I have an idea for a 'Machine' that helps at Mining.
It is some sort of automatic Drill Robot.
The Crafting Recipe should be:
M
M = Minecart
= Lapotron
= OV Scanner
It should be some sort of 'Intelligent', which means that it scans, but it doesn't just output the results, but sort of evaluate them and then output them in the Chat. It should also be able to say how far the ores and stuff are. It should be able to detect structures by its characteristic Blocks. i.e a possible output might be:
Probe Results:
Dist. 10: Copper detected
Dist. 35: WARNING: Natural Cobblestone detected, possible Dungeon or Lava
Dist. 42: Iron Detected
Dist. 56: WARNING: Air detected, possible Surface Breakthrough or Cave
END OF REPORT
To make it not too OP it should drain like a full Lapotron each use, in which it digs 64 Blocks forward.
It WILL return and give you the mined Blocks.