Investigating Applications of Heavy-Lift Unmanned Helicopters in Oil Sands Mining

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The last few years have seen unprecedented growth in the Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) industry, Canada and worldwide. UAS technology is penetrating multiple industry sectors and holds great potential for integration in mining operations. The use of UASs can help mining companies carry out more frequent surveys and other types of inventories and provide higher-quality data, while reducing the number of dangerous and repetitive tasks, thereby improving workforce safety and offering production and administrative efficiencies. The Centre for Innovation and Research in Unmanned Systems (CIRUS) at SAIT was approached by the Heavy Oil Mining Research division of Imperial Oil to work on a project with the overall goal to integrate UAS into ongoing operations at Imperial's Kearl oil sands facility located in the Athabasca region of northern Alberta. The proposed research builds off the current work being undertaken by CIRUS at Kearl, which involves fieldwork and analysis for 3D modeling and prediction of ore deposits. The proposed NSERC-funded project has the overarching goal of working towards evaluation and integration of a long-range, heavy-lift UAS in a variety of research and operational roles at the Kearl facility. The following activities are planned for the next three years: 1) Developing techniques and acquisition strategies for large-scale LiDAR and photogrammetric data collection and BVLOS testing using a heavy capacity helicopter UAS; optimizing processing methodologies and developing innovative data and informational products from data collected; 2) Investigating the use of helicopter-mounted sensors, including a hyperspectral imager and a GPR to explore whether it is possible to advance the accuracy of ore mapping and prediction, and to monitor tailings ponds; 3) Expanding data collection and analysis to multiple activities, such as wildlife monitoring, methane detection, and monitoring of restoration efforts for wetlands and lands. Applications of UAS in the mining operations will result in greater safety and reduce the environmental impact.