SURFACE DRILLING
Solutions Claude Aboujaoude started his career right out of university with Aquila Mining Systems which developed the Aquila Monitoring System for drills which had global navigation positioning. It was one of the earliest GPS-based devices that was used in the mining industry back in the early 1990s. The progress of this product attracted Caterpillar, which acquired a controlling stake in Aquila in 1996. He left Caterpillar in 2023 and came to FLANDERS but was deeply involved in the development of Cat’ s autonomous drill system.
A modernisation path for electric drills
FLANDERS has mining customers looking for cost-effective and sustainable solutions to extend the life of their electric drill fleet assets. The FLANDERS FREEDOM Control System, available today, provides a proven modernisation path for drives and controls, including updated PLCs. It allows mining operations to eliminate control system obsolescence, enhance productivity and ensure long-term supportability.
Labuschagne:“ With the FREEDOM system, customers get improved drill availability and reliability by replacing outdated components. Customers also benefit from reduced maintenance costs with a serviceable, futureproof system. Enhanced operator efficiency and safety are provided through improved interfaces and ergonomic controls. The modernised drills are automation ready, ensuring a clear transition to ARDVARC-assisted and fully autonomous operations.”
FLANDERS has had an autonomous solution for electric drills operating for more than five years. This solution includes trail cable handling with an advanced cable reel solution and being able to turn the electric drill around and come back the other way. As a specialist electrical and
The latest ARDVARC technology allows more autonomous drills to be monitored with one controller design engineering company, it also has some customers that are asking it to replace the diesel engine on their drills with an electric motor which are also within its capabilities and offering.
ARDVARC platform upgrade
FLANDERS was the first to market with OEM agnostic autonomous drill solutions in 2009, and since then it has continuously updated and improved the system as technology has matured. Its current technology, both hardware and software, is far superior to that shipped even a few years ago. Its continuous improvement process, implementing enhancements learned on prior builds, created various vintages of ARDVARC. FLANDERS is launching a drill autonomy platform upgrade campaign which will be rolled out broadly in August.
The platform upgrades enable mines with fleets of mixed vintage autonomous drills to operate on a single standard platform thanks to system and software upgrades. Labuschagne:“ The platform upgrade allows our clients to leverage the latest technology advancements they have on their new machines, on their existing machines. We enable customers to take advantage of the most current technology avoiding obsolescence due to older hardware and software. When we designed the platform upgrade we focused on standard components and spare parts, a unified approach with common training and maintenance.”
The next generation hardware upgrades will enable older machines, some dating back more than a decade, to take advantage of the new 3D cameras and new, advanced software applications.
Labuschagne:“ We have also developed intelligent drilling, which is quite an advanced drilling algorithm which was developed for a customer that has very challenging ground conditions enabling ARDVARC to keep drilling through these specific challenging conditions. Other features like intelligent propel, with auto path planning, and HazTechNext, our next generation object detection product, are also supported. We are helping our customers take advantage of the latest technology and to maximise their economic returns.”
With the new platform upgrade, users also get advances in intelligent drilling thanks to new algorithms that are more responsive and dynamically adapt to challenging ground conditions. Chmiel:“ Our system already permits a single drill operator to supervise multiple machines via a single command centre.
Customers typically arrange their work so that they operate five to six drills per command centre or operator. As the number of interventions decrease as the drill becomes more intelligent, the number of drills per command centre is in effect unlimited. In the earliest versions we were hindered by the available technology like vision systems related to object detection.”
He adds:“ Back in 2013 / 2014 technology like radar and LiDAR had certain limitations based on the available technology plus they were very expensive. Now in 2025, we’ ve got newer, better versions of this technology available that are also more cost effective. We’ re selling these solutions directly, not through dealers – this also makes it much easier to work with our customers on the change management process.”
Plus new operations support programs
Another focus area for FLANDERS is the formalisation of its Operations Support offering where its teams help the customer not just in terms of automating iron but also taking them along the autonomy journey, providing hands-on support to streamline the drilling processes. Chmiel:“ Our Operations Support offering will leverage FLANDERS’ OEM agnostic expertise and proven strategies to optimise peak performance, deliver data driven results, and sustain long term gains. Our proven strategy has delivered over 40 % increases in drilling efficiency, reduced downtime, and optimised consumable management. With our expertise in automation and optimisation, we are the ideal team to transition the customer from implementation to fully optimised autonomous operations.”
Labuschagne:“ Introducing automation can be quite a steep learning curve if not properly executed. We have developed an Operational Readiness program that starts with the customers from day one on how to prepare their processes and people to adapt to autonomous operations. Our program includes the technology, training, and designing your infrastructure around autonomy, including connectivity of the on-site networks, so we leave nothing to chance. This operational readiness program ensures that the learning curve is as smooth and flat as possible.”
FLANDERS tailors its Operations Support programs to the specific customer needs, and another program it has employed is its Autonomy Assessment. FLANDERS works with the client to evaluate the automation potential for a specific site, and help identify any technology or infrastructure gaps to ensure a smooth rollout of autonomy.
Aboujaoude adds:“ Working together with our customer, we can develop a roadmap for autonomous deployment specific to their needs, this may mean starting with high precision drill drilling, then moving on to the navigation system and in time a fully autonomous system, or for a different operation, straight to fully autonomous right from the start, this depends on the customer. We can help benchmark the expected
APRIL 2025 | International Mining