Robots Help ‘Smart Mines’ Drive China’s Coal Build-Out

(Bloomberg) ― Deep beneath the earth’s surface in a remote corner of northern China, a mechanical monster comes to life. Two massive discs armed with dozens of metallic teeth begin spinning against a solid wall, spraying dust and shiny black chunks of coal.

Engineer Zhang Luoxun watches it all from an airy office about 300 meters above. Cameras and sensors connected to an underground 5G network feed live images and information on everything from mine shaft stability to air quality to Zhang and his colleagues above ground.