Robotics Company Autonomous Solutions, Inc. is growing into the future.

• Author: Biton, Adva
• Position: Around Utah

Mendon -- Two years ago, Kennecott Utah Copper Company/Rio Tinto experienced the largest landslide in mining history at the Brigham Canyon Mine. The company had previously evacuated all personnel from the mine, making sure there were no casualties or injuries--but someone was going to have to help clear out the mess left after one side of the open pit mine collapsed and almost 165 tons of material covered equipment at the bottom of the mine.

Enter AUTONOMOUS SOLUTIONS, INC., a robotics company based in Cache Valley that centers on automating ground vehicles. Put simply, the company works to turn any vehicle driven by a human into a vehicle driven by robots.

With the help of Autonomous Solutions, that "someone" who needed to clear out the landslide became "no one" for the most unstable parts of the slide area.

Autonomous Solutions developed a remote control solution for the cleanup. From a safe distance, Kennecott employees were able to see the vehicles and manipulate their motions with a joystick as they worked on the most dangerous areas of the pit. That way, according to Matt Nielsen, marketing manager for Autonomous Solutions, Kennecott had no need to put an employee in a dangerous situation, where the ground would be unsafe.

For Autonomous Solutions, safety and accuracy are paramount. Why put a human in a situation where a vehicle can be driven remotely--or even by itself, with the push of a button? The company works with mining, farming, automotive, military and research companies on six continents to do just that--save humans from dangerous work while still providing excellent data and high...