IM 2020 April 20 | Page 62

SURFACE DRILLING high pressure 1,160 cfm at 500 psi or low pressure 1,360 cfm at 350 psi drilling. “This gives the operator an ability to adjust with more breaking pressure for really hard rock, or alternatively for deeper drilling where more bailing air is necessary to lift out of the hole. Ultimately, this results in better performance and drilling outcomes. We have also heard great feedback from service technicians around easy accessibility with service walkways that provide unobstructed access into the house canopy where routine maintenance can be performed.” The company also said that its surface drill line has experienced an increase in business as a result from integrating into the larger Komatsu family. “This has offered us further reach into an expanded customer base, providing drilling solutions. For example, we have achieved a nice milestone with manufacturing our 50th 320XPC drill for a customer on the Iron Range. The 320XPC fleet remains the choice drill for the most difficult drilling in the hardest rock. The 320XPC success has also carried us into new markets like Brazil through Komatsu Brazil Inc’s trusted relationship. Application of the 320XPC’s proven robust structural design of mitigating vibration combined with incoming power protection compensation for potential phase loss and phase rotation, offers improved performance.” In addition to continued success with its existing products, Komatsu is also developing a new drill that will be showcased at MINExpo 2020 that continues the success demonstrated on the 77XR. Supplementing the new products, the Komatsu surface product line is being supported through investment in training and certifying drill technicians with the new technology, which includes an emphasis on hands-on or on-the-job training. Another key piece is offering competitive Komatsu Finance packages for flexible options when mines are adding new Komatsu drills to their fleets. Homing in on the 77XR, Komatsu says since the launch, it has continued to focus on technology and innovation. “One way is through designing core subsystems that improves drilling accuracy. We have heard positive operator feedback on the higher torque increase offered, enabling more efficient drilling. Additional feedback has been on vibration mitigation, where things like the mast increased torsional stiffness puts more energy into ground and not the structure, and the lower works, lower center of gravity with increased positioning, tractive effort, and turnability enable a smoother ride. We have also found that our levelling system has resulted in quicker cycles by keeping the deck close to the ground, enabling effective straight holes.” Another way the 77XR development team has continued to improve technology is through 58 International Mining | APRIL 2020 seamless integration and usage. “We have created a user interface that offers intuitive prompts for operator awareness – what went right/wrong and telling them why. The machine is set up to be an on-going lesson, continuously teaching the operator, while reducing the need to flip through many screens. Additionally, converting a sequence of procedures into one-touch button control for semi-autonomous operation aides in performance optimisation. We have also found that our supervisory control system (known as LINCS), significantly reduces complex troubleshooting. More importantly, the system logs all the data needed to optimise drilling performance. Pointing you to the fundamental source of data, pre-sorting the key indicators. Operationally, we know sites will have multiple operators running the drill, with different operational preferences. Data analytics on board and off board the drill enables ‘operator scorecards’ to identify best practices to offer tools to increase performance of the other less- experienced drillers. Examples include increasing rotational speed, or more pulldown, or setup time, or carriage speed, or too much water injection caving the hole – whatever is necessary to achieve best practices.” The 77XR has already gone to work in several different applications, the most recent of which is coal mining in Australia. This is a dynamic application where multi-pass drilling at an angle calls for speed and precision. This is also a new market for Komatsu drills, which triggers things like change management for new products with new technology. Interestingly, Komatsu says it found that users commented that the 77XR was “really easy to learn.” Things like general ergonomics, such as joystick configuration with buttons in reach, using ISO symbols, screen placement, visibility, indicators, are all things that enable operators to become quickly proficient. “That combined with new features, like the Auto Bit Changer and easy accessibility to service points like the location of the machine’s hydraulic pumps, make for a nice design layout.” Sandvik is now completing factory acceptance testing of an autonomous drill at its test quarry near Alachua. This shows monitoring of autotramming of a DR412i Overall Komatsu has also continued its research and development with drill automation as a top development project, leveraging the larger Komatsu portfolio of technology businesses and products, along with dedicated data solutions experts that are integrated into the business. “We are committed to incremental technology releases that keep us on pace for a fully autonomous drill. The team has been working together with Modular and MineWare Phoenix drill control to use lessons learned and implement advanced sensor capabilities for best-in-class solutions.” Sandvik’s SICA at the core IM spoke to Demetre Harris, Sandvik Product Manager, Automation who is overseeing the company’s development of a fully autonomous drill offering. Currently full tele-remote functionality has been completed and the project is finalising areas such as auto-tramming, path planning, auto-pipe handling and other aspects of full autonomy. Harris said that Sandvik is preparing to move its full autonomous program to Site Acceptance Testing, and that demonstrations with customers have already taken place on their test rig located on proving grounds near the Sandvik mining drills factory in Alachua, Florida. For the next stage, Sandvik has several customers who are expressing interest in completing the assessment at their operations. At the core of Sandvik’s automation solution is its Sandvik Intelligent Control System Architecture (SICA), effectively the company’s command/control platform. Unlike others on the market, SICA is being used across all automated product lines within the company including surface rotary and DTH drills to underground face drills and longhole/ITH drills. This gives it unique component to component communication and