OptiClino
Camera-based drill rig alignment and positioning system for underground longhole mining.
Setup Accuracy
0.58° / 202mm at toe over 20m holes
Target Market
Underground Mining
The Customer
OptiClino is a Perth-based mining technology company founded by Jollan Kingsley and Adam Amos as a joint venture between Innovative Blasting Technologies (IBT) and Robotic Systems. IBT brings deep expertise in production hole surveying and drilling accuracy in underground mines, while Robotic Systems contributes machine vision, software and ruggedised hardware development.
The Problem
Longhole drill rigs are traditionally aligned by lining the boom up on painted survey marks, a process that depends heavily on operator skill and keeps surveyors busy remarking drives. Even rigs fitted with OEM navigation packages or fibre optic gyro systems average well over a degree of setup error — enough to push a 20 metre hole half a metre off target at the toe, hurting fragmentation, dilution and recovery.
The Technical Solution
Our team of software developers, electrical engineers & industrial designers worked with IBT to develop a camera-based alignment system with the following key features:
Camera-based positioning from existing survey wall stations, with no painted marks required
Tablet guidance that walks any operator onto the planned dip, dump and collar position
Bolt-on retrofit for any drill rig with every setup recorded as-drilled — no rig replacement, no OEM lock-in
The Outcome
Across 9,189 production holes surveyed at 29 Western Australian underground mines in 2025, OptiClino setups averaged 0.58° / 202mm at the toe of a 20 metre hole — roughly twice the accuracy of fibre optic gyro systems (1.33°) and OEM navigation packages (1.46°). For more information visit OptiClino.
