMIN has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 690008. 

UNEXMIN next stop: Urgeiriça mine, Portugal

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The UNEXMIN technical teams are on their way to Portugal in preparation of the third set of field trials linked to the project. This is set to happen between the months of March and April in the Urgeiriça uranium mine, Portugal. The novelty of this trial will be the presence of two UX-1 robots to explore and map the flooded part of the mine.

After the first two UNEXMIN field trials, at the Kaatiala mine and at the Idrija mine, it is once again time for the robotic and instrumentation developers to go to the field for one more trial. The third elected place to explore is a closed flooded mine in the centre of Portugal, the Urgeiriça uranium mine, once a very important source of radium and uranium. Here, the team will aim at exploring and mapping the three main shafts and tunnels, representing a more difficult environment to navigate and map when compared to its test site predecessors. Difficulty in operations will be characterised by the presence of two UX-1 robots operating within the waters of the mine: UX-1a and UX-1b.

The next robot UX-1b – from a final platform of 3 working prototypes – is currently being assembled and pre-tested in Porto at INESC TEC’s testing pool. Having two robots within the exploration and mapping platform gives security of operations, while at the same time, distributing the scientific payload through the surveyors, which translates into reduced size, weight and power demands of the individual UX-1 robots: one of the major benefits (and demands!) of the UNEXMIN robotic platform.

Follow @UNEXMIN on our social media channels to keep up with the most recent news on the Urgeiriça field trials: Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

UNEXMIN present in the IROS 2018 robotics conference

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IROS 2018, the International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems – one of the major robotics conferences in the world -, is happening this week in Madrid, Spain. The UNEXMIN project was part of it with some presentations and talks about the project.

From the UNEXMIN project, robotics developer teams (UPM, INESC TEC and TUT) were present in the IROS 2018 conference to showcase their work on the UNEXMIN project, specifically in the development of the UX-1 robot. Focus was on the autonomy, control and movement aspects of the technology.

These UNEXMIN-related presentations, talks and discussions were part of a special session entitled “Raw Materials, Tough Robots”, that aimed at bringing together discussions on the use and development of robotics designed for raw materials exploration and extraction.

List of presentations related to the UNEXMIN project:

  • Mechanical Subsystems Integration and Structural Analysis for the Autonomous Underwater Explorer
  • UX 1 System Design – a Robotic System for Underwater Mining Exploration
  • Design, Modeling and Control of a Spherical Autonomous Underwater Vehicle for Mine Exploration

The UNEXMIN project is currently developing a multi-platform robotic system, after having produced and tested the  capabilities of the first UX-1 robot in two flooded mine sites in Europe.

UNEXMIN - Poster in international event in Brussels

UNEXMIN present in Brussels international event

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UNEXMIN project coordinator Norbert Zajzon has been in Brussels during the event ‘Exchange of best practices on mining policies and technologies: challenges in the current state of the global economy’, on the 28th and 29th of June. This event was a follow-up of the ‘EU-Advanced mining countries Raw Materials Diplomacy Dialogue‘. In addition to attendees from EU member-states, other countries attended, including South Africa, Australia, Canada, USA, Mexico, Peru, Brazil and Chile.

The main topics addressed and discussed during this international event were mainly about the challenges for the mining sector given the current global economy and commodity prices, mining waste-management, and ongoing EU actions on international co-operation on raw materials.

Norbert Zajzon, UNEXMIN project coordinator, presenting the poster in Brussels

Norbert Zajzon, UNEXMIN project coordinator, presenting in Brussels

The UNEXMIN team were invited to present a poster at this international event – and we gladly did: it was a perfect way to make UNEXMIN project noticeable amidst stakeholders. According to Norbert Zajzon ‘everyone was impressed by the poster and the brochures, there were good discussions, and many curious people who wanted to get more information on the project.’ So this was a great opportunity to show this recent and ambitious EU-funded project. UNEXMIN even garnered interest from international institutions present at the event, including the Mining Association of Canada and the Mexican Geological Survey, who asked to be kept informed on the project’s development and who will, from now on, follow-up closely.

UNEXMIN is growing and more and more people are becoming aware of the new technology trend that is being developed!

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