Detection of geological structure using gamma logs for autonomous mining

This work is motivated by the need to develop new perception and modeling capabilities to support a fully autonomous, remotely operated mine. The application differs from most existing robotics research in that it requires a detailed world model of the sub-surface geological structure. This in-ground geological information is then used to drive many of the planning and control decisions made on a mine site. This paper formulates a method for automatically detecting in-ground geological boundaries using geophysical logging sensors and a supervised learning algorithm. The algorithm uses Gaussian Processes (GPs) and a single length scale squared exponential covariance function. The approach is demonstrated on data from a producing iron-ore mine in Australia. Our results show that two separate distinctive geological boundaries can be automatically identified with an accuracy of over 99 percent. The alternative approach to automatic detection involves manual examination of these data.