澳大利亚维多利亚国家电气委员会的一位工程师首先在亚卢恩露天煤矿13号挖煤机上采用了激光器。激光器能使挖掘机在沿煤层表面移动时保持不变的挖掘深度。煤矿工人不用再象过去那样在寒冷潮湿的夜晚站着,用测高杆引导挖掘机。也不用估计挖掘机铲斗充分移动的正确高度,这项工作在夜晚是很难完成 An engineer at the Victorian National Electrical Council in Australia first used a laser on the No. 13 coal miner at the Yaluon open-pit coal mine. The laser enables the excavator to maintain a constant depth of excavation while moving along the surface of the coal seam. Coal miners no longer need to stand on cold, wet nights as they did in the past and guide the excavator with a height measuring rod. It is also not necessary to estimate the correct height of the excavator bucket to fully move, this work is difficult to complete at night