A method, a rock drilling equipment (1) a measuring device (10) for aligning a feeding beam (5) in the rock drilling equipment (1) with a drilling direction. In the method, an angle Sg(g) between the drilling direction (S.sub.p) and a direction (S.sub.t) defined by a fixed point selected as a point of sight (T) is measured and stored in a memory, and the feeding beam (5) is adjusted at the following holes so that it is positioned at an angle .beta. corresponding to the drilling direction (S.sub.p) measured with respect to a direction (S.sub.a) of a carrier (1a) by means of the point of sight (T). The measuring device (10) comprises two mutually turntable discs (11, 12) of which one is positioned to indicate the drilling direction (S.sub.p) and the other is turned in such a way that its measuring line points towards a fixed point serving as a point of sight (T), thus defining a reference line (S.sub.t).

The invention relates to a method of drilling holes in rock. In the method, holed (4a-4n, 6a-6n) are drilled in the rock (5) in order to break it into a desired shape. To drill the holes, the drill bit of a rock drilling equipment is positioned successively at the starting points of the holes at the ends of the rows of holes (4a-4n, 6a-6n) to be drilled, and the starting points of the holes are stored in the memory of a control unit provided in the rock drilling equipment. The control unit then calculates the position of the other holes in the row of holes on the basis of the end holes (4a, 4n, 6a, 6n) of the row and drills the holes automatically on the basis of preset drilling parameters, such as direction and depth.

A peripheral control device applicable in robotics for control of educational robots operated by stepper motors performs reliably positioning tasks of a great number of steps with a great number of axes controlled with different velocity and realizes, by means of digital inputs and outputs, a reliable connection with the technological equipment with minimum participation of the microprocessor which controls it. The device is controlled by a microprocessor and contains a buffer for addresses, a second buffer for control signals, a bidirectional buffer for data, a decoder, a register for digital inputs, a second register for digital outputs, a third register for availabilities, a fourth register for directions, a fifth register for movements, and a sixth register for the control of a programmable counter. The programmable counter sets the rotation velocities of the stepper motors. The device also contains an initial setting circuit, a monostable multivibrator, n stepper motor control units which receive and execute the positioning tasks, an n-channel shaper and a relays.

A rock drill having a tunnel profile control system comprising a boom assembly, a converting unit for converting the position of one of positioning points on an orthogonal coordinate system representative of the transverse section of a tunnel to be driven, into a respective value on a boom coordinate system, a positioning control for positioning the boom means according to a value from the converter unit, an ultrasonic distance measuring instrument mounted on the boom assembly for determining the distance between the position point and a point on the peripheral wall defining the tunnel, and an arithmetic unit which utilizes the distance measured between the positioning point and the point on the peripheral wall defining the tunnel, the direction of travel of ultrasonic waves, and the value of the positioning point to calculate, in terms of a value in the orthogonal coordinate system, a value of a measuring point on the transverse section of the tunnel.

A method of aligning the feeding beam (6) of a rock drilling equipment by gravity-operated sensors (7x, 7y) indicating the inclination of the feeding beam (6). In the method, the angle values (.alpha., .beta.) of the feeding beam (6), indicating by the sensors (7x, 7y) are corrected so that they correspond to the actual angles of inclination of the feeding beam (6). The rock drilling equipment comprises two gravity-operated angle sensors (7x, 7y) measuring inclination in two planes perpendicular to each other. The equipment further comprises a calculator (8) which calculates a difference between the angle value of one angle sensor (7x, 7y) and the actual angle of inclination of the feeding beam (6) in the direction in question on the basis of the angle value obtained by the other angle sensor (7y, 7x) and corrects the value so that it corresponds to the actual inclination of the feeding beam.