Rig Controller Equipment Verification for Subterranean Operations
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
The increased use of robots in subterranean operations has led to a decrease in human supervision and feedback, necessitating improvements in robotic systems to ensure accurate detection and tracking of equipment characteristics and usage data during drilling and processing operations.
Innovation Solution
A system and method that utilize sensors and a rig controller to store pre-determined equipment characteristics, scan equipment on a rig, determine actual characteristics, and verify if the equipment matches the expected specifications, thereby ensuring the correct equipment is used for subterranean operations and logging usage data.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If robots are used to operate on and/or near a rig floor, then safety risks to personnel are reduced, but human supervision and feedback decrease
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements automated feedback mechanisms where sensors continuously monitor equipment characteristics and rig conditions, and the rig controller processes this data to verify equipment specifications and provide real-time information about operations status, replacing human supervisory feedback with automated sensor-based feedback loops
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces human supervision with an automated system comprising sensors that scan equipment, a rig controller that processes data, and verification mechanisms that compare actual equipment characteristics against expected specifications, substituting mechanical human oversight with an automated electronic monitoring system
2Measurement precision
If automated equipment verification is implemented, then equipment accuracy is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The rig controller serves multiple functions: it stores pre-determined equipment characteristics, receives and processes sensor data, determines actual equipment characteristics, compares measurements against specifications, and verifies equipment suitability for subterranean operations, consolidating what could be separate complex systems into a single multi-functional controller
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs self-verification by automatically scanning equipment with sensors, comparing detected characteristics against stored specifications, and determining whether equipment is appropriate for use without requiring external manual verification, enabling the system to service itself
Data Source
AI summary
A method and system for conducting a subterranean operation that can include storing, via a rig controller, pre-determined characteristics of a piece of equipment, for supporting the subterranean operation, in a unique data record associated with the piece of equipment; scanning, via one or more sensors, the piece of equipment on a rig; determining, via the rig controller, actual characteristics of the piece of equipment in response to the scanning via the one or more sensors; comparing, via the rig controller, the actual characteristics to the pre-determined characteristics; and verifying whether or not the piece of equipment is an expected piece of equipment needed to support the subterranean operation based on the comparing.