The emergence of large autonomous engineering robots not only significantly accelerated the construction progress of the shelters, but also greatly assisted in logging, mining, and other construction work.
The prototype was just a sample machine. After assisting the workers in completing the initial construction of the Fjord Town shelter, this robot was transferred to other locations for testing, aimed at evaluating its performance in different work environments.
Meanwhile, Perfikot also handed over the robot’s design blueprints to other Alchemists, instructing them to produce new robots.
This task was quite simple. After all, everything was ready-made, and these Alchemists could easily produce the robots by following the diagrams step by step.
Thus, the coal mine authorities immediately expressed the need for such large-scale engineering robots for open-pit coal mining and transportation, as well as for the excavation and construction of underground mines.
Perfikot found this quite interesting. She recalled that she previously ordered a Langton to come to the Northern Territory to work under Professor Heiler, who was responsible for the coal mine-related work. However, Professor Heiler was mainly researching construction technology in permafrost environments, and coal mining was merely a side project.
And that was already something that happened before Perfikot returned from abroad last year.
Almost half a year has passed, and the coal mine situation is no longer as it was when Perfikot first arrived in the Northern Territory.
With Professor Heiler’s help, the deep mine pit already excavated last year provided ample coal for the Northern Territory, ensuring its normal operation even during the harshest weather, as the underground mines continued to operate, which greatly ensured the region’s winter operation.
The steam turbines invested in the coal mines early this year greatly enhanced their work efficiency, and the output further increased.
Now, this place is no longer a small-scale coal mine; it has been expanded into a medium-sized coal mine.
The coal extracted here is transported via small trains and narrow-gauge railways to Eagle’s Beak Cliff and Fjord Town to supply their consumption needs.
With the construction of settlements around Fjord Town, the coal mines here are also tasked with supplying fuel to these residential areas.
Of course, if it were only to supply the surrounding settlements, there would be no need to expand the coal mine to such a large scale.
The primary output here has another important purpose, which is to be sent to the second landing site, Beloburg, and from there transported to the Northern Territory’s capital and industrial zone currently under construction.
That’s where the major coal consumption lies.
Of course, with the construction of the industrial zone, coal consumption there is rising sharply.
So the main source of coal over there is still imported from the New Continent, as well as the ongoing search for new coal resources around Beloburg.
According to recent intelligence received by Perfikot, they have already found some scattered veins, and finding large coal resources is not far off, so Perfikot is not worried about this at all.
After all, the Northern Territory is still resource-rich, just lacking in large-scale exploration.
She has already communicated this via telegram to the Imperial Council, and the Crisis Response Committee is organizing exploration teams to come to the Northern Territory for a large-scale survey of the mineral resources.
However, limited by the Empire’s terrible administrative efficiency, Perfikot feels that directly hiring an exploration company might be quicker.
But this matter doesn’t have a significant impact, nor does it delay the Northern Territory’s development progress, so she is too lazy to urge it and allows Langton to freely carry out the tasks over there.
More than this, Perfikot is more concerned about the application of robots in coal mining.
"Count, the robots are currently mainly used in open-pit coal mining. As for underground operations, although they can go down, the mining tunnels are too narrow for these robots to fully perform," the head of the coal mine informed Perfikot of the situation.
The robots have been deployed to the coal mine, and they are paying close attention to this matter since it’s something that can effectively reduce the labor intensity of miners.
But after all, the robots are quite large, making it difficult to maximize their performance after descending into the mines.
Furthermore, the high concentration of gas in the mines makes it a very hazardous environment for robots using steam turbines, so for safety reasons, the robots dispatched to the mines are all assigned to the open-pit mining areas.
As for the underground coal mining, it’s still manually operated.
Of course, robots aren’t entirely useless for underground mining; at the very least, they can reinforce and build the mine tunnels. In this regard, they perform exceptionally well compared to manual labor.
After all, these robots are designed specifically for engineering construction purposes.
However, for Perfikot, she is still dissatisfied that the engineering robots can’t be used in underground mines.
So she asked the chief, "What is the current situation underground? What are the main problems you’re facing, and what are the obstacles for the robots working underground?"
"It’s actually all the same issue, Count," the head of the coal mine showed a wry smile, the black lines etched by years of coal work converging on his face, giving it a particularly weathered appearance, "The underground space is really too narrow, and the coal seams are very soft. We can’t dig the mine tunnels too large, as it would cause them to collapse directly.
So far, all we can do is rely on manual excavation, and most of the time, the workers can’t stand upright underground; they have to work while lying down."
Hearing this, Perfikot frowned.
Obviously, she was not satisfied with this explanation.
So, after thinking for a moment, she walked straight towards the direction of the mine shaft, "Prepare, I want to go down and take a look."
"Count! The underground is too dirty and too dangerous; you can’t go down there!" The chief hurriedly stopped her, not daring to let Perfikot go down into the mine, as it would be a disaster.
But Perfikot insisted, and evidently, the chief couldn’t stop her.
The White Bear Knights accompanying Perfikot also did not stop her at this time, seeming to believe that the chief was hiding something and instead casting distrustful glances at him.
Ultimately, the chief, left with no choice, could only have Perfikot change into the cleanest work clothes he could find, and personally led Perfikot to board the mine’s elevator, descending into the depths of the coal mine.
When Perfikot stepped out of the elevator, all she saw was darkness, with the only white things being pairs of eyes and rows of teeth. Thɪs chapter is updated by novel⦿fire.net