Drillbotics®

Drilling Systems Automation

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FAQ re Human Factors

As you know, we introduced Human Factors (HF) to this year’s competition.  Several teams asked for clarification.  “Like previous years, are we still meant to only have a start button with an emergency stop button for the whole drilling process on the competition day? Or would you like to see us include a feedback loop with a yes/no flowchart, or even potentially manually override certain parameters if necessary?”

This applies to Appendix A, section D, for  both Group A and Group B entrants.

The committee wants you to be introduced to HF.  We do not expect you to become proficient in such a short time.  Keep it simple, but add HF to your process, not just your design.  Your understanding of these basics will look good on a CV or resume.

Students working with automated systems should learn about the risks and proper strategies to allow humans and machines to work together safely and efficiently.  Think about the human response in your alarm management scheme.

Consider how Human Factors should be integrated within an automated drilling process to improve your team processes and interactions with your model. You should include such items as:

Thinking about the real-world, on a fully automated rig, please describe in your report:

  1. Who are the operators interacting with automation and how do their characteristics impact the design of the automated process and information they receive.
  2. Which functions of the drilling rig are automated, and which are manual (refer to Ref. 2 in the Guidelines).
  3. What does an operator need, and how should the systems be designed to ensure the operator is in the loop at all times, with enough information to diagnose a fault efficiently and take back control to intervene.

 For your competition drilling rig, both physical and virtual, please assume that you (students) and the judges are the “operators” who monitor the drilling process. Please describe:

  1. How are you going to ensure that the operator remains ‘in the loop’ at all times?
    1. What information do operators need to effectively monitor drilling progress?
    2. How should this information be prioritised and presented.
  2. The ‘concept’ of your interface design. This can be as simple as a ‘wireframe’ drawing with pen and paper, but it should show an appreciation of Human Factors Relevant Good Practice.
  3. The workflow that your drilling rig will follow (very important as this will guide your interface design).
  4. The control and feedback needs for the operators. 

Regarding the use of the emergency stop button. Please describe:

    1. What information do you need to determine when to press the e-stop button.
    2. Using the alarm management philosophy references, outline what faults are monitored by the system, how they are prioritised and how they are presented to the operators.

Apply the considerations listed above into your design and design process.