BlastIQ™ Design for Outcome Tools – Configuration Dashboard

Optional functionality is provided to enable the creation of blast plans within the BlastIQ^TM environment.

This functionality is for users of the Design for Outcome Tools that do not subscribe to the Standard BlastIQ^TM Insights offering (BlastIQ^TM Control), and thus do not have access to the standard methods for blast plan creation.

The Post-drill Classification of Blastability is informed by the analysis of observed Measure While Drilling (MWD) data.  An integration with the sites drill systems supplying this MWD data is built during the commissioning of the Design for Outcome Tools for that site.  This MWD data is automatically matched to corresponding blast-holes within a blast plan, hence the blast plan must be in existence (created) within the BlastIQ environment to facilitate this data matching process.  It is recommended that blast plans be created within BlastIQ^TM prior to the commencement of blast-hole drilling in the field.

To create a new blast plan via the file import functionality available within the Configuration Dashboard:

1. 1. Click on the "Create new Blast Plan via .csv file import" option.

      

      A File Explorer window will open, enabling local browsing for, and selection of a file.

   2. Browse through your local directories to the directory containing the.csv formatted file defining your new blast plan.

   3. Select the file and then click Open.

      Alternatively, a file can be dragged (click and drag a file on your Desktop or within your File Explorer) onto the "Create new Blast Plan via .csv file import" option directly to automatically start the file import and blast plan creation process.

      

   4. Confirm the "unit of measure" for the data contained within the import file, select Metric or Imperial to complete the file import and blast plan creation process.

      

   5. Should a user attempt to import a plan that already exits, a warning modal will be displayed.
      • Clicking "Confirm" will result in the complete replace of the existing plan's state, causing the loss of any work within ShotPlus.

      

   6. If no existing plan is found and the provided .csv file contains the correct data, including format and contents, a new blast plan will be displayed in the Map view area of the dashboard.

   7. Visually confirm the blast plan contents.

      

   8. Click Save to complete the creation of a new blast plan within BlastIQ^TM, or click Cancel to terminate the creation of this new blast.

      

      Blast plan creation will not be completed unless Save is selected following the file import process.

The .csv formatted file defining the blast plan details for creation must contain the following fields and header information, and include 1 record (row) per blast-hole within the blast plan:

1. • plan_name - the identifier/name for the blast plan being created

   • hole_name - the identifier/label of the blast-hole
   • hole_type - the text label of the hole type for the blast-hole (optional)
   • material_type - the text label of the material type for the blast-hole (optional)
   • design_diameter - the planned hole diameter of the blast-hole
   • design_hole_length - the planned length of the blast-hole
   • design_collar_x - the planned easting (x-coordinate) of the blast hole collar position
   • design_collar_y - the planned northing (y-coordinate) of the blast hole collar position
   • design_collar_z - the planned elevation (z-coordinate) of the blast hole collar position
   • design_bearing - the direction (bearing or azimuth) in which the blast-hole is to be drilled
   • design_angle - the planned angle (dip) of the blast-hole
   • grade_z - the bench grade (or target elevation) for the planned blast (note: this value is important to ensure correct blast-hole volume calculation within BlastIQ^TM)
   • comment - an additional text comment that can be associated with the blast-hole (optional)

An example of a correctly formatted .csv file suitable for blast plan creation via the file import functionality is shown below.

An incorrectly formatted file, or a file with missing (required) fields will return an exception, display an error message notifying the user of the issue and any suggested corrective measures, before terminating the blast plan creation process.

The Design for Outcome Configuration Dashboard allows users to select and configure blasts enabling the Post-drill Classification of Blastability.

To view the Configuration status of a blast:

1. 1. Click on the “Select a blast” drop-down menu found in the upper-right corner of the Configuration Dashboard to expand the selection list. 

      

   2. Select one blast from the list of available blast plans to view the configuration status for that blast.

      Blasts will appear in this list sorted by firing date (most recent first), then by Blast Name.  Unfired blasts will appear before fired blasts.

To change the Configuration status of the selected blast:

1. 1. Click on the “DfO Classification Required” drop-down menu found immediately below the “Select a blast” drop-down menu to expand the selection list. 

      

   2. Select from the available options, Yes or No.

      No is pre-selected by default initially for all blasts.  Selecting Yes indicates that a Post Drill Blastability Classification is required for this blast.

   3. Upon selecting Yes, the “Classification Type” drop-down menu will appear immediately below the “DfO Classification Required” drop-down menu.

      

   4. The type of classification must then be set for that blast.  Click on the “Classification Type” drop-down menu to expand the selection list.

      Select from the available options, Basic or Advanced.

      Basic is pre-selected by default initially for all blasts.  The differences between a Basic and Advanced classification are described further below.

   5. Following any edit to, or modification of the configuration status for a selected blast, ensure to select Save to confirm and store the configuration change, or Cancel to discard the configuration change.

      

The Basic configuration setting will result in a single classification of blastability per blast-hole based upon the available, interpreted Measure While Drilling (MWD) data observed for the blast-holes within the Blast plan. 

The output of the Basic blastability classification is useful for informing simple charging designs consisting of a single bulk explosive and/or single explosive deck per blast-hole.

The Advanced configuration setting will result in a classification of blastability that varies along the length of each and every blast-hole based upon the available, interpreted Measure While Drilling (MWD) data observed for the blast-holes within the Blast plan. 

The output of the Advanced blastability classification is useful for informing charging designs consisting of a multiple bulk explosive decks positioned within the blast-hole to cater for variation in rock properties at depth within the blast bench.

Upon selection of a blast (or creation of a blast, if using the optional Blast Plan creation function) for configuration, a Map of the selected Blast Plan will be displayed, showing the location of all blast-hole collars within the blast plan.

The purpose of this Map view is to enable users:

• • to visually confirm that the correct blast has been selected, prior to modifying any configuration settings for that blast, or
  • to visually confirm that the correct data has been imported when creating a new blast plan using the optional Blast Plan Creation (via file import) functionality.

A number of different options are provided enabling the interaction with, and interrogation of the selected blast plan.

Hovering the mouse over a displayed blast-hole collar will reveal details of that blast-hole including:

• • The blast-hole’s name or identifier.
  • The blast-hole's geometry definition.

Pan and Zoom functions are enabled within the Blast Map, these are accessed via the Plot Toolbar.

The Plot Toolbar is visible in the top-right corner of the Blast Map when hovering the mouse anywhere over the Map window.

Each item within the Plot Toolbar enables the following action after selection:

• • Download Plot. Save the current Plot View as an image file (.png format).

  • Pan. Use a click (left-mouse button) and drag action to Pan the view.
  • Zoom In. Click this to zoom in one level.
  • Zoom Out. Click this to zoom out by one level.
  • Reset Axes. Click this to reset the view back to the original default view state (i.e. a view zoomed and centred on the selected blast).

Additional Pan and Zoom functionality is also enabled using only mouse and keyboard controls:

• • To Zoom In on an area of interest within a Blast Map, utilise a click and drag action with the mouse to define the region of interest to zoom in on. Whilst holding the left-mouse-click and dragging, the region of interest will be highlighted within the view, upon release of the mouse-click, the view will update too the new zoomed extents.
  • Double-clicking the left-mouse button anywhere within the Blast Map view will reset the view back to the original default view state (i.e. a view zoomed and centred on the selected blast).
  • To Pan the Blast Map, depress the SHIFT key on your keyboard, whilst depressed use a click and drag action (SHIFT + left-mouse-click and hold) to Pan the view.