Milrem Robotics has announced that an energy company in Estonia called Enefit used its Multiscope UGV to determine the condition of the pillars in a mine in which mining ended ten years ago.

Equipped with 3D lidars, the Multiscope UGV was used in the Estonia Mine in closed underground locations. People are no longer allowed to enter these areas being that the anchor structure used to support the ceiling is being removed following the end of mining operations.

“An unmanned vehicle is an excellent solution for conducting surveys in an area which may be unsafe or prohibited for people to enter,” says Veljo Aleksandrov, development project director at Enefit.

“The vehicle’s mission was successful – we obtained the three-dimensional images and other necessary data which are vital for building a solar power plant on top of the mine.”

For this mission, data coming from lidars and wide spectrum HDR cameras were used to pilot the UGV underground, but Milrem Robotics notes that autonomous operation can be applied in future projects.

According to Enefit, this was the first time that conditions in a closed room block were examined using this process.