Testing in different environments

The multi-robot platform and all its components were designed, built and tested and validated in real-life conditions in four mine test sites and in one cave system, with increasingly harder conditions in mine layout, geometry, deployment and other characteristics.

The five sites used for testing the technology during the UNEXMIN project were:

  • Kaatiala Mine, Finland (June 2018)
  • Idrija Mine, Slovenia (September 2018)
  • Urgeiriça Mine, Portugal (March/April 2019)
  • Ecton Mine, UK (May 2019)
  • Molnár János cave, Hungary (June/July 2019)

After testing in 4 flooded mine sites around Europe, as was according to plan, the team decided to add a new test site in the form of an underground cave system. This enabled the team to test the robotic capabilities of UX-1 in a different environment, further proving its operability and adaptability to different sites and even broading the applications of the technology.

The Kaatiala mine represented the first real environment trial for the UX-1a robot and the UNEXMIN technology. This site was chosen due to its characteristics: open large lake with mine structures and shallow water – perfect for the first test. The consortium was able to test robotic functions and components in a simple environment, making room for modifications and improvements in software/hardware that were later applied for the tests at the Idrija mine.

Kaatiala, known for its big pegmatitic deposits, once hosted big mining quartz and feldspar operations in Europe – it all started in 1942. The main rock types of the area are gneisses and mica schists of sedimentic origin, where pegmatitic material has been intruded into the base rock. Feldspar and quartz are the essential minerals with variations of tourmaline, mica, beryl, lepidolite, amongst others.