AU2022462279A1 - Control system, drill rig and method therein - Google Patents

Abstract

Method performed by a system (10) for determining one or more parameters to use for drilling a subsequent hole in a rock to approach a target, wherein the target is related to a subsequent blasting of the rock (30). The system (10) drills a first hole in the rock (30). The system collects data relating to the rock (30), which data is collected from a drill rig (20) during drilling of a first hole in the rock (30). The system (10) determines at least one drilling parameter, based on the collected data of the rock (30). The system (10) drills a second hole in the rock (30) using the at least one drilling parameter, thereby approaching the target.

Description

CONTROL SYSTEM, DRILL RIG AND METHOD THEREIN

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments herein relate to a system and a method performed therein. In particular, embodiments herein relate to improving the ability to meet a desired specification.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In the field of mining, quarrying and construction work, a typical work sequence for rock blasting is that a hole pattern is planned, that holes are drilled in the rock in accordance with the hole pattern, that explosives are placed in the holes and that the explosives are detonated. The resulting fragmented rocks, e.g. blasting stones, are then transported away. Usually the fragmented rocks need to be further fragmented by crushing them to get a desired size. Fragmentation equipment may handle fragmented rocks within a set size range. Both in the case when the fragmented rock is to be used directly and in the case when it is to be further fragmented, it is useful that the fragmented rocks are of the right size. This is to make it easier to plan, to increase the profitability and to meet the requirements for the end product. However, a problem is that the fragmented rocks does not always have the right size.

In addition, rock blasting also results in vibrations and possibly also moving stones. Similarly to having a desired fragmentation result, there may be a desire to specify vibrations and the occurrence of flying stones.

The present disclosure presents an improved viable solution of a system that handles rock blasting in an efficient manner.

SUMMARY

An object of embodiments herein is to improve the ability to approach a desired target.

According to an aspect of embodiments herein the object is achieved by a method performed by a system for determining one or more parameters to use for drilling a subsequent hole in a rock to approach a target. A first hole is drilled in the rock. The system collects data relating to the rock, which data is collected from a drill rig during drilling of the first hole in the rock. The system further determines at least one drilling parameter, based on the collected data of the rock. A second hole is then drilled in the rock using the at least one drilling parameter, thereby approaching the target.

Such a method enables starting with a drilling plan and improving the plan by collecting data with a drill rig and then use the data to adapt drilling parameters. Such a method thus improves the ability to meet a desired specification, i.e. improves the ability to approach a desired target. This is due to that the collected data during drilling the first hole in a rock will be utilized for determining, e.g. adapting, the drilling parameters, such as a hole size, a hole depth and direction. The determined drilling parameters are then used for drilling a subsequent hole. It is also advantageous to use a drill rig for collecting the data as it may be dangerous for a human to perform this action.

According to one embodiment, data relating to the rock may be collected from a drill rig when pulling up the drill after the drilling of the first hole in the rock. As data may be collected when pulling up the drill after drilling, the drill may be used as a probe and consequently more data may be collected which further improves the ability to approach the desired target.

According to one embodiment, additional data relating to the rock may be collected from a probe, wherein the collected additional data may comprise information about a shock wave propagation, a chemical analysis and/or one or more physical properties of material flow from the drilling, and wherein determining the at least one drilling parameter may be based on the collected additional data of the rock. This is advantageous as the probe enables that additional data is collected, which may be used for determining the drilling parameters and this further improves the ability to approach the desired target.

According to one embodiment, at least one firing parameter may be determined based on the collected data of the rock. According to one embodiment, at least one charging parameter may be determined based on the collected data of the rock The at least one firing parameter and/or the at least one charging parameter may be used, together with the at least one drilling parameter, when blasting to approach the target. This is advantageous as further parameters may be determined, other than the drilling parameters. These may be used for simulating the blasting and drilling the second hole in the rock to approach the target may consequently be more accurate. According to one embodiment, it may be determined whether the target is achieved, based on whether a result of a blasting fulfils one or more criteria, wherein the result of the blasting may be based on the determined first hole and the determined second hole, and wherein the criteria may be associated to a predicted blasting result. This is advantageous as the result of the blasting will be improved until the target is achieved, which in turn further improves the ability to approach the desired target.

According to one embodiment, when the result of the blasting does not fulfil the one or more criteria, the at least one drilling parameter may be adapted, until the one or more criteria are fulfilled, and when the result of the blasting does fulfil the one or more criteria, drilling the rock may be continued by using the determined at least one drilling parameter. This is advantageous as the drilling parameters will be improved and the drilling using the adapted parameters may continue until the target is achieved, which in turn further improves the ability to approach the desired target.

According to one embodiment, when the result of the blasting does not fulfil the one or more criteria, the at least one charging parameter and/or the at least one firing parameter may be adapted until the one or more criteria are fulfilled, and when the result of the blasting does fulfil the one or more criteria, drilling the rock may be continued by using the determined at least one drilling parameter, and blasted with the at least one charging parameter and/or the at least one firing parameter. This is advantageous as the drilling parameters will be improved and the drilling using the adapted parameters may continue until the target is achieved, which in turn further improves the ability to approach the desired target.

According to one embodiment, the target may be related to one or more of: A size and/or a size distribution of one or more fragmented rocks, a reduction of ground vibrations, a reduction of blasting movements, a reduction of fly-rocks and a reduction of carbon dioxide emission. The target may thus relate to different characteristics which makes the method more flexible and accurate.

According to one embodiment, the collected data of the rock and the target may be used as input to a calculation model, wherein the calculation model may determine a set of parameters to use when drilling the second hole. This will improve the simulation and result in more reliable results, which more reliable results may then be used to correct the placement subsequent holes.

According to one embodiment, at least one second drilling parameter may be determined based on the collected data of the rock and a third hole in the rock may be drilled using the at least one second drilling parameter. The result of the blasting may be based on the determined first hole and the determined second hole.

According to another aspect of embodiments herein, the object is achieved by providing a system configured to determine one or more parameters to use for drilling a subsequent hole in a rock to approach a target. The system is configured to drill a first hole in the rock. The system is further configured to collect data relating to the rock, which data is collected from a drill rig during drilling of a first hole in the rock. The system is further configured to determine at least one drilling parameter, based on the collected data of the rock. The system is further configured to drill a second hole in the rock using the at least one drilling parameter, thereby approaching the target.

It is furthermore provided herein a drill rig comprising a system configured to determine one or more parameters to use for drilling a subsequent hole in a rock to approach a target.

Embodiments herein are based on the realization that the drill rig that drills the holes in the rock can be used for collecting data from drilling a first hole. This data may then be used to drill a second hole where also new data may be collected for e.g. correct placements of subsequent holes to approach the desired target.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

Further objects and advantages, as well as technical features of the invention will become apparent through the following description of one or several embodiments given with reference to the appended figures, where:

Fig. 1a is a schematic overview according to embodiments herein;

Fig. 1b is a schematic overview illustrating an example scenario according to embodiments herein;

Fig. 2 is a flowchart depicting a method performed by a system according to embodiments herein; and

Fig. 3 is a block diagram depicting a system according to embodiments herein.

It should be noted that the drawings have not necessarily been drawn to scale and that the dimensions of certain elements may have been exaggerated for the sake of clarity.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention is described in more detail below with reference to the appended figures, in which examples of embodiments are shown. The invention is not limited to the described examples of embodiments; it is rather defined by the appended patent claims. Like numbers in the figures refer throughout to like elements.

Fig. 1a illustrates a schematic overview of embodiments herein comprising a system 10. The system 10 comprises and controls a drill rig 20. The system 10 may e.g. be a drill rig control system. The system 10 is configured to determine one or more parameters based on a drilled first hole. The determined one or more parameters will be used for drilling a subsequent hole in a rock 30 to approach a target. The target is related to a subsequent blasting of the rock 30. The system 10, may e.g. be a control system, which may be used for performing or partly performing the methods herein. The system 10 may e.g. be located in a cloud 50. Collected data may be communicated from the drill rig 20 to the system 10 in the cloud 50, which then may send back updated data such as updated drilling parameters to the drill rig 20. The system 10 may also be placed on the drill rig 20 and calculations are then made locally.

An example scenario of a method performed by the system 10, according to embodiments herein, will now be described with reference to Fig. 1b. The system 10 may e.g. be a drill rig control system. The method is for determining one or more parameters to use for drilling a subsequent hole in the rock 30 to approach the target. To improve the ability to meet a desired specification, e.g. that a blasting stone meets the desired specification or a certain reduction of ground vibrations, etc., an improved fragmentation simulation may be desirable. To improve this, reliable data about the rock 30 needs to be collected. This collected data may then be used to improve a fragmentation simulation and result in more accurate results which may then be used for a subsequent hole's placement and drilling of the subsequent hole in the rock 30 to approach the desired result, e.g. target. According to an example scenario, there is a desired result of a subsequent blasting, and data is collected by the drill rig 20 while drilling a first hole. This collected data is then used to determine one or more parameters for the drilling of a second hole. This is to achieve, or at least to approach, the desired result after the blasting.

Action 101. A first hole is drilled in the rock 30. This is to enable the system 10 to collect data.

Action 102. When the first hole in the rock 30 has been drilled, data relating to the rock 30 can be collected. The data is thus collected from the drill rig 20 during drilling of the first hole in the rock 30. Data relating to the rock 30 may e.g., comprise one or more of: Rock mass characteristics, presence and/or amount of water, geology characteristics, jointing, geo-modelling, a wall stability, a hardness factor, a joint plane spacing rating and a joint plane orientation and/or angle. The data relating to the rock 30 may further comprise presence and/or amount of material flow, which is the return drill flow and may also be referred to as drill cut flow, drill flow or material back flow.

Action 103. The collected data of the rock 30 related to the first hole, is used to determine at least one drilling parameter. This drilling parameter will then be used when drilling a second hole in the rock 30. The drilling parameters may e.g. comprise one or more of: A drilling pattern, a hole diameter, a hole depth, a hole deviation, an inclination of the rock 30, a subdrilling and a bench height. Other parameters, such as charging parameters and firing parameters may also be used. Charging parameters when used herein may comprise one or more of: A quantity of an explosive substance, a type of explosive substance, an explosive energy, a hole pattern design, a charging method, a charging design and a charging length. Firing parameters may e.g., comprise one or more of: a detonator system, a delay time, a delay pattern, a cleaned face and a number of free faces. In addition to collecting data during drilling, it may also be possible to collect additional data for the simulation by collecting data of the rock 30 with a probe. The collected additional data may comprise information about a shock wave propagation, a chemical analysis and/or one or more physical properties of material flow from the drilling. The at least one drilling parameter may then also be based on the collected additional data of the rock 30. In some embodiments, the data of the rock 30 may be collected as the drill is pulled out of the hole. In such embodiments, it may correspond to a probe, i.e. that when the drill is on the way down data may be collected via the drill rig 20, and on the way up, at least a part of the drill may act as a probe.

Action 104. A second hole is then drilled in the rock 30 using the at least one drilling parameter and thereby approaching the target. The target may be related to one or more of: A size and/or a size distribution of one or more fragmented rocks, a reduction of ground vibrations, a reduction of blasting movements, a reduction of fly-rocks and a reduction of carbon dioxide emission. As explosives emit carbon dioxide, reducing an amount of explosives may also reduce emissions. The first hole and second hole may be at least a part of a hole pattern. However, the first hole and second hole do not necessarily have to be directly following each other, although they may be. There may be an initial hole pattern that is based on an initial simulation, collected data may be used in an updated simulation which in turn leads to an updated hole pattern. The data is collected when drilling the first hole, which may lead to a first- and a second set of drilling parameters. The first- and second set of drilling parameters may then be used when drilling the second hole and a third hole, respectively. This may be expanded to also apply to more holes than three, for example all remaining holes in a hole pattern. In the same way, collected data from the first hole and the second hole may be used to determine parameters for drilling a third hole.

The method actions performed by the system 10 for determining one or more parameters to use for drilling the subsequent hole in the rock 30 to approach the target, wherein the target is related to a subsequent blasting of the rock 30, according to embodiments herein, will now be described with reference to a flowchart depicted in Fig. 2. The actions do not have to be taken in the order stated below but may be taken in any suitable order. Actions performed in some embodiments are marked with dashed boxes.

Action 201. The system 10, e.g. the drill rig 20, drills the first hole in the rock 30. This action relates to action 101 above.

Action 201a. The system 10 collects data relating to the rock 30, which data is collected from the drill rig 20 during drilling of the first hole in the rock 30. This action relates to action 102 above. Action 201b. The system 10 may collect data relating to the rock 30, which data is collected from the drill rig 20 when pulling up a drill after the drilling of the first hole in the rock 30.

Action 201c. The system 10 may collect additional data relating to the rock 30, which additional data is collected from a probe, wherein the collected additional data may comprise information about a shock wave propagation, a chemical analysis and/or one or more physical properties of material flow from the drilling, and wherein determining the at least one drilling parameter may be based on the collected additional data of the rock.

Action 202. The system 10 determines the at least one drilling parameter, based on the collected data of the rock 30. This action relates to action 103 above.

Action 203. The system 10 may determine at least one charging parameter, based on the collected data of the rock 30, wherein the at least one charging parameter may be used when blasting to approach the target.

Action 204. The system 10 may determine at least one firing parameter, based on the collected data of the rock 30, which the at least one firing parameter may be used when blasting to approach the target.

Action 205. The system 10 drills the second hole in the rock 30 using the at least one drilling parameter, thereby approaching the target. This action relates to action 104 above. The first hole and the second hole may be at least a part of a hole pattern. The target may be related to one or more of: a size and/or a size distribution of one or more fragmented rocks e.g. blasting stones, a reduction of ground vibrations, a reduction of blasting movements, a reduction of fly-rocks and a reduction of carbon dioxide emission. The collected data of the rock 30 and the target may be used as input to a calculation model, and wherein the calculation model may determine a set of parameters to use when drilling the second hole.

Action 206. The system 10 may determine whether the target is achieved, based on whether a result of a blasting fulfils one or more criteria. The result of the blasting may be based on the determined first hole and the determined second hole. The criteria may be associated to a predicted blasting result. According to some embodiments, when the result of the blasting does not fulfil the one or more criteria, the at least one drilling parameter may be adapted, until the one or more criteria are fulfilled. When the result of the blasting does fulfil the one or more criteria, the drilling of the rock 30 may be continued by using the determined at least one drilling parameters.

According to some other embodiments, when the result of the blasting does not fulfil the one or more criteria, the at least one charging parameter and/or the at least one firing parameter may be adapted, until the one or more criteria are fulfilled. When the result of the blasting does fulfil the one or more criteria, the drilling of the rock 30 may be continued by using the determined at least one drilling parameter, and blasted with the at least one charging parameter and/or at least one firing parameter.

Action 207. The system 10 may determine at least one second drilling parameter based on the collected data of the rock.

Action 208. The system 10 may drill a third hole in the rock using the at least one second drilling parameter. The result of the blasting may be based on the determined first hole and the determined second hole.

Embodiments herein such as mentioned above will now be further described and exemplified. The text below is applicable to and may be combined with any suitable embodiment described above. Embodiments herein relate to collecting data with the drill rig 20, simulating with that collected data, and e.g. correcting subsequent holes. The collected data may be used to refine the simulation, e.g. the result from the simulation, using e.g. a Machine Learning (ML) model and/or an Artificial Intelligence (Al) model.

The size of a fragmented blasting stone may be controlled by the system 10, by having a desired blasting effect. The desired blasting effect may e.g., depend on the amount of explosive placed in the holes, also referred to as bore holes. There are many parameters that may affect the resulting shape and size of blasting stones. If the holes are tight with a small blasting effect, fragmented blasting stones may result in even sizes, but may require many holes. If the holes are sparse, the rock 30 near the holes may be blasted to a smaller size of the stones than the rock 30 far away from the hole. Different explosives may have different explosive effect per volume of the explosive. The hole diameter may then need to be set depending on which explosive that is used and which explosive effect that is requested. The rock's 30 properties and explosive action in a hole may affect the hole distance. The hole positions and thereby the hole distances may be determined by the hole pattern.

To plan the hole pattern, knowledge of characteristics of the rock 30 and a simulation of the fragmentation may be needed. By estimating the composition of the rock 30, how the holes are placed, and the blasting effect, a simulation of the fragmentation may be performed. This may be iterated until the fragmentation simulation indicates that the blasting stone falls within the set specification. This may be that a sufficiently large proportion of the blasting stone is within an accepted size range. The collected data may be used to refine the simulation, e.g. the result from the simulation, using e.g. a ML model and/or an Al model.

How the rock is blasted may be affected e.g., by its composition, the presence of cracks, and the properties of the cracks. Knowledge of this may affect the accuracy of the fragmentation simulation. However, it may be difficult to gather knowledge about shape and size of the blasting stones before the rock 30 is blasted.

As mentioned above, the drill rig 20 that drills the holes in the rock 30 may be used for the data collection. Signals from the drill rig's 20 may control system may provide realtime information about the drill rig's various subsystems, e.g. hydraulic pressure, power, etc. to the system 10. The signals may also provide direct, or after signal processing, information about the rock 30 the drill rig 20 is drilling in, to the system 10. The system 10 may filter the data from the drill rig's 20 control system which may result in detailed rock information. An example of such information is the resistance that the drill encounters during drilling. This information, together with other parameters, may describe the composition of the rock 30 where the drilling takes place. This in combination with knowledge of where the drill bit is located, e.g. by knowing the position of the entrance hole, the direction of the hole, and how deep it has been drilled, may make it possible for the system 10 to map the volume of the rock 30. Especially when the collection takes place from several holes. Through this, a reliable three-dimensional image of the rock 30 may be built up. In addition to the hardness, the occurrence of cracks may also be determined by the system 10. By detecting crack patterns and rock hardness between several holes, the intermediate volume may be interpolated, and also different crack planes may be detected. An example of mapping the volume of the rock 30 may e.g. be: V = B x S x BH x N, where V is Volume, B is Burden, S is Spacing, BH is Bench Hight, and N is Number of holes.

The collected data may then be used by the system 10 to improve the fragmentation simulation and result in more reliable results. The results may then be used to correct subsequent hole placements. By using the drill rig 20 to measure the actual composition of the rock 30, a more precise fragmentation analysis may be performed by the system 10. This may be used to correct e.g. the hole pattern, hole positions and/or explosive charges during ongoing work to achieve an improved method to ensure that the size of the stones after an explosion meets set specifications.

As more and more holes are being drilled, even more information about the rock may be collected and the hole pattern, e.g. hole image, hole positions and/or blasting planning may be further improved.

To further improve the accuracy of the fragmentation simulation, additional information about the rock 30 may be collected by the system 10, such as e.g.,: Seismic measurements of how waves generated during drilling propagate in the rock 30. These may typically take place at a place other than drilling. Seismic measurements of how waves generated during blasting propagate in the rock 30. These may typically take place at a distance from the blasting. Seismic measurements may be used to determine a position of the drill of the drill rig 20 more accurately. This may be performed by sending a probe into the hole to perform measurements with it. These measurements may, e.g., be about a composition of the rock 30 and a direction of the hole, etc. The system 10 may analyse the blasting stone to measure the actual fragmentation distribution. This may be done visually, e.g., with a drone equipped with a camera or a static camera.

In addition to that the fragmentation may be improved, additional properties may also be optimized. For example, the presence of flying blasting stones may be minimized, better vibration predictions may be made and/or stability changes of nearby rocks after blasting may be predicted with higher accuracy.

Embodiments herein may be relevant for the type of drilling that takes place above ground, e.g. at open pits, but underground applications are also possible. The calculations may also be performed in one or more different places. For example, locally on the drill rig 20, on a stand-alone unit adjacent to the drill rig 20, on an overall control system for the mine, a central server, or a cloud server. The calculations may be performed in one place or spread out on various calculation units.

Typical rock parameters may comprise one or more of: Geology, jointing (spacing and orientation), rock mass characteristics, presence of water, geo-modelling, wall stability, hardness factor, joint plane spacing rating and joint plane orientation/angle.

Typical borehole parameters may comprise one or more of: Hole diameter, drill pattern, hole depth, subdrilling, inclination, bench height and hole deviation.

Typical blasting, e.g. firing, parameters may comprise one or more of: Type of explosive, explosive energy, charging method, charge design, charge length, delay pattern and quantity of explosives.

The block diagram in Fig. 3 illustrates a detailed but non-limiting schematic example of how the system 10 may be structured to bring about the above-described solution and embodiments thereof. The system 10 may be configured to operate according to any of the examples and embodiments of employing the solution as described herein, where appropriate. The system 10 is shown to comprise a processor “P”, a memory “M” and a communication circuit “C” with suitable equipment for transmitting and receiving data, information and messages in the manner described herein.

The communication circuit C in the control system 10 thus comprises equipment configured for communication using a suitable protocol for the communication depending on the implementation. The data communication link between the different parts of the system 10, e.g. between the drill rig 20 and the system 10 in the cloud 50 or locally on the drill rig 20, may for an example utilize one or a plurality of different types of wired links or wireless links, such as for example xDSL, 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G TCP/IP, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, WiMax, WLL, PSTN, optical fibre or a combination thereof. The solution is however not limited to any specific types of messages or protocols. For example, the system 10 may be adapted to communicate with a control centre or the like for determining one or more parameters to use for drilling the subsequent hole in the rock 30 to approach the target described herein.

The system 10 is, e.g., by means of units, modules or the like, configured or arranged to perform at least some of the actions of the flowchart in Fig. 2 as follows. The system 10 is configured to determine the one or more parameters to use for drilling the subsequent hole in the rock 30 to approach the target.

The system 10 is configured to drill the first hole in the rock 30. This operation may be performed by a drilling module 300A in the system 10, as illustrated in action 201.

The system 10 is further configured to drill the second hole in the rock 30 using the at least one drilling parameter, thereby approaching the target. This operation may be performed by the drilling module 300A in the system 10, as illustrated in action 205. The first hole and the second hole may be at least a part of a hole pattern. The target may be related to one or more of: a size and/or a size distribution of one or more fragmented rocks, a reduction of ground vibrations, a reduction of blasting movements, a reduction of fly-rocks and a reduction of carbon dioxide emission. The collected data of the rock 30 and the target may be used as input to a calculation model, and wherein the calculation model may determine a set of parameters to use when drilling the second hole.

The system 10 may further be configured to drill the third hole in the rock 30 using the at least one second drilling parameter. The result of the blasting may be based on the determined first hole and the determined second hole. This operation may be performed by the drilling module 300A in the system 10, as illustrated in action 208.

The system 10 is configured to collect data relating to the rock 30, which data is collected from the drill rig 20 during drilling of the first hole in the rock 30. This operation may be performed by a collecting module 300B in the system 10, as illustrated in action 201a.

The system 10 may further be configured to collect data relating to the rock 30, which data is collected from the drill rig 20 when pulling up the drill after the drilling of the first hole in the rock 30. This operation may be performed by the collecting module 300B in the system 10, as illustrated in action 201b.

The system 10 may further be configured to collect additional data relating to the rock 30, which additional data may be collected from a probe, wherein the collected additional data may comprise information about a shock wave propagation, a chemical analysis and/or one or more physical properties of material flow from the drilling, and wherein determining the at least one drilling parameter may be based on the collected additional data of the rock 30. This operation may be performed by the collecting module 300B in the system 10, as illustrated in action 201c.

The system 10 is configured to determine the at least one drilling parameter, based on the collected data of the rock. This operation may be performed by a determining module 300C in the system 10, as illustrated in action 202.

The system 10 may further be configured to determine the at least one charging parameter, based on the collected data of the rock 30, wherein the at least one charging parameter may be used when blasting to approach the target. This operation may be performed by the determining module 300C in the system 10, as illustrated in action 203.

The system 10 may further be configured to determine the at least one firing parameter, based on the collected data of the rock 30, which the at least one firing parameter may be used when blasting to approach the target. This operation may be performed by the determining module 300C in the system 10, as illustrated in action 204.

The system 10 may further be configured to determine whether the target is achieved, based on whether the result of the blasting fulfils the one or more criteria, wherein the result of the blasting may be based on the determined first hole and the determined second hole, and wherein the criteria may be associated to the predicted blasting result. This operation may be performed by the determining module 300C in the system 10, as illustrated in action 206. According to some embodiments, when the result of the blasting does not fulfil the one or more criteria, the at least one drilling parameter may be adapted, until the one or more criteria are fulfilled, and when the result of the blasting does fulfil the one or more criteria, drilling the rock 30 may be continued by using the determined at least one drilling parameter. According to some embodiments, when the result of the blasting does not fulfil the one or more criteria, the at least one charging parameter and/or the at least one firing parameter may be adapted, until the one or more criteria are fulfilled, and when the result of the blasting does fulfil the one or more criteria, drilling the rock 30 may be continued by using the determined at least one drilling parameter, and blasted with the at least one charging parameter and/or at least one firing parameter. The system 10 may further be configured to determine the at least one second drilling parameter based on the collected data of the rock 30. This operation may be performed by the determining module 300C in the system 10, as illustrated in action 207.

It should be noted that Fig. 3 illustrates various functional modules in the system 10 and the skilled person is able to implement these functional modules in practice using suitable software and hardware equipment. Thus, the solution is generally not limited to the shown structure of the system 10, and the functional modules therein may be configured to operate according to any of the features, examples and embodiments described in this disclosure, where appropriate.

The functional modules 300A-C described above may be implemented in the system 10 by means of program modules of a computer program comprising code means which, when run by the processor P causes the system 10 to perform the abovedescribed actions and procedures. The processor P may comprise a single Central Processing Unit (CPU) or could comprise two or more processing units. For example, the processor P may include a general-purpose microprocessor, an instruction set processor and/or related chips sets and/or a special purpose microprocessor such as an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC). The processor P may also comprise a storage for caching purposes.

The computer program may be carried by a computer program product in the system 10 in the form of a memory having a computer readable medium and being connected to the processor P. The computer program product or memory M in the system 10 thus comprises a computer readable medium on which the computer program is stored e.g. in the form of computer program modules or the like. For example, the memory M may be a flash memory, a Random-Access Memory (RAM), a Read-Only Memory (ROM) or an Electrically Erasable Programmable ROM (EEPROM), and the program modules could in alternative embodiments be distributed on different computer program products in the form of memories within the system 10.

While the solution has been described with reference to specific exemplifying embodiments, the description is generally only intended to illustrate the inventive concept and should not be taken as limiting the scope of the solution. For example, the terms “data”, "additional data", "drilling parameter", "charging parameter", "firing parameter", “target”, "blasting stone", "drill rig", "material flow" "hole" and "hole pattern" have been used throughout this disclosure, although any other corresponding entities, functions, and/or parameters could also be used having the features and characteristics described here. The solution is defined by the appended claims.

It will be appreciated that the foregoing description and the accompanying drawings represent non-limiting examples of the method and arrangement taught herein. As such, the arrangement and techniques taught herein are not limited by the foregoing description and accompanying drawings. Instead, the embodiments herein are limited only by the following claims and their legal equivalents.

Claims

1 . Method performed by a system (10) for determining one or more parameters to use for drilling a subsequent hole in a rock (30) to approach a target, wherein the target is related to a subsequent blasting of the rock (30), the method comprising: drilling (200) a first hole in the rock (30); collecting (201a) data relating to the rock (30), which data is collected from a drill rig (20) during drilling of the first hole in the rock (30); determining (202) at least one drilling parameter, based on the collected data of the rock (30); and drilling (205) a second hole in the rock (30) using the at least one drilling parameter, thereby approaching the target.

2. The method according to claim 1 , further comprises: collecting (201 b) data relating to the rock (30), which data is collected from the drill rig (20) when pulling up a drill after the drilling of the first hole in the rock (30).

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, further comprises: collecting (201c) additional data relating to the rock (30), which additional data is collected from a probe, wherein the collected additional data comprises information about a shock wave propagation, a chemical analysis and/or one or more physical properties of material flow from the drilling, and wherein determining the at least one drilling parameter is based on the collected additional data of the rock (30).

4. The method according to any one of claims 1-3, further comprises: determining (203) at least one charging parameter, based on the collected data of the rock (30); determining (204) at least one firing parameter, based on the collected data of the rock (30), and wherein the at least one charging parameter and/or the at least one firing parameter is used when blasting to approach the target.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1-4, further comprises: determining (206) whether the target is achieved, based on whether a result of a blasting fulfils one or more criteria, wherein the result of the blasting is based on the determined first hole and the determined second hole, and wherein the criteria is associated to a predicted blasting result. The method according to claim 5, wherein when the result of the blasting does not fulfil the one or more criteria, adapting the at least one drilling parameter, until the one or more criteria are fulfilled, and when the result of the blasting does fulfil the one or more criteria, continuing drilling the rock (30) by using the determined at least one drilling parameter. The method according to claim 5 or 6, wherein when the result of the blasting does not fulfil the one or more criteria, adapting the at least one charging parameter and/or the at least one firing parameter, until the one or more criteria are fulfilled, and when the result of the blasting does fulfil the one or more criteria, continuing drilling the rock (30) by using the determined at least one drilling parameter, and blasted with the at least one charging parameter and/or at least one firing parameter. The method according to any one of claims 1-7, wherein the first hole and the second hole are at least a part of a hole pattern. The method according to any one of claims 1-8, wherein the target is related to one or more of: a size and/or a size distribution of one or more fragmented rocks, a reduction of ground vibrations, a reduction of blasting movements, a reduction of fly-rocks and a reduction of carbon dioxide emission. The method according to any one of claims 1-9, wherein the collected data of the rock (30) and the target are used as input to a calculation model, and wherein the calculation model determines a set of parameters to use when drilling the second hole. The method according to any one of claims 1-10, further comprises: determining (207) at least one second drilling parameter based on the collected data of the rock (30); and drilling (208) a third hole in the rock (30) using the at least one second drilling parameter; and wherein the result of the blasting is based on the determined first hole and the determined second hole. System (10) configured to determine one or more parameters to use for drilling a subsequent hole in a rock (30) to approach a target, wherein the target is related to a subsequent blasting of the rock (30), and wherein the system is configured to: drill a first hole in the rock (30); collect data relating to the rock (30), which data is collected from a drill rig (20) during drilling of a first hole in the rock (30); determine at least one drilling parameter, based on the collected data of the rock (30); and drill a second hole in the rock (30) using the at least one drilling parameter, thereby approaching the target. The system (10) according to claim 12, wherein the system (10) is further configured to: collect data relating to the rock (30), which data is collected from the drill rig (20) when pulling up a drill after the drilling of the first hole in the rock (30). The system (10) according to claim 12 or 13, wherein the system (10) is further configured to: collect additional data relating to the rock (30), which additional data is collected from a probe, wherein the collected additional data comprises information about a shock wave propagation, a chemical analysis and/or one or more physical properties of material flow from the drilling, and wherein determining the at least one drilling parameter is based on the collected additional data of the rock (30). The system (10) according to claim 13 or 14, wherein the system (10) is further configured to: determine at least one charging parameter, based on the collected data of the rock (30); determine at least one firing parameter, based on the collected data of the rock (30), and wherein the at least one charging parameter and/or the at least one firing parameter is used when blasting to approach the target.

16. The system (10) according to any one of claims 12-15, wherein the system (10) is further configured to: determine whether the target is achieved, based on whether a result of a blasting fulfils one or more criteria, wherein the result of the blasting is based on the determined first hole and the determined second hole, and wherein the criteria is associated to a predicted blasting result.

17. The system (10) according to claim 16, wherein when the result of the blasting does not fulfil the one or more criteria, adapting the at least one drilling parameter, until the one or more criteria are fulfilled, and when the result of the blasting does fulfil the one or more criteria, continuing drilling the rock (30) by using the determined at least one drilling parameter.

18. The system (10) according to claim 16 or 17, wherein when the result of the blasting does not fulfil the one or more criteria, adapting the at least one charging parameter and/or the at least one firing parameter, until the one or more criteria are fulfilled, and when the result of the blasting does fulfil the one or more criteria, continuing drilling the rock (30) by using the determined at least one drilling parameter, and blasting with the at least one charging parameter and/or at least one firing parameter.

19. The system (10) according to any one of claims 12-18, wherein the first hole and the second hole are at least a part of a hole pattern.

20. The system (10) according to any one of claims 12-19, wherein the target of the subsequent blasting is associated to one or more of: a size and/or a size distribution of one or more fragmented rocks, a reduction of ground vibrations, a reduction of blasting movements, a reduction of fly-rocks and a reduction of carbon dioxide emission. The system (10) according to any one of claims 12-20, wherein the collected data of the rock (30) and the target are used as input to a calculation model, and wherein the calculation model determines a set of parameters to use when drilling the second hole. The system (10) according to any one of claims 12-21, wherein the system (10) is further configured to: determine at least one second drilling parameter based on the collected data of the rock (30); and drill a third hole in the rock (30) using the at least one second drilling parameter; and wherein the result of the blasting is based on the determined first hole and the determined second hole. Drill rig (20) comprising the system (10) according to any of the claims 12-22.