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

在过去的几年里，无人驾驶航空系统(UAS)行业在加拿大和世界范围内取得了前所未有的增长。UAS技术正在渗透到多个行业领域，并在采矿作业中拥有巨大的整合潜力。UAS的使用可以帮助矿业公司进行更频繁的调查和其他类型的库存，并提供更高质量的数据，同时减少危险和重复性任务的数量，从而改善劳动力安全，提高生产和管理效率。帝国石油公司的重油采矿研究部门与萨伊特的无人驾驶系统创新和研究中心(Cirus)接洽，以开展一个项目，总体目标是将无人机整合到帝国石油公司位于阿尔伯塔省北部阿萨巴斯卡地区的Kearl油砂设施的持续运营中。这项拟议的研究建立在Cirus在Kearl进行的目前工作的基础上，该工作涉及为矿床的3D建模和预测进行野外工作和分析。拟议的NSERC资助的项目的总体目标是努力评估和整合远程、重型无人机在Kearl设施的各种研究和运营角色中的作用。未来三年计划开展的活动如下：1)开发大规模激光雷达和摄影测量数据收集和获取战略，利用重型直升机无人驾驶飞机进行BVLOS测试；优化处理方法，根据收集的数据开发创新的数据和信息产品；2)调查直升机上安装的传感器的使用情况，包括高光谱成像仪和探地雷达，探讨是否有可能提高矿藏测绘和预测的准确性，并监测尾矿库；3)将数据收集和分析扩大到多种活动，如野生动物监测、甲烷检测以及监测湿地和湿地的恢复工作。UAS在矿山作业中的应用将带来更大的安全性，减少对环境的影响。

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.