Skip to main content

Automated operation boosts productivity on Atlas Copco’s new SmartRig

Automated operation is said to boost productivity for Atlas Copco's new ROC F9C SmartRig. This innovative machine allows operators to lay out shot patterns on a computer and can help them follow through with GPS-guided, automated drilling for higher accuracy and speed. Documentation of performance is kept for better planning and accountability and the ROC F9C rock drill can adjust impact power and feed pressure to suit rock conditions, for smoother drilling and reduced stress on the drill string.
February 24, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
Atlas Copco's sophisticated ROC F9C drill rig offers a high degree of automation for higher accuracy and productivity
Automated operation is said to boost productivity for 161 Atlas Copco's new ROC F9C SmartRig. This innovative machine allows operators to lay out shot patterns on a computer and can help them follow through with GPS-guided, automated drilling for higher accuracy and speed. Documentation of performance is kept for better planning and accountability and the ROC F9C rock drill can adjust impact power and feed pressure to suit rock conditions, for smoother drilling and reduced stress on the drill string.

An operator can pre-plan a shot by entering hole spacing, burden, depth and blast angle on a computer program that comes with the rig. A memory card slotted into the ROC F9C allows the machine to follow the plan accurately and in all weathers, while hole deviation is said to be less than 50mm. The computer means that there is no need to manually site the drill, or mark holes on the ground. The ROC F9C drills holes from 89-127mm in diameter and up to 30m deep.

Using this machine is said to speed drilling operations, reduces the risk of errors and cuts operating costs. It also improves blasting performance by allowing more consistency, reducing overbreak, fines generation, oversized material and flyrock as well as delivering a smoother floor for the blasted area.

The drill is able to add steel, adjust parameters to suit unconsolidated rock formations and completes a hole to the predetermined depth without the operator touching the controls. In addition the machine offers lower fuel consumption as it operates at optimum performance throughout and the company offers a low noise silencing kits as an option.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Latest drilling system performs even better
    February 17, 2012
    Atlas Copco says that the third generation of its COPROD drilling system offers even better performance than before.
  • Atlas Copco’s launches new drill rig FlexiROC T45
    January 6, 2017
    Atlas Copco is launching its new top hammer surface drill rig, the FlexiROC T45, along with its new rock drill COP 3060. The company says the new rig, which follows the ROC F9 before it, was to be built on a tried and trusted platform that would provide high-availability and a wide area of use for both large and small applications. Field studies are said to show that the FlexiROC T45 with folding boom, depending upon rock conditions, uses only half as much fuel as its predecessor the ROC F9 using the same
  • Trimble’s new tools can boost drilling, piling and bucket weighing accuracy
    November 29, 2013
    Trimble is broadening its range of products with the introduction of its new DPS900 Drilling and Piling System and Business Center and the LOADRITE X2350 Payload Management System for excavators. According to the firm, the DPS900 Drilling and Piling system allows contractors to drill precisely at a specified location, to preset levels for depth, orientation and inclination angle. The HCE Drilling and Piling module is said to offer contractors tools to create optimised drilling and piling plans that can help
  • Atlas Copco’s Markuu Teräsvasara offers glimpse of drilling future
    January 6, 2017
    Markuu Teräsvasara, president Atlas Copco surface drilling, was among those providing a glimpse of the future of drilling. He said that three futuristic drill rig models on show at INTERMAT, codenamed ROC Xone, ROC Xtwo and ROC Xthree, were examples of how the company’s designers are developing new systems. It is claimed they will offer extreme silencing and independently operated booms; separate wheel positioning systems for difficult terrain while flattening for loading and transport, and also fit into a