Use Cases

Jevons Robotics

AARP helping to automate mining’s riskiest job. Founded in 2022, Jevons Robotics specialises in developing autonomous, battery electric wheeled vehicle solutions for the mining industry in Australia and around the world. The field robots that deliver and deploy explosives and stemming material in mining operations, removing the need for human workers to conduct this high-risk activity. Its technology integrates the latest improvements in automation, robotics, and battery technologies to handle this dangerous but essential mining task.

Jevons’ focus is on creating solutions that reduce and eliminate human exposure hours in hazardous mining environments, leading to safer and more productive operations. Using groundbreaking sensor technology, its fully driverless vehicles can precisely locate and navigate to specific blast holes while maintaining exceptional stability on rough terrain. The company’s vehicles can be controlled in different ways depending on site needs – either individually by remote operators, or as a coordinated fleet managed from a central control room. Its vehicles demonstrate exceptional capability in completing tasks on contoured, steep, and unstable terrain, making them ideal for the challenging conditions of remote mine sites

The challenge

The company was founded in response to a tragic incident in the Pilbara in September 2021, where a young worker lost their life after ground gave way on a blasting bench. This incident highlighted the severe risks faced by workers conducting high-risk activities in mining operations, particularly in situations where ground conditions are uncertain. Currently, workers must operate in wide variety of climatic conditions ranging from –30 to + 45 degree while tethered to a vehicle as a safety precaution – a constant reminder of the dangerous nature of their work.

Before accessing the AARP facility, Jevons Robotics faced significant logistical challenges in testing their 10-ton autonomous vehicle. Initial testing required travelling four hours north to a private facility, resulting in significant time losses for mobilisation. This not only reduced effective testing time to about 3.5 days per week, but also made it extremely difficult to engage specialist contractors for development work.

Developing a solution

Through engagement with the AARP team, Jevons Robotics joined the upstart program and established a control room with storage facilities at the precinct. Jevons primarily utilised Test Bed 5, where it was able to set up communications infrastructure to mirror actual mine site conditions. The facility enabled Jevons to create a comprehensive testing environment that accurately represented remote mining environments, as approved by their global customers for extended trial periods.

The team drilled approximately 30 replica blast holes to test the machine’s core functionality. This setup allowed Jevons to test and calibrate the autonomous vehicle’s ability to traverse blast patterns, automatically locate blast holes, and deploy sensors to measure depth and water content. The AARP facility provided an ideal environment for testing the systems under various real-world conditions, including heavy rain, nighttime operations, and extreme heat – all essential variables for mine site readiness. The testing strategy involved multiple phases, from initial chassis and battery-electric system validation through to full commercial-scale operations. The ability to conduct these tests in a controlled yet realistic environment was crucial for pushing out prototypes and refining first-of-its-kind products. The AARP’s proximity to Perth also meant Jevons could easily bring in specialist contractors for specific aspects of development and testing.

Results

The AARP facility proved instrumental in speeding up Jevons Robotics’ commercialisation timeline. Within less than three years of the company’s founding, it successfully moved from ideation to having its autonomous vehicle operating commercially in WA. The AARP’s proximity to Perth meant the team could achieve between 40 and 50 hours of testing per week, compared to just 24 to 28 hours weekly previously when factoring in travel time. The shift to the AARP resulted in almost doubling the available testing time and was a significant improvement in development efficiency and resource utilisation.

The AARP environment allowed Jevons to identify and resolve technical issues just 20 minutes from Perth, rather than discovering problems 1,500 kilometres away on a client’s site – a scenario that could have severely impacted the company’s reputation and client relationships. The comprehensive testing environment enabled it to validate all subsystems of its machine in conditions that perfectly replicated actual mining operations. The company was also able to host potential customers from the Middle East, Europe, and the US at the facility, providing a practical demonstration space that avoided the logistical challenges of organising mine site visits. This capability proved particularly valuable when dealing with competing mining companies, as the neutral testing ground eliminated concerns about competitors accessing each other’s operational sites. Successful testing at the AARP has positioned Jevons to scale its operations and meet growing demand from both domestic and international markets.

“The AARP is a genuine asset for Western Australia. I had a previous bias where I considered trying to get anything done through a government organisation would be difficult. It was the opposite – simple, clear, flexible, and supportive. The ease of use, how easy it was to book it, to be able to do things – it was very user-friendly. People might think about using the site and worry that because it’s a government facility, it might be too difficult. They shouldn’t think that. It was completely the opposite of what you might expect.” – Jevons Robotics Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder Todd Peate.