IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine - September 2013 - 17

burst, and the environment is extreme,
with temperatures reaching higher than
50 °C and almost 100% humidity. This
presents significant opportunities in the
area of robotics [3]. Robotics activities
could unlock reserves that could
extend mining operations and enhance
safety and productivity. Robotics applications include remote sensing of reef
grade and hanging wall stability, autonomous ore transport, and access to
extreme depths, among others.
A number of mining houses have
robotics programs. For example, Anglo
American recently announced that they
will work with Carnegie Mellon
University on mining robotics interventions aimed at enhancing safety.
Among science councils, the
Council for Scientific and Industrial
Research (CSIR) undertakes research
and development in robotics. For example, a partnership among different CSIR
groups (involving its Centre for Mining

Innovation, Mobile Intelligent
Autonomous Systems Field Robotics
Group, and Mechatronics and Micromanufacturing Group) recently produced a prototype mine safety platform,
which is aimed at inspection of the
hanging wall (ceiling) in underground
mines to identify high-risk areas before
people are allowed to enter [5].
Automotive
Much of the robotics activity in South
Africa is currently focused on automation, particularly in the automotive
industry. Major automotive plants
exist across the country, including
Volkswagen in Port Elizabeth and
BMW in Pretoria. The potential for
and use of robotics is not only in the
plants but in supporting industries,
which also employ automation and
robotics. Although there are large
bodyshops, supporting hundreds of
robots, relatively few local companies

install and comprehensively maintain
robots, a potential area for a national
robotics strategy to address. Outside
the automotive sector, there is also
potential demand from sectors as varied as agriculture, pharmaceuticals,
and the food and beverage industry.
Human Capital
The sustainability of a robotics program depends on the people, including
the engineers, researchers, technicians,
and artisans who will make it happen.
To this end, there have already been
many human capital initiatives around
robotics. At the tertiary level, one
example of a human capital development program has been activity based
around RoboCup [6]. The DST and the
National Research Foundation (NRF)
set up a program to encourage robotics
research. In 2007, Alexander Ferrein, a
German researcher involved in robotics
research, visited South Africa at the

september 2013

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IEEE ROBOTICS & AUTOMATION MAGAZINE

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine - September 2013

IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine - September 2013 - Cover1
IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine - September 2013 - Cover2
IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine - September 2013 - 1
IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine - September 2013 - 2
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IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine - September 2013 - Cover3
IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine - September 2013 - Cover4
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