The Interdependence of Scientific Knowledge and Local Experience

Both mining itself and miner training have distanced miners from direct sensory informatitm in the mines. Robotic devices, for example, can already perform routine, hierarchical prtKedures at a higher standard of efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and safety than humans. Ultimately, robotic devices will replace most of the routine tasks of mining currently performed by miners underground. At the same time, federally mandated surface training programs have replaced traditional apprenticeships under the careful supervision of experienced miners. 

Both of these trends might thus suggest that pit sense—like picks and shovels—belongs to a former era when miners were more directly exposed to conditions of risk in the mines. As researchers at the Bureau of Mines suggest, l K)wever, humans will always be needed in situations of profound risk because of the variable conditions and changing flow of sensory information about the environment. 

To develop a robotic roof-bolting machine that imitates the human being s ability to record and analyze sensory data from the immediate material 

To imitate the human miner, robotic researchers must create a smart drill that can recreate and even enhance a human s senses. Ideally, researchers project By placing monitoring instruments on the drill of a roof-bolting machine, these senses can be regained and even enhanced to collect more precise information about conditions in the immediate roof strata.  

---