| Abstract |
Communication on the drilling floor needs a great deal of improvement. Currently, the operational vocabulary exists on a continuum from nonexistent or very broken to sometimes only moderately effective. Thus, a precise and unifying drilling language will unlock the most efficient operational flows ever seen at drilling sites. Improved communications will simultaneously eliminate the many human errors induced by the misinterpretation of words and phrases. Most importantly, this paper identifies the geothermal drilling sector as the best candidate for adopting such a revolutionary framework. Unfortunately, humans are on the quieter side of the current drilling revolution since technology, machines, and simulators are busy making all the headlines. But this is no surprise. For example, the latest drilling simulators are rapidly evolving past average hardware and simple computations. Thus, we propose that “human-in-the-loop†simulation training must be at the core of the industry’s future. Our research intends to forge the human and machine frontiers together. Secondly, a streamlined language package will shorten the learning curve for future verbal-computer interactions and machine-based task interpretation. Ultimately, our language training will improve the rig floor's communication, safety, and overall efficiency while enabling the first-ever interface to the “human-machine†drilling system axis. This paper proposes a new training concept that focuses on human skills as much as the technical requirements for drilling. This new “human-in-the-loop†concept aims to improve performance by facilitating more effective and precise interactions. The benefits will extend beyond simulated environments and out into the office and field. Standardized communication protocols are essential for the next generation of engineers to work safer and more efficiently, especially in remote operations. Plus, geothermal’s long-term viability underscores the necessity for earlier and widespread adoption. The concept proposed in this paper, the Universal Drilling Language, emphasizes the need to communicate commands, requests, affirmations, and more with precision and accuracy for a wide range of field personnel with various backgrounds. Concise language considers what is necessary, excludes the extraneous, and communicates it clearly – leaving no room for misinterpretation. The experimental and training process for improving language requires three stages: observing trainees’ intuitive phrases, inserting some “imperfect†phrases, and finally iterating to “perfect†speech. Our research pairs trainees and assigns each into one of two roles: Driller or Assistant Driller. The Driller handles the simulator controls while the Assistant Driller verbalizes some drilling parameter changes to the Driller. The research team will measure performance via time to drilling task completion, rate of drilling task completion, and subjective errors for the three distinct communication phases (Natural, Imperfect, and Perfect). While the existing intuitive vocabulary is not considered detrimental, we hypothesize that it still leaves too much room for interpretation. “Imperfect†phrases will suffer drastically, and the final Universal Drilling Language commands will yield the most consistent, fastest, and safest results. Altogether, this concept will ensure that the geothermal drilling sector progresses along the vocabulary continuum, creating a safer and more efficient working environment. |