A drilling management system

Abstract

A drilling management system for managing a drilling operation is disclosed. The drilling management system comprises a user interface arranged to enable a drilling plan to be defined, the drilling plan indicative of a movement path for a drilling machine and a location of each hole to be drilled by a drilling machine along the movement path. The system also includes a data storage device arranged to store drill hole status data including a drilled status indicative of a drilled hole, a not drilled status indicative of a hole associated with the drilling plan that has not been drilled, and a re-drill status indicative of a drilled hole associated with the drilling plan that is proposed to be re-drilled. The user interface is arranged to enable the status of a hole of a drilling plan to be changed from a drilled status to a re-drill status, and to facilitate inclusion of the re-drill hole in a drilling plan.

Description

[0001] A DRILLING MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

[0002] Field of the Invention

[0003] The present invention relates to a drilling management system for managing drilling operations in the resources industry.

[0004] Background of the Invention

[0005] In the resources industry, it is common to use drilling machines to drill holes in a target mining area according to a defined drill hole pattern, then subsequently fill the holes with explosive and detonate the explosive to release material.

[0006] In one arrangement, a defined drill hole pattern is used by a drilling machine to control the path of movement of the drilling machine across the target mining area and the locations at which to drill the holes. The drilling machine may be at least partially autonomous whereby the drilling machine is provided with a drilling pattern, and the drilling machine autonomously traverses the target mining area and drills the required holes according to the drill hole pattern.

[0007] However, in some circumstances a drilled hole is unsatisfactory and cannot be used to receive explosives in a blasting operation, for example because the hole has collapsed after drilling or because the hole has not been drilled to the correct depth. In such circumstances, the failed hole is required to be re-drilled, but the current process for handling re-drill operations is manual, cumbersome and inefficient.

[0008] Summary of the Invention

[0009] In accordance with a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a drilling management system for managing a drilling operation, the drilling management system comprising: a user interface arranged to enable a drilling plan to be defined, the drilling plan indicative of a movement path for a drilling machine and a location of each hole to be drilled by a drilling machine along the movement path; and a data storage device arranged to store drill hole status data including: i a drilled status indicative of a drilled hole; a not drilled status indicative of a hole associated with the drilling plan that has not been drilled; and a re-drill status indicative of a drilled hole associated with the drilling plan that is proposed to be re-drilled; the user interface arranged to enable the status of a hole of a drilling plan to be changed from a drilled status to a re-drill status, and to facilitate inclusion of the re-drill hole in a drilling plan.

[0010] In an embodiment, a drilled hole, a not drilled hole and a re-drill hole may be displayed on the user interface such that the drilled hole, not drilled hole and re-drill hole are distinguishable from each other, for example by displaying the drilled hole, not drilled hole and re-drill hole in different colours.

[0011] In an embodiment, the system is arranged to facilitate selection of a hole to be included in a drilling plan and, during planning of the hole, to display a target graphic indicative of a planned drilling location for the hole. The target graphic may be an annulus and the centre of the annulus may indicate the planned drilling location for the hole.

[0012] In an embodiment, the target annulus may be displayed differently depending on whether the selected hole has a not drilled status or a re-drill status.

[0013] In an embodiment, the system is arranged, during planning of the hole, to display a tramming direction graphic indicative of a planned direction of movement of the drilling machine as the drilling machine approaches the selected hole.

[0014] In the present example, the system is arranged to automatically select a proposed tramming approach direction. The user interface may facilitate manual movement of the proposed tramming approach direction.

[0015] In an embodiment, the system is arranged, during planning of a re-drill hole, to display a re-drill target region graphic indicative of a defined region in which drilling of the redrill hole is permitted. The re-drill target region may be defined based on a minimum distance boundary from an associated previously drilled hole and a maximum distance boundary from an associated previously planned hole.

[0016] In an embodiment, the minimum distance from the previously drilled hole may be about 0.8m.

[0017] In an embodiment, the maximum distance from the previously planned hole may be about 1m.

[0018] In an embodiment, the system is arranged to automatically select a proposed re-drill location that falls within the re-drill target region. The user interface may facilitate manual movement of re-drill hole location in the re-drill target region.

[0019] In an embodiment, the drill hole status is changeable by clicking using a mouse.

[0020] In an embodiment, the system is arranged to store time stamp information for each drill hole status, the time stamp information indicative of when a hole was drilled or when a hole was re-drilled.

[0021] In an embodiment, the system is arranged to enable activation of a drilling plan, and thereby commencement of movement of a drilling machine along a movement path defined by the drilling plan and drilling of holes or re-drilling of holes associated with the drilling plan.

[0022] In an embodiment, the system is arranged to facilitate continued definition of a drilling plan after activation of the drilling plan.

[0023] In an embodiment, the data storage device is arranged to store drill hole status data in a database. The database may include a row to record a drilled status or a not drilled status and a row to record a re-drill status.

[0024] In an embodiment, the data storage device is disposed at a server remotely located relative to the drilling machine.

[0025] In an embodiment, the user interface is implemented by a drill control station remotely located relative to the drilling machine and in electronic communication with the drilling machine.

[0026] In an embodiment, the drilling machine is at least partly autonomous.

[0027] Brief Description of the Drawings

[0028] The present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0029] Figure 1 is a diagrammatic representation of a drilling management system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

[0030] Figure 2 is a schematic block diagram of an architecture of a drill control station of the system shown in Figure 1;

[0031] Figure 3 is a schematic block diagram showing functional components of the drill control station shown in Figure 2;

[0032] Figure 4 is a schematic block diagram showing functional components of a drilling machine of the system shown in Figure 1;

[0033] Figure 5 shows an example drill hole planning screen of a user interface of the system shown in Figures 1 to 4;

[0034] Figure 6 shows the drill hole planning screen shown in Figure 5 including a representation of an example defined drilling plan;

[0035] Figure 7 shows the drill hole planning screen shown in Figure 5 including a representation of an example defined drilling plan that includes a re-drill hole;

[0036] Figure 8 shows an enlarged view of a graphic associated with a re-drill hole;

[0037] Figure 9 shows an example representation of a drilling machine movement path when a drilling machine is approaching a planned re-drill hole; Figure 10 shows an example representation of a planned re-drill hole and drilling machine when a drilling machine is close to a planned re-drill hole; and

[0038] Figure 11 is a flow diagram illustrating a method of managing a drilling operation that includes a re-drill hole in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

[0039] Description of an Embodiment of the Invention

[0040] Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 shows a diagrammatic representation of an example drilling management system 10 for managing implementation of a drilling operation in the resources industry. In this example, the drilling operation is of a type wherein a drilling plan is defined to control the path of movement of a drilling machine and the locations at which holes for receiving explosives will be drilled, then the drilling machine controlled to follow the path and drill the holes at the planned locations. In the present example, the drilling machines associated with the system are autonomous drills that are controllable from remote drill control stations, although it will be understood that the invention is also applicable to manual or at least partially autonomous drills of the type that include a local operator to control at least some functionality of the drill.

[0041] In a drilling operation, each hole to be drilled may be tagged with a drilled status to indicate that the hole has been drilled, or not drilled status to indicate that the hole is planned to be drilled but has not yet been drilled. Typically, the status of a hole is recorded in a database, for example by including a row in the database for each hole and including a hole status field that can be toggled between drilled status and not drilled status.

[0042] While conventional drilling operations facilitate recordal of a hole status, it is difficult for drilling operators to manage holes that are required to be re-drilled.

[0043] A re-drill hole is different to a hole for which a drilling operation has been interrupted, in that a re-drill hole is a hole for which a quality control failure exists, to the extent that the existing planned hole cannot be continued and a new hole location must be selected. A planned hole for which drilling has commenced, is subsequently interrupted and recommenced later is not a re-drill hole, but rather a hole for which drilling is currently incomplete.

[0044] The present system facilitates recordal and visual indication of holes that have been drilled, holes that are proposed to be drilled and holes that are proposed to be redrilled. The present system also facilitates selection of a re-drill hole location and manages selection of the re-drill hole location so that the re-drill hole location is within a defined re-drill region based on the locations of the associated previously drilled hole and the originally planned hole location.

[0045] The drill management system 10 includes at least one drill control station 12 that is used by drill operators to create drilling plans including movement paths and hole drilling patterns, and at least one drilling machine 14 disposed at a target mining area 16 that is controlled by the drill control station(s) 12.

[0046] In this example, the drill control station(s) 12 communicate with the drilling machines 14 using a wide area network 18 that may include the Internet and a local communications network 20 disposed at the target mining area 16, although it will be understood that any suitable communications arrangement that facilitates communications between the drill control station(s) 12 and the drilling machine(s) 14 is envisaged.

[0047] Each drilling machine 14 is controlled by a drill control station 12 to move along a movement path 22 and to drill holes at defined locations along the movement path 22.

[0048] The system 10 also includes a drill control server 24 that in this example is arranged to store drill hole status information 26 indicative of planned drill holes that are associated with planned drill movement paths 22, and the status of each drill hole. In this example, the drill hole status may be: a drilled status indicative of a drilled hole associated with the hole drilling plan; a not drilled status indicative of a hole associated with the drilling plan that has not been drilled; or a re-drill status indicative of a drilled hole associated with the drilling plan that is 1 proposed to be re-drilled.

[0049] The drill hole status information 26 may be stored in any suitable way, for example by including a database at the drill control server 24 and including a row in the database to indicate drilled or not drilled status and an additional row for each hole that is required to be re-drilled, so that for re-drill holes, a first row is provided to indicate that the hole has already been drilled and a second row to indicate that the drilled hole has been or is proposed to be redrilled.

[0050] In this example, each drill hole status may include a time stamp so that it is possible to identify when a hole was drilled and when a hole was re-drilled.

[0051] An example architecture of a drill control system 12 is shown in Figure 2, in this example wherein the drill control system 12 is implemented using a computing architecture that includes a processor 30 and a data storage device 32, the processor 30 arranged to implement functionality using programs 34 and data 36 used by and / or produced by the programs 34. The architecture also includes memory 38, a display interface 40 to drive a display 42 and a communications interface 44 that facilitates electronic communications, in particular with the drilling machine(s) 14 disposed at the target mining area 16.

[0052] Example functional components 50 of the drill control station 12 are shown in Figure 3. Like and similar features are indicated with like reference numerals. In this example, the functional components 50 include a drilling planner 52 usable by a drilling operator to create and manage a drilling plan that includes a drilling movement path 22 for the drilling machine(s) 14 and the locations of holes to be drilled, and a re-drill planner 54 usable by a drilling operator to create and manage a hole re-drilling operation, for example by including a planned re-drill hole in a drilling movement path 22 that also includes holes that are planned to be drilled for the first time.

[0053] The functional components 50 also include stored data 36 indicative of drilling plans 56 that define the planned drilling movement path for each drilling machine controlled by the drill control station 12, and the planned locations along each drilling movement path of each planned hole to be drilled and each planned re-drill hole. The functional components 50 may also include data indicative of the drill site 58, for example that includes geographical data associated with the target mining area 16.

[0054] Example functional components 60 of a drilling machine 14 are shown in Figure 4. The functional components 60 include a communications interface 62 arranged to facilitate electronic communications with a remotely located drill control station 12, and a movement controller 64 arranged to control movement of the drilling machine 14 and the locations at which holes will be drilled or re-drilled in accordance with a drilling plan defined at a drill control station 12.

[0055] The functional components 60 also include a drill string 68 arranged to drill holes, and cameras 70 that are usable by a drilling operator at a drill control station 12 to view images and / or video of a region of the target mining area 16 immediately adjacent the drilling machine 14.

[0056] In this example, the functional components 60 also include data 66 indicative of each drilling plan that has been assigned to the drilling machine 14 by the associated drill control station 12.

[0057] An example implementation of the system 10 will now be described in relation to displayed screens of a user interface implemented by a drill control station 12.

[0058] Referring to Figure 5, an example path planning screen 80 of the drill control system user interface is shown. The path planning screen 80 shows a representation of a portion of a target mining area 16 and a representation of a drilling machine 14 disposed at the target mining area 16.

[0059] The path planning screen 80 includes representations of drilled holes 82, representations of holes that have not yet been drilled 84, and representations of holes that are required to be re-drilled 86. As shown more particularly in Figures 8 and 10, each representation of a re-drill hole 82 includes a planned hole graphic 112 representative of a planned hole location, and a drilled hole graphic 110 representative of the actual location of the drilled hole. In this example, the planned hole graphic 112 is an annulus and the drilled hole graphic 110 is a square.

[0060] The path planning screen 80 also includes path planning tools 88 usable by a drilling operator to define a movement path 22 for a drilling machine 14, and to select holes 84 and re-drill holes 86 that are desired to be drilled as the drilling machine 14 moves along the movement path 22. In the present example, the proposed holes 84, the drilled holes 82 and the re-drill holes 86 are represented differently, for example using different colours, such as green for the proposed holes 84, grey for the drilled holes 82 and blue for the re-drill holes 86. However, it will be understood that any arrangement may be used to visually distinguish the proposed holes 84, the drilled holes 82 and the re-drill holes 86 from each other.

[0061] In the present example, the path planning screen 80 enables an operator to manually change the status of a hole - drilled, not drilled or re-drill - in any suitable way, for example by right clicking on the hole to toggle the hole state using a mouse. After the status of a hole has been changed to re-drill status, the appearance of the hole changes, for example from green to blue, and the redrill-hole 86 may then be added to a drilling plan and associated drilling machine movement path 22.

[0062] In the present example, the drilling machines 14 are autonomous in that movement of a drilling machine 14 and the hole drilling process occurs automatically based on the defined drilling plan, and without the need for an operator to be present at the drilling machine 14. The path planning screen 80 includes a start automation button 90 that when selected causes a drilling machine 14 associated with a selected drilling plan to commence a drilling operation.

[0063] The path planning screen 80 also includes a representation of the drill string 68 of the drilling machine 14 and a representation of the defined movement path 22 of the drilling machine 14.

[0064] The path planning screen 80 after activation of a drilling plan is shown in Figure 6. Like and similar features are indicated with like reference numerals.

[0065] As shown in Figure 6, although a drilling plan has been activated to cause commencement of drilling, at the same time the operator is able to continue to define the movement path 22 and the locations of one or more further holes to be drilled and potentially one or more holes to be re-drilled. This enhances hole planning efficiency as hole drilling may occur as the drilling operator is planning future drill holes to be II included in the drilling plan. As shown in Figure 6, a hole has been selected for drilling as part of the current movement path 22 and a hole processing graphic 98 is displayed to indicate that the system is currently processing data associated with the proposed hole, in this example by displaying a yellow circle around the proposed hole.

[0066] The path planning screen 80 shown in Figure 6 also includes a current planned hole 100. The current planned hole 100 includes a target graphic 102, in this example in the form of a green annulus, and a tramming direction graphic 104 that indicates the planned approach direction of movement of the drilling machine 14. In this example, the tramming direction graphic 104 includes a diamond shape that is rotatably movable relative to the planned hole to define a tramming direction for the drilling machine 14. A centre of the target graphic 102 indicates a planned drill hole location.

[0067] Referring to Figures 7 and 8, a defined drilling plan is shown that includes a movement path 22 and a re-drill hole graphic 108 associated with a re-drill hole 86 added to the movement path 22.

[0068] Figure 8 shows an enlarged view of the re-drill hole graphic 108 during planning. As with a planned hole to be drilled, the re-drill hole graphic 108 includes: a target graphic 102 to indicate that the re-hole is currently being planned by an operator, and to indicate the planned re-drill location by reference to the centre of the annulus; and a tramming direction graphic 104 that indicates the tramming approach direction and that enables the operator to set the re-drill hole approach direction of the drilling machine 14.

[0069] The re-drill hole graphic 108 also includes: a previous drilled hole graphic 110, in this example in the form of a blue square, that indicates the location of the previously drilled hole and for which a new hole is desired to be drilled; and a previous planned hole graphic 112 that indicates the location of the previously planned hole. The previous drilled hole graphic 110 corresponds to the hole that was actually drilled based on the planned hole.

[0070] The re-drill hole graphic 108 also includes a re-drill hole location graphic 114 that ii defines a re-drill target region 115 having a minimum distance boundary 116 from the previously drilled hole 110 and a maximum distance boundary 118 from the previously planned hole 112. In this example, the minimum distance from the previously drilled hole 110 is about 0.8m and the maximum distance from the previously planned hole 112 is about 1m, although it will be understood that any suitable minimum and maximum distances are envisaged. The re-drill hole location graphic 114 is substantially defined by the minimum and maximum distance boundaries 116, 118, and as such in this example the re-drill hole location graphic includes a crescent shape that may be blue.

[0071] In the present example, the system 10 automatically selects a proposed tramming approach direction, and a proposed re-drill location that falls within the re-drill target region 115, whilst facilitating movement of the tramming direction graphic 104 and the re-drill hole location in the re-drill target region in order to facilitate operator amendment as required, for example using a mouse.

[0072] Figure 9 shows an enlarged example representation 120 of a drill movement path 22 when a drilling machine 14 is approaching a planned re-drill hole 86, and Figure 10 shows an enlarged example representation 124 of a drilling machine 14 when the drilling machine 14 is close to a planned re-drill hole 86. As shown, as the drilling machine 14 approaches a re-drill hole 86, distance indicia 122 is displayed to indicate the distance from the drill string 68 to the re-drill hole 86, for example in the form of a number to indicate the distance in metres to the re-drill hole 86. The arrangement may be configured such that the colour of the displayed distance indicia 122 and / or the colour of the movement path 22 changes based on the proximity to the re-drill hole 86, for example such that the colour changes from yellow to blue.

[0073] Figure 11 is a flow diagram 130 illustrating steps 132 to 156 of a method of managing a drilling operation in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

[0074] During a drill planning operation, if it is desired to re-drill a hole, for example because the hole has collapsed after drilling, an operator changes the state of the drilled hole 82 to a re-drill hole 86, for example by toggling the hole state using a mouse, as indicated at step 132. The status of each hole of the defined drilling plan is recorded in the database at the drill control server 24, as indicated at step 133. The appearance of the selected re-drill hole 86 is then changed to distinguish between a drilled hole 82 and a hole that has not yet been drilled 84, for example by displaying the re-drill hole in a different colour, such as blue, and the proposed re-drill hole is added to the current planned movement path 22, as indicated at steps 134 and 136.

[0075] As indicated at step 138, the system 10 automatically selects a re-drill location for the planned re-drill hole 86 such that the re-drill location is disposed within a target region at least 0.8m from the previously drilled hole 110 and less than 1m from the previously planned hole 112. As indicated at steps 140 and 142, the operator has the option of manually moving the re-drill location to a new location in the target region within boundaries defined by the minimum distance from the previously drilled hole 110 and the maximum distance from the previously planned hole 112. The minimum distance from the previously drilled hole 110 is defined as a requirement in order to avoid a redrill attempt from collapsing into the previous drilled hole, which can cause a drill rod to bend. The maximum distance from the previously planned hole 112 is defined as a requirement in order to reduce the risk of drilling into old butts.

[0076] As indicated at step 144, the system 10 also automatically selects a re-drill hole approach direction, and as indicated at steps 146 and 148, the operator has the option of manually moving the re-drill hole approach direction to a new approach direction.

[0077] When the drilling plan is desired to be implemented, the drilling plan associated with the defined drilling movement path 22 is activated, as indicated at step 152, and in response the drilling machine 14 is controlled according to the retrieved drilling plan and updated hole statuses are sent to the drill control server 24 as drilling progresses, as indicated at step 156.

[0078] It will be understood that, if any prior art publication is referred to herein, such reference does not constitute an admission that the publication forms a part of the common general knowledge in the art, in Australia or any other country.

[0079] In the claims which follow and in the preceding description of the invention, except where the context requires otherwise due to express language or necessary implication, the word “comprise” or variations such as “comprises” or “comprising” is used in an inclusive sense, i.e. to specify the presence of the stated features but not to preclude the presence or addition of further features in various embodiments of the invention.

[0080] Modifications and variations as would be apparent to a skilled addressee are determined to be within the scope of the present invention.

Claims

iiThe claims defining the invention are as follows:

1. A drilling management system for managing a drilling operation, the drilling management system comprising: a user interface arranged to enable a drilling plan to be defined, the drilling plan indicative of a movement path for a drilling machine and a location of each hole to be drilled by a drilling machine along the movement path; and a data storage device arranged to store drill hole status data including: a drilled status indicative of a drilled hole; a not drilled status indicative of a hole associated with the drilling plan that has not been drilled; and a re-drill status indicative of a drilled hole associated with the drilling plan that is proposed to be re-drilled; the user interface arranged to enable the status of a hole of a drilling plan to be changed from a drilled status to a re-drill status, and to facilitate inclusion of the re-drill hole in a drilling plan.

2. A drilling management system as claimed in claim 1, wherein a drilled hole, a not drilled hole and a re-drill hole are displayed on the user interface such that the drilled hole, not drilled hole and re-drill hole are distinguishable from each other.

3. A drilling management system as claimed in claim 2, wherein the drilled hole, the not drilled hole and the re-drill hole are displayed on the user interface in different colours.

4. A drilling management system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the system is arranged to facilitate selection of a hole to be included in a drilling plan.

5. A drilling management system as claimed in claim 4, wherein, during planning of the hole, the system is arranged to display a target graphic indicative of a planned drilling location for the hole.

6. A drilling management system as claimed in claim 5, wherein the target graphic is an annulus and the centre of the annulus indicates the planned drilling location foris the hole.

7. A drilling management system as claimed in claim 7, wherein the annulus is displayed differently depending on whether the selected hole has a not drilled status or a re-drill status.

8. A drilling management system as claimed in any one of claims 4 to 7, wherein the system is arranged, during planning of the hole, to display a tramming direction graphic indicative of a planned direction of movement of the drilling machine as the drilling machine approaches the selected hole.

9. A drilling management system as claimed in claim 8, wherein the system is arranged to automatically select a proposed tramming approach direction.

10. A drilling management system as claimed in claim 8 or claim 9, wherein the user interface is arranged to facilitate manual movement of the proposed tramming approach direction.

11. A drilling management system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the system is arranged, during planning of a re-drill hole, to display a re-drill target region graphic indicative of a defined re-drill target region in which drilling of the re-drill hole is permitted.

12. A drilling management system as claimed in claim 11 , wherein the re-drill target region is defined based on a minimum distance boundary from an associated previously drilled hole.

13. A drilling management system as claimed in claim 12, wherein the minimum distance from the previously drilled hole is about 0.8m.

14. A drilling management system as claimed in any one of claims 11 to 13, wherein the re-drill target region is defined based on a maximum distance boundary from an associated previously planned hole.

15. A drilling management system as claimed in claim 14, wherein the maximumdistance from the previously planned hole is about 1m.

16. A drilling management system as claimed in any one of claims 11 to 15, wherein the system is arranged to automatically select a proposed re-drill location that falls within the re-drill target region.

17. A drilling management system as claimed in claim 16, wherein the user interface facilitates manual movement of re-drill hole location in the re-drill target region.

18. A drilling management system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the drill hole status is changeable by clicking using a mouse.

19. A drilling management system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the system is arranged to store time stamp information for each drill hole status, the time stamp information indicative of when a hole was drilled or when a hole was re-drilled.

20. A drilling management system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the system is arranged to enable activation of a drilling plan, and thereby commencement of movement of a drilling machine along a movement path defined by the drilling plan and drilling of holes or re-drilling of holes associated with the drilling plan.

21. A drilling management system as claimed in claim 20, wherein the system is arranged to facilitate continued definition of a drilling plan after activation of the drilling plan.

22. A drilling management system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the data storage device is arranged to store drill hole status data in a database.

23. A drilling management system as claimed in claim 22, wherein the database includes a row to record a drilled status or a not drilled status and a row to record a redrill status.I24. A drilling management system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the data storage device is disposed at a server remotely located relative to the drilling machine.

25. A drilling management system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the user interface is implemented by a drill control station remotely located relative to the drilling machine and in electronic communication with the drilling machine.

26. A drilling management system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the drilling machine is at least partly autonomous.

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