The present disclosure relates generally to the field of blasting technology, and particularly involves methods and apparatus for wireless remote blasting.
In blasting operations, detonators and explosives are buried in the ground, for example, in holes (e.g., bore holes) drilled into rock formations, etc., and the detonators are wired for external access to blasting machines that provide electrical firing signaling to initiate detonation of explosives. Wireless blasting involves use of a remotely located master controller and a local slave wireless device connected to a blasting machine at the blast site, with the blasting machine being wired to an array of detonators. In wireless blasting systems, no wiring or lead lines are connected between the detonator array and the master controller, and the master controller can be positioned a significant distance from the blast site, such as 1-5 miles in one example. The blasting machine is normally turned on together with the slave controller as the operator walks from the blast area to the master controller site some distance away, where the blast sequence includes power up, verification and/or programming of delay times, arming and finally issuance of a “fire” command. The blasting machine provides sufficient energy and voltage to charge the firing capacitors in the detonators, and initiates the actual detonator firing in response to the fire command. During the firing phase, upon operator input at the master controller, a fire command is transferred from the master to the slave which then issues the final command to the blasting machine in order to fire the detonator array. Accordingly, improved techniques, systems and apparatus are desirable for improved safety in wireless remote blasting.
Various aspects of the present disclosure are now summarized to facilitate a basic understanding of the disclosure, wherein this summary is not an extensive overview of the disclosure, and is intended neither to identify certain elements of the disclosure, nor to delineate the scope thereof. Instead, the primary purpose of this summary is to present some concepts of the disclosure in a simplified form prior to the more detailed description that is presented hereinafter.
The disclosure relates to systems, methods and apparatus for electronic blasting, and provides improved blasting machine and slave bridge unit operation to facilitate improved safety and controllability compared with conventional wireless blasting. The disclosed apparatus provides remote blasting machine turn on and/or turnoff as well as reliable fire command issuance procedures using multiple fire command messages to facilitate improved safety and immunity from spurious noise. In certain implementations, the firing circuitry of the blasting machine is not powered up even though the branch lines or a lead line may be connected with the array of detonators, with the local slave bridge unit controlling the firing circuit power condition to apply power only if the bridge unit/master control unit wireless link is established. The fire command initiation process provides two or more fire commands issued by the slave bridge unit and properly received by the blasting machine in order to actually fire the control detonators. These devices and techniques thus advantageously facilitate safe blasting using remote wireless master control.
One or more aspects of the present disclosure relate to methods for wireless detonator blasting, including wirelessly receiving a wireless fire command message from a master controller at a wireless enabled bridge unit coupled with a blasting machine, and sending a first command message from the bridge unit to the blasting machine. The methods further include selectively sending a second fire command message from the bridge unit to the blasting machine in response to receipt of a fire command acknowledgment message from the blasting machine or after a predetermined period of time has elapsed since the first fire command message was sent. In certain embodiments, the second fire command message is sent to the blasting machine only if the fire command acknowledgment message is received within a predetermined time after the first fire command message was sent. In this manner, the method advantageously mitigates or avoids the possibility of a blasting machine inadvertently firing detonators based on receipt of noise or other spurious signaling, thereby facilitating safe, predictable remote wireless blasting. In addition, certain embodiments facilitate safe controlled operation during detonator verification and/or aiming using multiple messages from the bridge unit and corresponding acknowledgment from the blasting machine. In various embodiments, moreover, the bridge unit is used to selectively enable or disable the firing circuit of the blasting machine. This, in turn, facilitates manual connection of the blasting machine to the detonator array and connection of the slave bridge unit while ensuring that the firing circuit of the blasting machine is unpowered. Moreover, the ability to thereafter turn off power to the blasting machine firing circuit via the RF-enabled bridge unit advantageously allows blasting personnel to visit the blasting site for troubleshooting while ensuring that the blasting machine is incapable of firing any detonators.
Further aspects of the disclosure provide abridge unit for remote wireless operation of a blasting machine. The bridge unit includes a communications interface for connection to a blasting machine, as well as a wireless transceiver for interfacing with a master control unit, and at least one processor. The processor is programmed to receive a wireless fire command message from the master controller, to send a first fire command message to the blasting machine, and to selectively send a second fire command message to the blasting machine responsive to receipt of a fire command acknowledgment message from the blasting machine. In certain implementations, the bridge unit sends the second fire command message only if the acknowledgment of the first message is received from the blasting machine within a predetermined time. The bridge unit may be configured in certain embodiments to issue multiple command messages to the blasting machine for verification and/or arming operations, with the second or subsequent messages being sent only if proper acknowledgment is received from the blasting machine to ensure that these commands are initiated only when needed. Moreover, certain embodiments of the bridge unit involve the processor being programmed to selectively enable or disable the blasting machine firing circuit.
Still other aspects of the present disclosure involve a blasting machine with a communications interface for communicating with a connected bridge unit, as well as a firing circuit and at least one processor programmed to receive and acknowledge a first fire command from the bridge unit, and to selectively fire one or more connected detonators in response to receiving a second fire command message. In certain implementations, the detonators are fired only if the second fire command message is received from the bridge unit within a predetermined time period. The blasting machine processor in certain embodiments is programmed to verify the fire command messages and issue acknowledgment of the first message only if verified as correct and/or fire the detonators only if the second fire command is verified as correct. In certain embodiments, moreover, the blasting machine firing circuit can be selectively enabled or disabled by a connected bridge unit.
Further aspects of the disclosure provide an integrated wireless slave blasting machine having a wireless communications interface for communicating with a wireless master controller, as well as at least one processor and a firing circuit. The wireless slave blasting machine processor is programmed to fire connected detonators only if first and second firing messages are wirelessly received from the master controller. In addition, the wireless blasting machine is operative in certain embodiments to send a fire command acknowledgment message to the master controller via the wireless transceiver in response to receiving the first fire command message, and/or to selectively enable or disable the firing circuit in response to wirelessly receiving a remote turn on or remote turn off command from the master controller.
In accordance with further aspects of the disclosure, blasting machines, remote master controllers and methods are provided for preventing remote out of sync conditions in a wireless detonator blasting operation, in which the blasting machine sends the master controller a data packet with a data designation number and refrains from processing a received message command until the master controller sends back the data designation number.
The following description and drawings set forth certain illustrative implementations of the disclosure in detail, which are indicative of several exemplary ways in which the various principles of the disclosure may be carried out. The illustrated examples, however, are not exhaustive of the many possible embodiments of the disclosure. Other objects, advantages and novel features of the disclosure will be set forth in the following detailed description of the disclosure when considered in conjunction with the drawings, in which:
Referring now to the figures, several embodiments or implementations of the present disclosure are hereinafter described in conjunction with the drawings, wherein like reference numerals are used to refer to like elements throughout, and wherein the various features are not necessarily drawn to scale.
The slave bridge unit 20 is really housed in a suitable enclosure and operated by a battery 30, and may have an associated key 23 for operating the unit 20. The slave bridge unit 20 may alternatively or in combination be password-protected, requiring user entry of a password to enable bridge unit operation, and the key 23 may be omitted. One or both of the blasting machine 2 and the slave bridge unit 20 may also include various user interface features (not shown) allowing an operator to perform various operations by pressing buttons, and may provide a display screen or other output means by which an operator can receive data or messages. The slave bridge unit 20 includes a communications interface 28 allowing communication between the slave bridge unit 20 and the blasting machine 2 connected by a communications cable 12. In addition, the slave bridge unit 20 includes a microprocessor and associated electronic memory 26 that is operatively connected to the communications interface 28 as well as to a wireless transceiver 22 having an associated RF antenna 32. Moreover, the illustrated bridge unit 20 includes a power control circuit 24 operative to selectively enable or disable the firing circuit 4 of the blasting machine 2 by any suitable means, including without limitation provision of firing circuit power 14 and/or by providing a power gating control signal 14, 14a in order to control the provision of power to the firing circuit 4, examples of which are further illustrated in
The processors 6, 26 may be any suitable electronic processing device including without limitation a microprocessor, microcontroller, DSP, programmable logic, etc. and/or combinations thereof, which performs various operations by executing program code such as software, firmware, microcode, etc. The devices 2, 20 each include an electronic memory operatively associated with the corresponding processors 6, 26 to store program code and/or data, including computer executable instructions and data to perform the various functionality associated with blasting machine operation as is known as well as communications tasks and the various function set forth herein. The memory of the devices 2, 20 may be any suitable form of electronic memory, including without limitation RAM, EEPROM, flash, SD, a multimedia card, etc.
As further shown in
In the illustrated implementations, a single contact relay 16, 18 may be used, for example, to connect a positive DC power line to the firing circuit 4, or a relay 16, 18 may be used having multiple contacts, for instance, to selectively connect or disconnect multiple power lines to or from the firing circuit 4. In one possible implementation, the bridge unit processor 26 performs remote turn on of the firing circuit power by asserting the control signal 14 after connection of the bridge unit 20 to the blasting machine 2 only after a verified communications link 34 is established between the master control unit 40 and the slave bridge unit 20. In another possible implementation, the processor 26 of the bridge unit 20 is programmed to enable the firing circuit 4 via the power control circuit 24 and the signaling 14, 14a only upon receipt of a command message from the master controller 40 instructing the bridge unit 20 to apply power to the firing circuit 4. This operation advantageously allows blasting operators to leave the blasting site B before any powered circuit is connected to the detonators D. In addition, the provision of the power control circuitry 24 and selective enabling/disabling of the firing circuit 4 by the slave bridge unit 20 also facilitates remote turn off, whereby the slave bridge unit processor 26 is programmed in certain embodiments to remove power from the firing circuit 4 via the control signaling or messaging 14, 14a if the wireless link 34 between the slave bridge unit 20 and the master controller 40 is lost or if the master controller 40 sends a message via the wireless link 34 to the bridge unit 20 with a command to turn off power to the firing circuit 4.
Referring again to
Referring now to
In one possible remote wireless blasting procedure, electronic detonators D are programmed and logged using one or more loggers (not shown), with detonator delay times being programmed during the logging process, or such delay times may have been previously programmed. Thereafter, the detonators D are connected to each of their individual branch wires, and a logger may be used to verify that each detonator D in a specific branch is properly electrically connected. Detonator data may then be transferred from the logger to the blasting machine 2, such as by electrical connection of the longer (not shown) to the communications interface 8 for transfer of the detonator data. Branch wires may then be connected to the lead line wiring LL, where the lead line wiring LL may extend some difference from the detonator array A to the position of the blasting machine 2.
The process 100 begins at 102 in
At 108, the bridge unit 20 and the master controller 40 establish a wireless communications link 34 with the blasting machine firing circuit 4 still unpowered under control of the power control circuit 24 implemented in the slave bridge unit 20. At 110 in
Once it is determined at 112 that the wireless link 34 is operational and no turn off messaging has been received from the master controller 40 (NO at 112 in
At 130 in
Continuing in
In this manner, if the initial fire command message 174 was not properly received by the blasting machine 2, or if the communications interface 12 between the blasting machine 2 in the slave bridge unit 20 is inoperative or intermittent, the bridge unit 20 will not send a second or subsequent fire command to the blasting machine 2. Moreover, as discussed further below in connection with
Referring also to
At 212 in
The process 200 then continues at 220 in
The firing of the detonators at 232 can be by any suitable operation of the blasting machine using the firing circuit 4. For example, where electronic detonators D are used, the blasting machine 2 may issue a fire command at 232 in
The processor 26 of the wireless slave blasting machine 300 in certain embodiments is programmed to receive a first wireless fire command message (e.g., like command 172 above) from the master controller 40 via the wireless transceiver 22 using the wireless connection 34, as well as to receive a second wireless fire command message from the master controller 40, and to selectively fire one or more connected detonators D via the firing circuit 4 only after receiving both the first and second fire command message from the master controller 40 via the wireless transceiver 22. In certain embodiments, the wireless blasting machine 300 will only fire the detonators D if the first and second fire command messages are received from the master controller 40 within a predetermined time period. In certain embodiments, moreover, the wireless blasting machine 300 will send a fire command acknowledgment message to the master controller 40 via the wireless transceiver 22 in response to receiving the first fire command message 172. Moreover, the wireless slave blasting machine 300 in certain embodiments implements remote turn on/off, with the processor 26 being programmed to selectively enable or disable the firing circuit 4 (e.g., via the power control circuit 24 providing a relay control signal 14 to the relay 16 in
In certain related aspects, the master controller 40, and the processor 46 thereof, may be programmed to receive an input from an operator (e.g., via the user interface 44) for initiation of a firing operation, and to automatically wirelessly transmit first and second firing command messages via the wireless link 34 to the wireless slave blasting machine 300 of
In accordance with further aspects of the disclosure, the slave bridge unit 20 and blasting machine 2 (e.g.,
In accordance with further aspects of the present disclosure, the multiple fire command message concepts (and/or multiple verify and multiple arm message concepts), alone or in further combination with the associated predetermined times and/or acknowledgment message concepts, may be implemented in association with multiple slave bridge units 20 and/or multiple wireless enabled slave blasting machines 300 or combinations thereof. In this manner, a single master controller 40 can wirelessly control multiple bridge units 20 and/or multiple wireless blasting machines 300 with respect to detonator firing operations and other associated tasks such as verification and/or arming. Moreover, the remote turn on/turnoff features of the illustrated and described master controller 40, wireless slave blasting machine 300 and slave bridge units 20 can be implemented in systems having a single master controller 40 operatively coupled via corresponding wireless links 34 to multiple slave blasting machines 300, or multiple slave bridge units 20, or combinations thereof, by which the master controller 40 may selectively enable or disable multiple firing circuits 4.
Referring now to
If the blasting machine 2, 300 and the master controller 40 are synchronized properly with a functioning direct or indirect wireless communications link established, the master controller 40 receives the first message and processes the display data to update its own display, and sends a wireless “Data Designator” response message back to the blasting machine 2, 300 directly or through any associated slave bridge unit 20. The response message includes the data designation number originally transmitted from the blasting machine 2, 300 at 404 in
If, however, the blasting machine 2, 300 receives a data designator response before expiration of the timer (YES at 406) but the response does not include the correct data designation number (NO at 408), the blasting machine 2, 300 determines at 412 whether a predetermined maximum number of retransmissions of the display data packet has occurred. If not (NO at 412), the blasting machine 2, 300 sends another display data packet with the data designator command bite and a new data designation number at 414 to the master controller 40 (e.g., via a slave bridge unit 20 or directly), and returns to 406 to await a response from the master controller 40. If the blasting machine 2, 300 receives a response to the second message including the new data designator number (YES at 408), the requested verify, arm or fire command is processed at 410. In addition, this retransmission attempt processing at 406, 408, 412 and 414 can repeat until the predetermined maximum number of retries has occurred (YES at 412) or until the timer expires without receipt of a data designator response message including the most recent data designation number (NO at 416), in which case the blasting machine 2, 300 refrain from processing the verify, arm or fire command at 416, and may optionally shut down in the safe mode. In this manner, the master controller 40 and the blasting machine 2, 300 are ensured to be synchronized before performance of critical operations by the blasting machine 2, 300, and the display data presented to an operator at the remote master controller 40 correctly reflects the display data at the blasting machine 2, 300.
The above examples are merely illustrative of several possible embodiments of various aspects of the present disclosure, wherein equivalent alterations and/or modifications will occur to others skilled in the art upon reading and understanding this specification and the annexed drawings. In particular regard to the various functions performed by the above described components (assemblies, devices, systems, circuits, and the like), the terms (including a reference to a “means”) used to describe such components are intended to correspond, unless otherwise indicated, to any component, such as hardware, processor-executed software and/or firmware, or combinations thereof, which performs the specified function of the described component (i.e., that is functionally equivalent), even though not structurally equivalent to the disclosed structure which performs the function in the illustrated implementations of the disclosure. In addition, although a particular feature of the disclosure may have been disclosed with respect to only one of several implementations, such feature may be combined with one or more other features of the other implementations as may be desired and advantageous for any given or particular application. Also, to the extent that the terms “including”, “includes”, “having”, “has”, “with”, or variants thereof are used in the detailed description and/or in the claims, such terms are intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term “comprising.”
This application is a National Stage Entry of PCT/US2014/067880, and claims priority to, and the benefit of, US Provisional Patent Application No. 61/910,654, filed Dec. 2, 2013, the entirety of which is hereby incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein.
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/US2014/067880 | 12/1/2014 | WO | 00 |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
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WO2015/084707 | 6/11/2015 | WO | A |
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