Participants learned about equipment supplied for work in mines in Chile and Australia, for example. An interesting feature was an autonomous loader equipped with sensors that can accurately determine its location, plan a route and move even in difficult and uneven terrain. It can be used not only where great accuracy is needed, but also in dangerous and dusty environments. Complex technologies can take over heavy work in mines or, for example, unload ships with grain.
A robotic dog on wheels is designed to map rugged and risky areas. It can also be equipped with a thermal camera, a computer with artificial intelligence and can collect and evaluate samples on its own. A special robotic arm can handle the construction of barriers in a deep radioactive waste repository.
Spent nuclear fuel storage
"We are testing some of these technologies before they are put into practice, and of course a big advantage is that students will also get to work on them," Jiří Šťástka, head of the Experimental Geotechnics Center, told reporters.
The Experimental Geotechnics Center at the Czech Technical University of Civil Engineering has been operating on the site since 2007. The unique academic workplace focuses mainly on practical teaching of students and research projects. In addition, the center also organizes tours for the public.
According to Petr Konvalinka, this is a center that dozens of students visit every semester. "So over the past 19 years, there have been perhaps thousands of students who have come here to look around and who have also conducted some experiments here," Konvalinka added.