Automating complex tasks in unforgiving environments

摘要

As downhole conditions continue to become more difficult and well profiles more complex, some contractors and operators are introducing systems that aim to move the drill floor from mechanization to automation. In the popular imagination, a truly automated drilling unit is one that is manned by one human and one dog. The human is needed to feed the dog and the dog to keep the human from touching anything. For those earnestly engaged in developing automated drilling processes, however, the guiding image is not the human-free robot-controlled assembly plant but the airplane autopilot system that advises the pilot and, when appropriate, autonomously flies the airplane.