ROCK TOOLS
In broad terms, Robit Sense Systems seek to
add ever deeper levels of understanding and
optimisation to the drilling process through
digitalisation
“Even as industry norms vary vastly on a
global scale, the advantages of hole deviation
measurement are widely recognised. Some
countries are further on than others in
institutionalising this, for example, in Sweden
hole deviation measurement is compulsory for a
minimum of the first row in a blast pattern.
Beyond the obvious safety gains in ensuring
predictable blasting by reducing the risk of flying
rocks, the process related efficiency and cost
benefits are significant. Optimising blasting is more
efficient and the overall costs lower than fixing the
problems down the chain in secondary breaking
and crushing. Drilling then is a main determinant of
a good blast, and hole deviation an integral part of
blast design. Costs can essentially be cut in fuel
consumption, explosives, and transportation, but
also in streamlining the overall process as
measuring can be integrated into the drilling
process with the S Sense system.”
Robit says that the strength of Sense Systems
is not only derived from the above mentioned
sources. “Both the M and the S are operated on a
rugged tablet computer running an easy-to-use
graphical interface software. The deviation
information is immediately available on the
tablet, but when a sim-card is inserted or the
device is hooked to Wi-Fi, the data is also readily
available in a cloud service. For the S Sense this
means that a central office can follow the
development of the drill pattern as it is drilled
and start planning the blast accordingly. The
cloud service is also a central location for all the
drilling data, patterns and worksites and can be
accessed by multiple people anywhere in the
world.”
As customer companies are starting to use
Sense, the system and process linkages must be
carefully planned, says Robit. “From a
cooperation point of view it is more demanding
than b