I spoke with some robotics engineers based in Brisbane, Australia who work on the machines that load bulk carriers (ships that carry coal, iron ore, grain etc.)
Though essentially just a conveyor belt, these things are simply enormous, as are the chains of operations that bring trains of ore and empty ships to port.
The largest of these is a coal loader that, through which one percent of the nation's GDP is flowing.
When it breaks down the pressure to get it going is intense.
It also gives some insight into why as bushfires rage across the country fuelled by the highest ever recorded temperatures, it's somehow controversial to discuss climate change.
It does look simple, but I spent many years in the bulk materials handling industry and there are also rail receival stations, electromagnets to remove contaminants, belt weighing equipment (real time volume calculation), samplers, surge bins (with vibratory hoppers under them), stackers, reclaimers, yard machine anti-collision systems, stockpile impact detection systems and a vast array of PLCs, front end processors, and application-level logic to manage it all.
> When it breaks down the pressure to get it going is intense.
Yeah. When you get calls at 2 am as lightning struck a microwave which stopped a network connect which stopped a database replication which stopped a stockpile calculation which caused a yard machine boom collision you really know how much fun it is.
On the bright side this industry is safety obsessed and quality engineering focused, so cutting corners is neither expected nor tolerated.
> It also gives some insight into why as bushfires rage across the country fuelled by the highest ever recorded temperatures, it's somehow controversial to discuss climate change.
Agreed. Although there are plenty of other factors which can improve bushfire outcomes as illustrated by the national Bushfire Cooperative Research Centre (of which most national fire agencies are members) research: https://www.bnhcrc.com.au/utilisation/overview.
Though essentially just a conveyor belt, these things are simply enormous, as are the chains of operations that bring trains of ore and empty ships to port.
The largest of these is a coal loader that, through which one percent of the nation's GDP is flowing.
When it breaks down the pressure to get it going is intense.
It also gives some insight into why as bushfires rage across the country fuelled by the highest ever recorded temperatures, it's somehow controversial to discuss climate change.
https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/89683/heat-wave-bre...