A Chinese firm has made modifications to a heavy-duty mining truck to turn it into a driverless vehicle.

Aerospace Heavy Industry Co., Ltd. based in central China's Hubei Province made the changes to an electric mining truck with a payload capacity of 291 tonnes.

The transformation also includes the installation of sensors, as well as maps of the mining-operations area, including all the data necessary to allow the Internet-connected truck to operate autonomously.

The vehicle is owned by Zhunneng Group, a subsidiary of China's energy conglomerate China Energy Corporation (CHN Energy).

The unmanned truck has autonomously performed various functions, such as advancing, retreating, turning, going up and down slopes, loading and unloading, in a test area of 3.6 km.

The truck is currently operating on the 4G network, but it has been made compatible with 5G communications technology. It is expected to join the fleet of trucks at Heidaigou Open-pit Coal Mine operated by Zhunneng Group within the year.