An Ergonomic, Process Oriented Approach to Driller's Consoles

Abstract Technological advances in computer hardware, software and networks are being applied in new and productive ways every day. This paper describes how these advances can be applied to the drilling industry to create the next generation driller's console. By applying the techniques used when these advances were applied to industries such as commercial aircraft design and automated process control, a system is developed that allows the Driller, Assistant Driller and Electronic Technicians to monitor, control and maintain all of the elements of advanced, automated drilling machinery. This system presents only the data relevant to the current drilling process, while still providing access to any and all of the data at any time, thereby reducing information overload and creating a safer, less stressful, and more productive working environment. Conventional driller's consoles present all of the data and control mechanisms for every element of drilling machinery to the Driller and Assistant Driller at all times. Typically this data, in the form of switches, knobs, dials, meters, lights, indicators and joysticks, is integrated into the console with little regard to ergonomics and the prevention of information overload. The next generation system uses color LCD touchscreen workstations for the Driller and Assistant Driller that are designed to display the appropriate data and control mechanisms relevant to the current drilling process while always displaying alarm and interlock data in a clear and informative manner. The layout of the data for each drilling process, as well as the transitions between the processes, are designed to prevent information overload and minimize the effort required for the Driller or Assistant Driller to perform their tasks and access data. The result is a smaller, lighter, more ergonomically designed driller's console that focuses on functionality relevant to the processes of drilling as opposed to focusing on simply controlling the tools required to drill. P. 327