Epiroc has launched the revolutionary Common Automation Panel (CAP) for the SmartROC DTH surface drill rig along with its autonomous Pit Viper range. CAP enables a transformation in remote control centres, with improved ergonomics and a platform approach to run mixed fleet operations from a single station. Epiroc says the Common Automation Panel is designed for an innovative evolution of the control room. “CAP has been created for the modern mine remote operation centre. This innovative product will help our customers to streamline the value chain of their surface drilling operations – and create a safer and more productive environment,” says Christopher Blignaut, Automation Manager at Epiroc Surface division.
CAP creates opportunities for complete transformation, including improving the layout in the control room, the way operators are trained and work, and reduced variability and spare parts costs. “The CAP station will bring value to the daily mining operations that focus on technology and automation – through direct opportunities to increase utilisation of the fleet and reducing operating costs. Operation through CAP can also prolong the effective life of the equipment by ensuring that equipment operates within optimal design parameters. This results in lowering maintenance costs overall,” says Blignaut.
The Common Automation Panel has a new design approach, which was developed in collaboration with close partners. It includes a 12″ touchscreen display and joystick configuration for different machine types, which is an important benefit when it comes to mixed fleet operations with the Pit Viper and SmartROC DTH drill rigs as well as training for new operators. For operators, this means easier adaptation between machines and more flexibility to run the fleet. The product was also designed with improved ergonomics in mind, to allow the panel to be situated comfortably in multiple positions.
The Common Automation Panel also offers a new safety system to further reduce the office footprint and increase the total number of machines that can connect into a control room in a single system. This is important for situational awareness during remote operations and will reduce maintenance and operating costs for larger fleets.
CAP will enable more consistent and predictable operations and a lower overall cost of ownership. In the long run, this will have a positive effect on decarbonisation as well as enhancing the health and wellbeing of the operators. “We see increased environmental, social, and governance (ESG) demands, tighter demands on health and safety, and the need to integrate groundbreaking digitalised solutions that boost productivity in the mining environment. CAP answers these demands directly,” says Blignaut.
To talk about the step change that CAP brings and to get more in-depth on the technology, IM caught up with Mayya Popova, Product Owner Automation, Surface division at Epiroc
Has this unified automation panel – CAP – been in the planning for some time in tune with major mines now opting to have automated surface crawler drill rigs crawler boom drills as well as large Pit Vipers?
Yes, it has been part of the automation development strategy and roadmap for the Surface division for a while. We look at it from the point of view of how we can make operations more streamlined for our customers. They want to minimise footprint in their control centres as well as reduce the differences between drill solution offerings from an operational point of view – and of course simplify control for drill operators and supervisors and helping to make their decisions quicker and easier. Customers also appreciate more commonality in terms of how the systems are designed and how they function both in the pit itself and where the pit is controlled and monitored from. CAP in many ways just part of the overall operations puzzle where the aim is for ever greater efficiency and transparency.
Mayya Popova, Product Owner Automation, Surface division at Epiroc
Where does CAP sit with Mobius for Drills that you have developed together with ASI Mining? Do you have to have Mobius for Drills to have CAP?
Mobius for Drills acts like a hub for all the mine’s drilling operations – with Mobius for Drills also enabling increased connectivity potential between autonomous drills and other wider fleet autonomous applications like Mobius for Haulage. Mobius for Drills supported both autonomous and non-autonomous drills in terms of planning, creating the drill patterns, control systems, fleet situational awareness, taking decisions on where drill assets should be deployed etc – and the ability to create dashboards summarising large amounts of drill performance data. On your last question, CAP and Mobius for Drills are not interdependent but we strongly recommend that if you go for the CAP station, then Mobius for Drills is highly complementary in terms of bringing another level of transparency to your operations.
Previous autonomous control stations looked like copies of the drill cab with similar controls, joysticks etc to allow for manual intervention with tramming, for example. As CAP unifies control and monitoring of different drill types, how has this been achieved to allow for different designs?
We can look at this from two perspectives. First we wanted to develop an operator station that could cover multiple machine types and even within the machine type, multiple models. Obviously it meant unifying the controls in some way so that it is possible to move from one machine type to another using the same panel. This applies to both autonomous drill operations but also tele-remote where the operator is controlling the machine for longer periods of time. Secondly, there is a transition with CAP from continually needing to sit at the station to more of an overview and supervisory role – that is why we often refer to supervisors today rather than operators. Intervention is only when needed – such as when the autonomous system requires attention. With CAP, on the same station, you just choose the machine you need to interact with. We did a lot of work on joystick and button mapping. The challenge was looking at what we had before and translate those functions into the new design. The CAP has only two joysticks plus an e-stop and a fire suppression button, which we have committed to have as physical buttons as they are crucial in terms of unplanned situations, for example. All other functions, buttons or levers have been brought into the touchscreen and remapped with the joysticks depending on which operational mode the CAP is in. It took a lot of work but we have made it possible to easily switch between a Pit Viper and SmartROC DTH drill. But we have kept all the major functions in the same place, for example engine on/off. This minimises navigation between screens.
Does the CAP therefore adapt automatically to the new drill model with all its functions and the appropriate responses when the operator makes the switch?
Part of the beauty and complexity of the CAP is its software architecture. The system knows when you choose the SmartROC drill rig, which software version it is running on and therefore what functions it needs to bring into the user monitor and to the joysticks themselves. The operator isn’t aware of any of this, they just choose the machine that they need to operate.
Was CAP development driven by the knowledge the autonomous SmartROC D65 was coming and that space is at a premium in operations centres? Does it also minimise training needs and time?
Initial discussions were at least five years ago. It wasn’t just requests from mining houses about having a common station, though we did have those – it was more through discussions with them about the pain points in their operations as well as our own control room observations. The space issue is not just about having multiple drill stations without CAP – it is also that you need to have a server rack next to each station table. Then as you say there are inefficiencies in terms of the training and even the spare parts that they need to keep in stock. CAP reinforces the existing values with teleremote and autonomous operations and brings the new ones that we could not achieve before
Are the first CAP users the major mines that are already using autonomous Pit Vipers and are now phasing in autonomous SmartROC D65s as well? And will CAP be the recommended station for all Epiroc autonomous drills going forward as it brings more flexibility in the future?
We think it is applicable across several segments. The obvious one as you say is the Tier 1 miners who already have autonomous Pit Viper rigs and often have off-site control rooms. They may be adding SmartROC D65 rigs or may already have them for pre-splitting work for example, so for them it makes absolute sense. But we also see potential among the bigger drilling contractors. Where they have access to the mine network and digital infrastructure and where there is a longer term contract in place – CAP can be a serious option for them as well, for both tele-remote and autonomous operations. Also you can have mid-sized mines and big quarries that might be using SmartROC D65 rigs as their primary drilling fleet for which CAP is useful. You don’t have to have a mixed fleet for CAP to make sense – it brings its own value. A good example can be when a new Rig Control Software is released. CAP allows to update the drill rigs individually and gradually introduce the new functions without a need to stop the entire fleet for this. For Epiroc, CAP brings a lot of opportunity as it allows us to develop and add more models going forward,. It also makes it easier for us to add new functions – CAP is designed in such a way that we can add a digital ‘button’ on screen without having to change anything on the physical panel.
What is the baseline for a drill being able to be hosted on CAP – is there a minimum age and minimum RCS version it has to have? Is CAP retrofittable to drills already in use if they meet these requirements?
Because it is based on the latest technology, yes there are some pre-requisites. There are a number of mechanical and automation options that the drill rig should have, eg TeleREMOTE Machine kit. For SmartROC at the moment that covers DTH models only. For the SmartROC D65 it has to be the MKII generation. And then yes, the drill has to have the RCS 6.26 software version at minimum installed. For Pit Viper drills it has to be the RCS 5 platform. It also requires the software configuration to support compatible operations with CAP. The system is retrofittable if the drill has these attributes. And we are ready to support our sales organisations of defining what is needed in every individual case, for instance, in the autonomous Pit Viper case you could potentially need an upgrade the drill from RCS 4 to RCS 5 to allow for CAP compatibility. So yes, to a certain extent CAP is backward compatible.
Does CAP bring you an additional OEM advantage over third party tech providers that independently automate drills in that they will not be able to bring to the customer what CAP brings?
CAP is only part of the bigger picture and when we look at this from the perspective of using Mobius for Drills in conjunction with CAP, we have the potential to integrate data and control layers across multiple platforms. This will give the customer new capabilities in terms of autonomous ‘missions’ including the wider mining fleet that others might not be able to offer in the same way.
