Rotating equipment automation for directional drilling: Brain over brawn

This paper describes the development of Slider automated directional drilling technology and addresses the benefits, automation strategy, the challenges encountered, and the solutions developed over the last 8 years. The paper will examine the following topics: • Challenges a directional driller faces controlling a drilling rig while directionally drilling a well • How automation and control can simplify the execution of repetitive actions and enable the directional drillers to perform their job at a higher level • Benefits of automated drilling • Using automation to protect rotating equipment from damage that may be caused by manual operation, thereby decreasing equipment downtime • Developing automation system architecture that will enable the adaptation of various types of pipe rotating equipment • Field examples and a description of the widely accepted Slider technology in today's directional drilling world