ECA to develop industrial UGV
ECA Group has been selected by Rio Tinto Aluminium (RTA) to develop an unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) for industrial heavy load transportation.
To be called MAX 2.0, the UGV will support RTA's aluminium production operations in Dunkirk, France, as part of efforts to improve production processes by increasing productivity, reducing support costs and reducing the manufacturing logistics footprint.
The UGV will be dedicated to heavy load transportation inside the smelter, particularly for the transportation of anodes.
Each UGV will have its own route plan encompassing the loading zone, the delivery area and the path. The vehicle will be able to navigate indoors and outdoors.
The company will also develop the supervision software which will manage the fleet of autonomous vehicles inside each smelter.
ECA will initially develop the UGV and deliver a number of series vehicles.
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