Remote Performance and Diagnostic Monitoring of Rig Machines
Nowadays operation of most of the Rig machines are automated with the help of PLCs. Rig machine will be fitted with few sensors and the Digital Inputs are connected to the PLC and the Digital Outputs are used for controlling the basic machine operation. PLC control only handles the very basic operation of the machine. Rig machines still have many problems related to operation and maintenance and no solution is available to address them. Rig owner may have multiple Rig machines running at various locations. Owners are looking for ways to cut operation costs and accurately monitor the performance of their machines at each location. Rig Machine manufacturers are looking for remote diagnostic capabilities so that they can easily and quickly diagnose, identify and correct the problems in the rig machines when problems occur. The machine operators don’t properly maintain a log book regarding oil change, running hours, filling diesel etc. Periodic maintenance is not done in time and no standard procedures are followed. To address the above problems, We have customized the eQVista system. eQVista system can be operated using any standard web browser as well as Android OS based Smart Phones.
Each Truck will be fitted with the eQBrick device. It gets the status of Flow, Pressure and Temperature sensors, Digital Inputs and Outputs from the PLC system. eQVista system can collect the data from few hundred to thousands of trucks that run at various locations. Using a simple browser based system, Rig Owners and their Site Managers can monitor the operating conditions of their Rigs. Real time operating conditions and performance data can be visualized. Normally the data is collected at a cyclic interval of 1 minute. The Rig Manufacturer can login this system for watching the machine performance as well as to do remote diagnostics should any problem be reported about the Rig Operation. During the diagnostics mode, the data from the rig machine will be fetched every 1 second so that the system operation can be carefully studied to diagnose the machine problems.
GPS Tracking
eQBrick device collects the location data from the GPS system every 1 minute and stores in the database along with Time & Date stamp. The GPS data corresponding to the truck movement history can be seen. The system monitors ENGINE START and ENGINE STOP events and automatically creates a TRIP RECORD for each START/STOP cycle. As soon as the engine is stopped, Geo Tagging message can be sent to the server along with the Latitude and Longitude details and Time/Date stamp. When the vehicle travels from one location point to its destination, all intermediate stoppages will be recorded and logged in the system.
Engine Data Monitoring
eQBrick device has a special interface so that it can directly communicate with the Engine Controller and collect important parameters related to the performance of the engine. Important parameters logged by the system have been shown below. These parameters provide tremendous value and very useful for generating many reports and calculating the exact operation cost for the job done at each site.
Engine RPM (RPM)
Vehicle Speed (KMPH)
Engine fuel rate (Litres Per Hour)
Distance travelled (KM)
Time run (Hr : Mn: Sec)
Run time since engine start (Hr: Mn: Sec)
Offline Operation
eQBrick system may not be always within the cell phone wireless network coverage area. Since rig machines mostly operate in rural and remote areas, it is quite possible the wireless coverage could be spotty. eQVista constantly checks if each eQBrick is within the wireless coverage area and reports events when a device goes offline. Whenever eQBrick goes outside offline, it starts logging the GPS, PLC and Engine parameters in the SD card. As soon as it comes back inside the coverage area, data stored in the SD card will be immediately uploaded to the eQVista server.
Accurate tracking of Diesel Consumption
It is needless to say that most of the operating cost will come from the Diesel Consumption for the rig machines. There is no easy way to accurately measure or compute the diesel consumption. Our system accurately computes the diesel consumption for traveling from the current place to the destination site. The system automatically computes the distance travelled as well. When the drilling operation starts, the site manager records START DRILLING event in the system. Once the drilling operation is completed, another END DRILLING event is recorded. eQVista computes the exact volume of diesel consumed for this drilling operation. When Diesel is filled up, the Driver or Site Manager must record this in the system. With this system in place, DIESEL THEFT will not happen as the Rig Owner can very easily find out if the employees try to cheat the owner.
Trip Records
eQBrick device performs many operations that are very advanced. It keeps monitoring the Engine operations continuously and automatically generates Trip Records. When ever the Engine is started, new Trip Record is created and as soon as the engine is stopped, the Trip Record is closed and saved in the system. The Trip Record will have the following set of data.
Vehicle License Plate
Trip counter No
Trip Date (Day: Month : Year)
Trip Start Time (Hr :Min: Sec)
Run time for this trip (Seconds)
Distance Travelled for this trip (KMs)
Fuel consumed for this trip (Litres)
Average Mileage Realized (KMs per Litre)
Vehicle Maintenance
eQVista comes with advanced features so that problems noticed in the Truck or the Machine can be instantly entered by the driver. This could be done using the mobile application or by sending SMS messages to the server. Also when vehicle is sent for periodic maintenance or breakdown maintenance, that data can be entered. The maintenance and repair expenses can be entered as well. The system keeps the complete maintenance and repair history as well as expenses history. With this system, the vehicle owner can see the vehicle operations cost as well as maintenance and repair costs. The system will show a dash board and indicate all these data. This provides a great value to the business owners. The next maintenance due date will also be indicated.
About Indusmation
Our Principle has been a leader in offering advanced mobile enterprise software solutions using barcode/RFID technologies since 2001. Indusmation specializes in offering solutions for applications such as Manufacturing, Supply Chain Management, Asset Tracking, Maintenance Management, Healthcare, Warehousing, Distribution etc. Our mobile solutions are supported in Windows Mobile devices as well as Smart Phone platforms such as BlackBerry, Android, iPhones, Nokia and others. Indusmation team has excellent experience in offering industry specific mobile solutions to process industries like Cement, Steel, Paper, Oil-Gas, Power and Mining. Our solutions help to extend the ERP right to the smart phones and empower users to work more efficiently and help companies to improve the bottom lines. Indusmation offers a full spectrum of Consulting Services, Software Development/Customization, Hardware Configuration, System Integration, Implementation Services, Training, Post Implementation support and Maintenance services. For additional information please contact at info@indumation.com visit our website at www.indusmation.com for additional information.
