On February 23, China achieved a breakthrough in the development of intelligent mine rescue equipment. A key R&D project of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, led by Shendong Coal in cooperation with China Coal Research Institute, successfully developed China’s first emergency rescue exoskeleton robot system suitable for complex mine environments. At present, it has been delivered to Shendong and entered the industrial testing phase at Shendong, marking a crucial step forward in intelligent “human-machine collaboration” for mine rescue in China.
To address the pain points in current mine rescue, including insufficient intelligence and limited individual capabilities, the project team adopted an innovative “rigid-flexible coupling” structure. It integrated upper and lower limb exoskeleton modules and was equipped with an embedded multi-source sensing system and an AI controller, achieving efficient human-machine collaborative operation.
The robot offers a battery life of over six hours, a motion recognition accuracy exceeding 95% and a maximum carrying and dragging capacity of 80 kilograms. In addition, it can effectively reduce human metabolic consumption by about 20%, significantly enhancing the sustained operational capability of rescue personnel.
At present, the equipment has completed three rounds of practical training at Shendong Team, demonstrating excellent adaptability, stability and assistance effect in complex underground environments. The team has applied for three invention patents and four utility model patents, registered five software copyrights and published two high-level academic papers.
The achievement can not only enhance emergency rescue efficiency in mine accidents, but also be widely used in high-intensity operation such as underground material handling and equipment installation. It holds significant value in advancing intelligent transition, reducing labor intensity and preventing operational risks. Furthermore, it provides key technical support for building a safety technology and equipment system tailored to the energy industry, injecting new innovative impetus into the modernization of mine safety emergency rescue capacity in China.
