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Robots To Control Oil Drilling Platforms
Roland Piquepaille writes "In 2015, and if everything goes well, oil drilling platforms located offshore Norway will be controlled by robots. Even today, these platforms don't use many people. But the idea behind the new platform concept is to install large modular process sections in unmanned areas to allow access by one or more robotic manipulators. In a few years, operators should be able to remain on land and to remotely control the oil drilling platforms. Obviously, this should reduce risks and costs. Tests have already started in a new laboratory in Trondheim. According to the plans, the researchers have 8 years in front of them to deliver the robotic tools able to control these very expensive platforms. But read more for additional references and pictures."
Makes you wonder why freighters aren't robotic. You'd have to load human pilots for the relatively short hop from international waters into port but there wouldn't seem to be any reason to have a full time crew. GPS, satellite communications, video cameras, radar, infrared...it would be near real time, at least at the speeds a freighter moves. If something goes wrong helo a repair crew out and fix it.
Without the need to accommodate a full time human crew you could weld a cover over the top and seal it. Modern freighters are pretty automated these days, just take the next step. If they can automate a frickin oil rig, they should be able to automate a freight container.
That's our life, the big wheel of shit. - The Fat Man, Blue Tango Salvage
There are various stories of North Sea Oil platforms which were designed to be "remote controlled" but ended up being manned. Its pretty hard when you have a some conflicting gauge readings and you want someone go check. Eventually it is cheaper to man the platform rather than try to find someone to go out, learn the plant, and check those conflicting readings. Humans are very flexible and good at adjusting to a system that does not operate exactly as planned.
I am reminded of a story my Dad told me from when he used to maintain radio equipment for drillers operating in the desert in the Middle East. He used find that the power supplies for the Radios were burnt out, and usually the output power valves were blown.
Eventually he found out that when the drilling rig was sticking, ie the bit had hit something hard and couldn't turn, the Toolpusher would go and increase the voltage on the camps inverter, so that instead of 240Vac, you would have around 300Vac. This would give the drill motor enough power to get the bit turning again, but of course blow all the comms equipment.
The driller is a different type of animal to the computer geek in my experience, and he speaks a totally different language, so it will be interesting to see how the computer controlled drilling system copes with , for example, when "greedy drillers create wooly sheep which block the shark hoses", as I read in our toolpushers report while I was fixing his PC yesterday (yes worked through Christmas Day).