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DWIS and Autonomous Drilling Demonstrated at Ullrigg

We recently completed a successful field demonstration of the D‑WIS platform combined with autonomous drilling at the Ullrigg test facility. The objective was to demonstrate real-time interoperability between systems from multiple vendors, and to validate D‑WIS as a common data infrastructure for drilling automation.

During the test, systems exchanged data through the D‑WIS blackboard architecture, allowing applications to automatically discover and use signals. This confirmed the principle “Develop once, deploy everywhere.”

The demonstration included the integration of several automation systems, including NOVOS from NOV, DrillTronics from Sekal, and an autonomous drilling model developed by NORCE. Together, these systems enabled a range of automated drilling functions such as pump and rotation control, rate of penetration (ROP) management, friction testing, and reciprocation procedures.

We also implemented safety and robustness mechanisms, including FDIR (Fault Detection, Isolation and Recovery) and safe operating envelope (SOE) limits, to ensure controlled and reliable operation. In parallel, additional measurements were successfully integrated into the system, including downhole pressure, torque and weight on bit (WOB), inline rheology provided by Halliburton, and cuttings monitoring at the shakers from DrillDocs.

A key outcome of the test was demonstrating that systems from different vendors can interact operationally without the need for custom point‑to‑point integrations.

Overall, the results confirm that D‑WIS provides a strong foundation for interoperable drilling automation systems.