Sany has released the latest generation of its SWDR series rotary drilling rigs, featuring a fully integrated "Intelligent Verticality Control" system. In foundation construction, ensuring the drilling mast is perfectly vertical is critical. Traditionally, this requires surveyors to set up optical levels and guide the operator manually, a process that is slow and prone to human error, especially in low visibility or adverse weather.
The Sany system utilizes a dual-antenna GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) receiver mounted on the top of the mast, combined with an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU). This setup calculates the absolute tilt of the mast relative to the Earth's geoid. The system is linked to the machine's electronic control unit (ECU). If the operator engages the "Auto-Vertical" mode, the system takes over the crowd cylinder and the parallel cylinder. It automatically adjusts the mast angle, making micro-corrections to compensate for ground settlement or machine tilt.
The engineering breakthrough is the "Prediction Algorithm." The system predicts the future tilt based on the current drilling torque and crowd pressure. If the drilling tool encounters a hard rock layer on one side, causing the mast to tilt, the system anticipates this deviation and pre-loads the leveling cylinders to counteract the torque reaction. This ensures that the pile hole remains perfectly straight even when drilling through highly uneven strata. The system records the verticality data for every centimeter of depth, generating a digital quality report for the project engineer immediately after drilling is complete.
