Tag Archives: CR Digital

Strayos and CR Digital look to enhance blast optimisation process with product integration

Mining equipment, Mining services, Mining software, , , , , , ,

Strayos and CR Digital have announced a new integration project that will see CR Digital’s Thunderbird 1110 drill optimisation system combined with Strayos blast design and optimisation tools.

This integration will allow mines to leverage the “as drilled” StrataSense measure-while-drilling (MWD) sensor data from Thunderbird 1110 within the Strayos blast design platform to tailor explosives to local rock conditions to achieve improved fragmentation at reduced costs, according to the companies.

CR Digital’s Thunderbird 1110 is an OEM-agnostic drill guidance and strata measurement system that can be installed on a wide range of production drill rigs. It assists operators in the cab and captures rich MWD data at every 100 mm interval down the borehole. These parameters can be used to infer geological characteristics such as rock hardness using trained algorithms.

Strayos is a mining artificial intelligence platform with a suite of drill and blast design tools. Users can create optimised pattern layouts and charging designs based on drone survey data. The platform automatically assesses blast fragmentation and heave performance from post blast surveys, and then uses artificial intelligence to learn how to improve future blasts, Strayos says.

The integration between Thunderbird 1110 via CR Digital’s Orion Data API and the Strayos platform will provide powerful geo-contextual information to enhance the blast optimisation process for joint customers of both companies, they said. Connecting the granular information on borehole rock properties with the shot design and performance will allow mines to determine exactly which explosives work best in which conditions. This enables explosive energy to be properly matched with rock conditions at each depth interval within the hole, ensuring optimal fragmentation in hard zones and preventing over blasting in soft zones.

In addition, operations using the Stayos blast design tools will now be able to issue the drill patterns directly to the Thunderbird 1110 drill optimisation system, so drill rig operators have the very latest drill hole geometry available on-board, ready for accurate drilling using the Thunderbird 1110 onboard user interface and guidance.

The integrations will be available to mines, quarries, and drilling/blasting service providers across all regions in the June quarter of this year.

CR Digital plans Titan 3330 virtual simulator mine site roadshow

Mining equipment, Mining events, Mining safety, Mining services, Mining software, , , , , , , ,

CR Digital has built a virtual simulator to, it says, bring the Titan 3330 Load Haul Optimization System out to the mine site.

Players can experience Titan 3330 as if they’re the operators of a backhoe excavator, trying to hit target payloads and getting real-time feedback on their accuracy.

The experience is as realistic as possible, and players can test their skills under different weather conditions or at night, according to the company. Ground engaging tools can even fall off while operating, with players notified by GET Trakka to stop and find the component.

Unveiled at MINExpo 2021, in September, the simulator allows visitors to control an excavator using two joysticks and a large monitor, along with a real Titan 3330 screen to monitor their digging in real time.

CR’s Global Marketing Manager, Chris Mayo, said: “We had players at MINExpo who operate excavators every day, and the feedback from them was that it’s very realistic. For anyone without operator experience, it’s a fun challenge to learn the controls and start getting closer to target payloads.”

For an added challenge, players competed for the highest score based on two measures:

  • Productivity: how many tonnes were moved and how closely trucks were loaded to target payload – as scored by CR’s Orion Data Analytics; and
  • Safety: safely operating the excavator by avoiding collisions with dump trucks.

Looking forward, CR will look to bring the Titan 3330 simulator out to mine sites and directly to customers so players can continue to experience the accuracy of Titan 3330’s payload monitoring for themselves.

“Once customers see for themselves how Titan 3330 helps operators improve payloads in real time, we think there’s going to be a lot of excitement for the system, particularly as we grow our presence in North America,” Mayo said.

CR Digital bring AI to its Titan 3330 load haul payload management system

IoT, Mining equipment, Mining events, Mining services, Mining software, , , , , ,

CR Digital has unveiled its most advanced real-time payload monitoring system, with the upgraded Titan 3330 solution, now powered by artificial intelligence.

Guided by 2.5 billion tonnes of in-field experience, every new capability was developed to help operators load trucks more accurately, increase average payload per truck and reduce maintenance events caused by overloads, the company says.

The new AI-powered system continually improves its ability to identify a productive load, learning and optimising further with each bucket, according to the company.

Kevin Greenwood, Head of Product Strategy at CR Digital, says the upgraded Titan 3330 system is the result of years of work and represents a huge breakthrough in CR Digital’s product offerings.

“Our artificial intelligence is now able to determine when a machine is digging versus gardening with increased accuracy,” he said. “Even better: Titan 3330’s ability to identify productive digging will only increase over time. More accurate data leads to better decision making for our customers, and ultimately improved productivity.”

Titan 3330 now also comes with new Truck.Trakka technology, which quickly and accurately identifies a customer’s haul truck fleet, so target payloads are adjusted and optimised by individual vehicle.

“To fully optimise the payload cycle, we need to understand the capacity of each truck in the fleet,” Greenwood said. “Our Truck.Trakka technology can accurately identify which individual truck is being loaded at any time, so Titan 3330 can understand what a productive load is and adjust the target payload accordingly.”

CR Digital partnered with operators to develop an evolved user experience that’s more intuitive than ever, it said. This means operators can access and interpret critical information more readily, enabling more focus on digging efficiently.
The architecture of Titan 3330 has been similarly upgraded.

Continuing CR Digital’s commitment to technological advancement, the new software platform is built to grow with its customers; increasing functionality, insights, supportability and availability, CR Digital says.

Greenwood added: “Our new software architecture puts us in a position to be able to deliver future upgrades more easily and faster, with minimised downtime for our customers. These kinds of behind-the-scenes improvements aren’t obvious to our customers but result in software that simply works.”

An open-source API means more real-time data and better data-driven decisions, according to the company.

“With Titan 3330 now supporting the most comprehensive range of machines yet, across both surface and underground mining, your mine site’s load haul data can be consolidated into one cloud-hosted location,” CR Digital said. “Titan 3330 supports any make and model of face shovel, backhoe, wheel loader and underground LHD machines.

“You won’t drown in data, however, as CR Digital’s intelligent Orion Data Analytics solution empowers you to see the big picture and translate data into action.”

Titan 3330 comes with market-leading hardware built to withstand the harshest conditions of mining, while hard anodised aluminium construction (IP67-rated) provides total protection from dust, high pressure water, extreme temperatures, shocks and vibrations, the company said.

CR Digital extends Titan 3330 load and haul optimisation system to wheel loaders

IoT, Mining equipment, Mining services, Mining software, , , , ,

CR Digital is bringing its Titan 3330 Load Haul Optimisation system for hydraulic excavators and shovels to the wheel loader market.

The Titan 3330 for Wheel Loaders range extension expands the benefits of increased productivity capabilities across a new class of loading machines, the company said.

Built on close to 1,500 Mt of in-field experience and 150-plus deployments, the Titan 3330 Load Haul Optimisation system enhances productivity in mining operations, CR Digital says. By providing truck payload measurements in real time, the Titan 3330 system enables excavator and now wheel loader operators to load trucks more accurately, increasing the average payload per truck without increasing major overloads. Titan 3330 provides optimal circuit efficiency for a mine site’s load haul fleet, the company said.

General Manager at CR Digital, Damian Assaillit, says the range extension was developed through an agile software development methodology, incorporating customer input throughout the product development journey.

Assaillit said: “At CR Digital, we ensure the products we develop provide the highest value to our customers, and so close collaboration in the development process is integral to the way we work. With continual feedback and in-field experience, CR Digital is able to engineer increasingly sophisticated technologies, such as the Titan 3330 for Wheel Loaders, in a manner that delivers optimal value to our customers.”

He added: “The benefits of Titan 3330 for Wheel Loaders don’t stop at increased increasing circuit efficiency and payload optimisation. The Titan 3330 has been engineered to help reduce machine damage, with in-built structural duty monitoring during dig cycles. Combined with our Orion Data Analysis software, the team can help interpret data from your operation to continually identify improvement opportunities.”

With trials of the new system already complete, CR Digital is confident of the improvement and production efficiencies produced by the new Titan 3330 for Wheel Loaders, it said.

Mining3’s ‘Top of Coal’ tech heads for commercialisation with CR Digital pact

Coal technology, Explosives and blasting, Mining services, Mining techniques, Steel and iron ore, , , , , , , , , ,

Mining3’s “Top of Coal” technology is heading for commercialisation after the company signed an agreement with CR Digital for the next phase of the innovation’s development.

The announcement comes on the back of promising new results delivered from the most recent trial in the Bowen Basin of Queensland, where the technology was tested over 12 weeks and collected downhole data from over 250-plus boreholes, the companies said.

“Accurately detecting the approaching top of a coal seam prior to blasting is fundamental to efficient coal recovery,” Mining3 and CR Digital said. “During the extraction stage, a significant percentage (up to 12%) of overall coal loss is attributable to blast damage and coal dilution, which then makes it difficult to separate the coal cleanly from the waste during both overburden excavation and coal processing. By eliminating the damage done to the top of seam, substantial increases in recovery are enabled.”

With support from ACARP, Mining3 has been developing a measurement while drilling (MWD) system that detects the top of a coal seam while routinely drilling blast holes.

During the drilling process, the detection system uses resistance measurements ahead of the drill bit to detect approaching coal in real time. This method of detecting “Top of Coal” brings significant benefits to surface mining operations, Mining3 says, including:

  • Providing a reliable indication of the approach to “Top of Coal” that will enable drilling to be stopped before touching coal or at a minimum standoff distance;
  • Increase production by reducing damage to coal from blasting; and
  • Strata recognition and mapping during routine blasthole drilling.

The system can also be retro fitted to a standard rotary air blast drill rig.

CR Digital, part of the global CR Group, is now working with Mining3 on the commercialisation of the technology, and the integration of the Top of Coal technology into its technology portfolio.

Together, CR Digital and Mining3 see potential for the technology to be an extension to the Thunderbird 1110 and StrataSense products within the CR Digital portfolio.

“Collectively, this agnostic range can be retrofitted to any rotary air blast drill rig and is intended to build on the StrataSense capability of CR Digital, to compile a three-dimensional understanding of the bench and coal seam in real time,” the companies said.

CQMS Razer targets global growth in mining engineering, tech space as it becomes CR

Equipment maintenance, IoT, Mining consumables, Mining equipment, Mining maintenance, Mining services, , , , , , , , , ,

CQMS Razer is looking to grow its mining engineering and technology footprint across the globe with a new name – CR – and direction that, it says, better aligns the company’s growing portfolio with the needs of its customers.

Already recognised across Australia’s mining industry for its surface mining solutions – including dragline products, cast lips and ground engaging tools – the CR brand change “reflects the company’s aspiration of growing its market reach and next-generation mining technology”, the company said.

The move follows several high-profile acquisitions of Seattle-based Thunderbird Mining Systems, a developer of market-leading blasthole drill optimisation technologies that complemented CR’s digital product range and its Titan 3330™ Load Haul Optimization technology, and California-based Berkeley Forge & Tool’s mining products business.

These have added meaningful scale, market connections and, importantly, deep mining knowledge from decades of product development and sales, the company says.

CR CEO, John Barbagallo, said the company’s growing product portfolio and prospective market opportunities meant it was essential to consider its reshaped business direction and how it plans to serve customers in the future.

“Today is an important day for CR as we launch our refined strategic direction and brand, a demonstration of our commitment to mining engineering and technology innovation and our capability to support our customers globally,” he said.

“The move to CR is very much about retaining the proud heritage of CQMS Razer, while providing us with a sharper and more focused brand, allowing us to add complementary businesses and products into the future.

“An important element of introducing the CR brand is to galvanise our brand and image for our employees. Together we are CR is a reflection of our strength and the reputation we have built over the last 40 years delivering reliable, innovative and customer-focused solutions for mining operations across the world.”

CR will include new product divisions that will better align the company’s growing portfolio to the needs of its customers, it said. This will see CR Mining, CR Digital and CR Contracts emerge, all of which are managed at a strategic level under the CR brand.

“Our experience and passion for what we do has seen us develop our business and become to a leader in our field, delivering outstanding results for our customers,” Barbagallo said. “This is a reputation we are keen to foster and build upon with our customers and markets worldwide under the new CR name.”

CR Digital to tackle fragmentation optimisation with Thunderbird buy

Communications in mining, Explosives and blasting, IoT, Mining equipment, Mining mergers and acquisitions, Mining services, Mining software, , , , , , ,

CR Digital has agreed terms to acquire Seattle-based Thunderbird Mining Systems in a transaction that, it says, further expands CQMS Razer’s digital technology division’s product offering, IP, sales/marketing and technical support activities.

Thunderbird founder, John Vynne, and his team have been pioneering measurement while drilling (MWD) technologies since founding the company and have a rich history in drilling technology and guidance for surface mining, CR Digital said.

Damian Assaillit, Head of CR Digital, said: “Thunderbird Mining Systems were highly regarded in the mining technology sector, providing world-leading blasthole drill optimisation technologies to mining customers for over 30 years.”

Vynne added: “There is immense appetite for digital knowledge of drill planning and blast outcomes, and the Thunderbird technology combined with CR Digital’s Load Haul Optimization creates a unique and compelling combination that our mining customers will be able to leverage.

“Thunderbird’s technology is proven to increase mine productivity, reduce drilling costs and improve blasting effectiveness.”

The addition of blasthole drill optimisation and rock knowledge systems reflects a strategic move by CR Digital to expand its product range across fragmentation through to load and haul optimisation, it said.

Assaillit said: “Thunderbird Mining Systems products complement our existing CR Digital product range, including our market-leading Titan 3330™ Load Haul Optimization technology. Optimised fragmentation is a key variable in the productivity of load haul circuits and being able to offer our customers more real-time knowledge is a great opportunity to further enhance mining productivity using technology.”

The Titan 3330 technology uses sophisticated instruments and patented algorithms to calculate and display the payload of each bucket, accurately, in real-time and during motion, before it is dumped into the truck, according to CR Digital.

CR Digital said Thunderbird Mining Systems’ customers will benefit from the enhanced capability of the global CR group, CR Digital’s proactive technical support, the data analytics capability of its Orion platform, and access to a broader technology portfolio providing enhanced value to their operations.