Center for Applied Research & Technology (CART)
at BSC Hosts Meeting Engineers from DBT

( Bluefield)—Representatives from one of the world’s leading suppliers for underground mining applications visited Bluefield State College recently, exploring opportunities for collaborating with the Center for Applied Research & Technology (CART) at BSC. DBT engineers and administrators were particularly interested in CART’s robotics research applications in underground mining.

“DBT America is part of the DBT group which is one the world’s largest single-source equipment suppliers for all underground mining applications,” noted CART Director Bruce Mutter. “The meeting provided the basis for CART researchers, as well as BSC students and faculty, to demonstrate the capabilities of the autonomous robotic vehicles we have developed, along with other related unmanned systems research, that possess highly relevant applications for the mining industry.”

BSC student teams have won several world championships at recent Intelligent Ground Vehicle Competitions, and a CART team comprised of BSC students, faculty, and partners advanced through six rounds of qualification during the 2005 Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Grand Challenge. “Everyone involved in CART—the students, research leaders, faculty, and those collaborating with us—has a grass roots appreciation for the importance of mining and 2 members of this team now work at DBT Pulaski,” Mutter added. “The DBT Group is headquartered in Germany with locations throughout the world, including regional operations in Pulaski, VA and Peari sburg, VA. Their representatives and ours share a common focus—developing and applying innovative technologies that strengthen the mining industry.”

DBT supplies a full range of mining equipment, ranging from continuous miners to battery-driven scoops, haulers, and roof bolters to longwall mining systems and bulk material handling solutions. DBT has subsidiaries in all major coal-producing countries.