Last month, Atlas Copco also announced that installation and testing had been completed at its factory in Örebro, Sweden, for the first system integration of Carlson Machine Control’s CBx5 control box console running Carlson DrillGrade software on a FlexiROC HEC3 C65 drilling system.

This, according to Atlas Copco and Carlson, marks the first successful factory installation of a 3-D drilling system integrating Atlas Copco’s new third party protocol available on FlexiROC drills with the HEC3 system.

In addition to providing support for most GPS/GNSS receivers, this system allows users to:

  • Navigate and position from within the drill cab without need of target marking;
  • Create a drill pattern in the machine to a terrain model, depth and height;
  • Load/change terrain models and localizations easily;
  • Import DWG, DXF, CSV and IREDES hole data;
  • Visualize 3-D surfaces in the field on a large, bright screen; and
  • Monitor FlexiROC with HEC3 drill actions such as body pitch and roll, heading, length of current hole, current position of drill bit, drilling stopped, drilling started, drilling aborted, reset hole length and more.

An upgrade kit, which consists of the CBx5 Control Box Console, Carlson DrillGrade software, MC Pro Vx5 RTK Heading Unit, brackets and required cables, will be available soon for qualified, existing FlexiROC with HEC3 system drills. Atlas Copco must qualify the FlexiROC with HEC3 version and provide the protocol. A similar retrofit kit is also available for existing qualifying SmartROC RSP system drills.

And, exploration drill manufacturer Schramm announced that a new hands-free Power Breakout is now available for its T450 and T685 series exploration drill rigs. This system improves pipe handling safety by reducing an operator’s physical contact with drill pipe during operations, and also speeds connections by eliminating the manual tongs typically used when tripping into and out of the borehole.

Used in conjunction with the hydraulic holding fork; the hydraulic Power Breakout slides out to align with the tool joints, clamps on the upper connection and then rotates to break the tool joints. Once broken, the jaws are released and reset to the break-ready position and the assembly is retracted back into the mast. This system is designed to work with drill pipe ranging from 3 to 5-1/2 in. (76 to 140 mm) OD pipe and can provide breakout torque up to 16,000 ft-lb (21,693 Nm).

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