The current state of exploration drilling technology and the planned ways of its development indicate that in the coming years the existing mechanical methods of rock destruction and among them rotary drilling will prevail. The first priority tasks are mechanization of all labor-intensive operations and transition to automation of drilling processes. It is necessary to accelerate mechanization of sinking of shallow wells, as up to 1 million meters of shallow wells are drilled manually every year. It is especially unfavorable in this respect in engineering and surveying works. These works require very transportable rigs, as often boreholes are drilled along the railroad bed with large train traffic. Vibratory drilling, auger drilling should be more widespread in the near future.