In-Seam Drill Monitoring and Bit Location System - Stage 1

This project documents work done during stage 1 of the three stage ACARP project. It is part of an integrated in seam drilling research program supported by the ACA which aims to increase the effectiveness of underground drilling operations.

The project is a joint collaboration between BHP Research, BHP Steel Collieries and Kembla Coal and Coke.

The three components of the project are:

• The construction of a drill monitor system for recording parameters associated with drilling, where these parameters are used to predict geological structure.
  
• The construction of a drill bit location system that will be used to determine the position of structures located by the drill monitor.
  
• The development of intrinsically safe computing software and hardware to integrate drill monitor data with bit location data.

The drill monitor has been constructed for use with ProRam drilling rigs.