Used Drill Rig Automation: What Buyers Must Verify Before Purchase

1. Why automation now matters to used-equipment buyers

Epiroc published autonomous SmartROC D65 field-test results in 2023, while Epiroc and Sandvik offer scalable systems ranging from onboard assistance to remote and autonomous operation. This makes digital capability commercially relevant in the secondary market, but it also creates a new risk: a familiar model name, screen or joystick does not establish which options were installed on one individual machine.

• Operator assistance and automatic drilling
• Remote operation outside a hazardous area
• Autonomous positioning and drill-pattern execution

2. Separate assistance, remote control and autonomy

Automatic levelling, rod handling, target-depth drilling, anti-jamming, hole navigation and reporting are different capabilities. Remote control adds communication and safety-zone equipment; autonomous work adds further control, positioning and access-management requirements. A rig may have a compatible control platform without the hardware or active licence for the highest level.

Turn each sales description into an acceptance statement. For example, specify whether automatic drilling controls only one hole after manual positioning, whether remote control includes tramming, and whether a drill plan can be uploaded and executed. This prevents a basic operator-assistance function from being priced as fleet autonomy.

• Ask what the rig performs, not whether it is simply automated
• Record standard versus optional functions
• Confirm production-year and market variations

3. Request a serial-number-specific configuration

Obtain a written manifest showing the control-system generation, display and controller numbers, software version, active options, GNSS equipment, depth and angle sensors, rod-handling functions, cameras and remote receiver. It should also list every remote station, server, access-control component and network device included in the sale. A generic model brochure cannot replace this record.

Use an evidence hierarchy: an OEM build record or authorised-service report is stronger than a menu screenshot, and a successful unit-specific test is stronger than a seller's verbal statement. Where sources conflict, record the conflict and obtain a written resolution instead of choosing the more favourable version.

• Photograph option and diagnostic screens beside the serial plate
• Confirm licence ownership and expiry
• List excluded hardware as clearly as included hardware

4. Run a controlled functional test

Where site rules allow, begin with a cold start and stored-fault review. Test feed alignment, depth measurement, automatic rod handling and drilling to a defined target. Compare displayed depth with a physical check, then export an as-drilled record. If remote operation is included, test it only inside an approved exclusion zone with competent personnel, functioning emergency stops and the required access-control system.

Agree the pass criteria before the test: target-depth tolerance, sensor agreement, completed rod sequence, report generation and response to a simulated safe interruption. Record who operated the rig, the ground and hole conditions, and any manual intervention. Without that context, a short demonstration may be impossible to reproduce at the buyer's site.

• Keep an unedited video and screenshots
• Mark every untested function as not tested
• Do not demonstrate autonomous tramming without an approved safety plan

5. Confirm what can transfer to a new owner

The machine is only one part of an automated system. Verify whether licences, portal rights, drill-plan software, calibration files, manuals and configuration backups can legally and technically transfer. Do not accept a previous owner's shared password. Ask the OEM or authorised service provider to explain account reassignment, software support, updates and commissioning at the destination.

• Account and subscription transfer
• Training and local technical support
• Backup, calibration and cybersecurity procedure

6. Test the business case at the destination

Automation creates value only when it solves a defined site problem, such as reducing exposure near a high wall, improving hole accuracy or maintaining production across shift changes. Include GNSS correction, wireless coverage, survey data, training, sensors, software and specialist support in the cost model. A simpler rig with dependable local parts may be the better purchase when advanced systems cannot be maintained.

Set a baseline before claiming a benefit. Useful measures include accepted holes per shift, positioning time, re-drilled metres, idle time, operator exposure hours and automation-related downtime. Compare those values after commissioning over enough shifts to account for geology, operator learning and normal production variation.

• Connect each feature to a measurable operating result
• Budget infrastructure and lifecycle support
• Compare enabled cost with the cost of operating without the feature

7. Evidence limits and buyer responsibility

OEM references in this guide explain industry systems only. They do not prove that any unit advertised on this website has the described automation, condition or performance. Verify the exact machine, serial number, installed hardware, active licences and test results before relying on a feature in a purchase decision.

• No feature is confirmed by the cover image
• No OEM claim is a unit-specific warranty
• Use an independent specialist where the function affects safety or project economics