Semi-automate layout creation and design using Deswik’s Auto Designer
Deswik.CAD features many tools to improve productivity by streamlining processes and automating repetitive design tasks. One of the lesser known, yet most powerful tools is the Auto Designer. Initially developed as the Auto Development Designer for quickly generating underground development designs, the tool has been extended to support a range of use cases for both underground and surface operations.
The Auto Designer takes a simple rules-based approach to allow users to construct rules sets representing design criteria or steps required as part of a repetitive task. Each rule can be configured to run commands for polyline manipulation, attribute assignment, filtering and moving or copying data between layers. Multiple rule sets can be configured and saved with the model and rerun at any time. Rule sets can be imported and exported between models or run through a Process Map as part of a larger workflow.
In addition to saving time by automating repetitive tasks, rule sets can be shared within the planning department and provide the following benefits:
- Reduce subjectivity — produce consistent designs using repeatable and auditable rules
- Reduce rework — rules are executed systematically ensuring all design criteria is met
- Flexible — rules can simply be rerun due to changes in design, conditions or requirements
- Integrated into Deswik.CAD — outputs from the Auto Designer can be directly incorporated into the Deswik mine planning process.
Design engineers at Boliden’s Tara Mine have been using the Auto Designer as part of a Process Map for development design for over 4 years.
“The more you customize with the Auto Designer, the more time it will save. Even drawing 2 straight polylines representing a truck bay and a remuck which intersects a centerline, between actually specifying the offset between them, ensuring the specific angle they need to go through, the correct length and other things, it may take a few minutes to do. Using the Auto Designer, you can reduce this time to seconds. It is a powerful efficiency tool, in which you can do much more in much less time.
The more complex the design is, the more time you can save. Even if you have to do small adjustments, it is still a huge time saver and it helps to have a common starting point which can be adjusted by each case. In addition to designs, it can be used to assign attributes so that when checking into MDM, the designers know the attributes have been assigned correctly.” – Borja Arias, Boliden
Example applications of the Auto Designer are listed below.
- Rapidly generate development or block layouts and panel designs
- Quickly generate sectional slices through a design or ore body for plotting
- Quickly vary Room & Pillar or Drift & Fill dimensions and design criteria
- Add auxiliary development to various strategic level designs.
The Auto Designer is part of the Deswik.AdvUGM, Deswik.AdvOPM, Deswik.AdvOCC and Deswik.AdvUGC modules.
For more information on the Auto Design tool, contact your nearest Deswik office.
