

240k a year Rio Tinto train drivers to be replaced by robots - jmacd
http://www.smh.com.au/business/mining-and-resources/paid-like-surgeons-240k-a-year-rio-tinto-train-drivers-to-be-replaced-by-robots-20131003-2utlw.html

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ballard
If it's done on a small scale, gradually and over a long enough time, it may
be possible.

The depth of human oversight is something these articles rarely get into.

How many remote operators are there per train?

Are these operators former actual train operators or new staff?

What situations will these trains get into because of a lack of an experienced
person able to "go and see" (Genchi Genbutsu / 現地現物)? Also, what knowledge
dies after a couple generations of drivers have never manually driven a train,
and then what skill/s or sensory intuition would they not be aware of which
could have averted a future disaster? If a sensor or measurement for mething
that turned out to be crucial wasn't thought of beforehand, there won't be a
way to know something went wrong until later, when the damage may already have
been done.

