With ambitious renewable energy targets, Europe is undertaking a massive energy infrastructure overhaul. The EU aims to generate at least 42.5% of its energy from renewables by 2030, but some countries are aiming much higher. Germany is targeting 80% of its power from renewable sources by 2030 and 100% by 2035.
The energy transition will require significant investments in both generation and transmission infrastructure. The SuedLink project, for example, will see the construction of a 700-kilometer transmission line delivering wind-generated electricity from northern to southern Germany.
The MT60, the latest addition to AT-Boretec’s lineup, is the company’s largest horizontal drill rig with a drilling distance of up to 600 meters, depending on the type.
Horizontal directional drilling (HDD) equipment will be crucial for laying this new underground transmission infrastructure, and manufacturers such as AT-Boretec are investing to ensure their equipment is ready to perform. The German manufacturer produces a complete range of HDD products, including drilling rigs, trucks, tools, and mixing and recycling systems. The MT60, the latest addition to AT-Boretec’s lineup, is the company’s largest horizontal drill rig with a drilling distance of up to 600 meters, depending on the type. With this launch, the company now offers HDD rigs in performance classes from 11 to 60 tons, with models for normal soils as well as rock.
Problems on display
Drilling rigs are among the more control-intensive machines in the off-highway industry. The operator must select and carefully monitor many machine functions, from rod handling to pressure, rotation, mud pump power, and much more. The displays on these machines are the primary human-machine interface, enabling the operator to control every aspect of the drilling process.
AT-Boretec wanted to upgrade its HDD rigs with larger displays to improve ease of use for the operator, and to better and more easily visualize the vast amount of information the machines generate. The company was also on the hunt for a new supplier due to hardware problems with the incumbent product. Operators in the field were frustrated with the display’s touch capabilities. The device’s poor responsiveness ultimately impacted productivity, as navigating through menus and making selections took an unnecessarily long time.
The incumbent display’s touch responsiveness also lengthened commissioning time, which was compounded by challenges with the control software. AT-Boretec uses multiple types of diesel engines, electric motors, pumps, and hydraulic components in its different models, and it was a struggle to consolidate all options into a single program. This made software customization for different machine configurations a time-consuming ordeal. In essence, a new program had to be developed for every machine that left its production line.
Resolution in full view
AT-Boretec worked with its electronics integrator partner, ProCon automatic systems GmbH & Co. KG, to evaluate potential solutions. ProCon specializes in the development and production of electronic systems for a variety of machinery, including agriculture, construction, municipal, and forestry, and various industrial applications. ProCon recommended the Danfoss DM1200 display, a 12-in. fully configurable display designed for off-highway machinery. The DM1200 met the four application-critical criteria, which were outstanding touch responsiveness, even for operators wearing gloves; fast and reliable processing hardware to retrieve and visualize information from the CAN networks; a wide viewing angle; and a fast frame rate to display video feeds coming from the machines’ front and rear cameras.
The Danfoss DM1200 display — a 12-in. fully configurable display designed for off-highway machinery.
Also standard in new machines is the Danfoss HMR CAN Rotary, which complements the touchscreen display by providing efficient screen navigation and operation of machine functions through intuitive button control. The display works together with the HMR to ensure an ergonomic operator experience.
“The decision for the DM1200 display was due to the quality and technical features, as well as the good advice, support, and long-standing collaboration with ProCon,” said Andreas Willmes, operations development manager at AT-Boretec.
ProCon worked with AT-Boretec to design and program the display content according to their needs. Using the Danfoss PLUS+1 platform, ProCon designed new parameter-based software to enable the selection of all machine variants and options on the display, thus allowing the use of a single program across all its machines. During commissioning, technicians can select the specific engine or motor, mud pump, hydraulic system, pressure capabilities, levels of drilling rod storage, and other variables directly on the display. Today, approximately 230 parameters are selectable through the display, which effectively customizes the software to the machine and its components.
The initiative has delivered significant cost savings and efficiency improvements. Machine commissioning time has been significantly reduced from seven or eight days, a result of the display’s touch responsiveness, speed, simplification of menus and navigation, and the PLUS+1 software.
“In the past, commissioning was a long run because you always needed to develop a new program for the display. Now, thanks to PLUS+1 software programming, you have the parameters to get everything done, and it’s much, much faster,” said Kevin Herth, managing director at ProCon.
The display’s touch capabilities and viewing angle have vastly improved the operator experience. With field-adjustable machine parameters, operators have more control over machine performance.
The Danfoss display also improved fault diagnostics, which can deliver cost savings for customers through faster, easier service and reduced downtime. Errors and faults show in clear text on the display, in addition to red lights alerting the operator to a problem. The display makes it easy for the operator to see, at a glance, what the fault is and where it’s coming from.
The overwhelmingly positive feedback from customers highlights the overall success of the project, including significant improvements in operational efficiency, user-friendliness, machine performance, and cost efficiency.
“In the field, the customers really like it a lot because they have no problems with the display, even in harsh conditions such as direct sunlight. It’s working flawlessly,” Herth added.
Future-proofing HDD
ProCon and AT-Boretec’s collaboration continues today. Development work on new options and functions is constant, with new software versions released about once a month. Herth said the company is always bringing new ideas his way, with the next major update being the ability to display videos and images on the screen. With integrated infotainment features including a file viewer and media player, the Danfoss DM1200 remains a perfect fit for the application.
“Before the introduction of the DM1200, we faced the challenge of offering technological advances or further development for our customers that is also scalable for us as manufacturers in the future,” Willmes remarked. “By implementing the DM1200 in our HDD drilling rigs, we have achieved a significant increase in flexibility and are well-prepared for the future regarding new projects. In collaboration with ProCon, we have succeeded excellently in this project.”
Laying thousands of kilometers of new transmission lines will be no easy task. But HDD rigs, including AT-Boretec’s new MT60, will help ensure the work is carried out efficiently and with minimal disruption. Productivity will be key to meeting timelines, and with the help of ProCon’s engineering expertise and Danfoss’ robust components, AT-Boretec has ensured its machines are up to the task and ready to help Europe accomplish its energy transition.
Danfoss
www.danfoss.com
Resources: [1] https://energy.ec.europa.eu/topics/renewable-energy/renewable-energy-directive-targets-and-rules/renewable-energy-targets_en
[1] https://www.jacobs.com/projects/Germany-SuedLink
Filed Under: Displays • HMIs • operator interfaces • monitors