Prospects for the use of planetary mechanisms as executive bodies of robot drillers

The article describes the features and advantages of directional drilling technology used for the effective development of hard-to-reach deposits of solid minerals. Specialized drilling complexes, methods, and equipment are analyzed, including hydraulic downhole motors, rotary-controlled systems, drill string bottom layouts, and telemetry systems. The patented promising design solutions of devices for the formation of wells and tunneling robots are presented and analyzed, and the scope of their application in modern robotic mining complexes is outlined. From the point of view of the principle of mechanism formation according to L. V. Assur, the possibility and prospects of using multi-satellite planetary mechanisms as the executive body of drilling robots are substantiated. New constructive solutions for four- and five-satellite planetary mechanisms of a special structure are presented, in which the problem of uneven load distribution across satellites is solved. Despite the complication of the structural structure of the mechanisms, this design allows, by installing a rock-crushing tool on the satellites, to destroy the rock over the entire area of the well face with all cutting elements simultaneously, as well as to control directional drilling. Using the example of a dynamically balanced five-satellite planetary gear, the distribution of torque across the links of the mechanism is shown. The obtained research results are the basis for the development of a robot driller with an increased drilling speed in the rock.

Zhukov I. A., Verkhovskiy M. I. Prospects for the use of planetary mechanisms as executive bodies of robot drillers. MIAB. Mining Inf. Anal. Bull. 2025;(12-3):23—36. [In Russ]. DOI: 10.25018/0236_1493_2025_123_0_23.

I. A. Zhukov¹, Doct. Sci. (Eng.), Associate Professor, Head of Department of Mechanical Engineering, https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9068-3201, e-mail: tmmiok@yandex.ru
M. I. Verkhovskiy¹, Postgraduate Student, e-mail: s245064@stud.spmi.ru
¹ Saint Petersburg Mining University, 2, 21st Line, St Petersburg 199106, Russia

I. A. Zhukov, e-mail: tmmiok@yandex.ru

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