Algorithms & Architecture for a Smart Drilling Rig

Drilling automation and digitalization is a concept that is being introduced into various aspects of drilling with an ultimate goal to fully automate the processes and minimize human intervention. To provide a proof of concept for new technologies applied in this process, testing and evaluation on a test bench is an important step. This task requires knowledge and expertise in petroleum engineering, cybernetics, electronics, mechanics, control engineering, computer science and data analysis. The paper attempts to provide such know-how and lessons-learned to the petroleum engineers who face similar challenges. In this paper we illustrate some aspects including software-hardware architecture and algorithms developed for a laboratory-scale intelligent drilling rig. The rig is programmed as a finite state machine consisting of a three-layered architecture: collection/reaction, execution and planning. It also has the capability of optimizing the drilling rate using real-time sensor data, classifying formations and mitigating several drilling incidents.