A Kinematic Collision Box Algorithm Applied for the Anti-Collision System of Offshore Drilling Vessels

Abstract

With the advances in technology and the automation of drilling platforms, the Anti-Collision System (ACS) has appeared as an affordable technology, which is intended to keep equipment on the drilling floor working harmoniously and to prevent the potential hazards associated with accidents. However, the specialty of the machinery on the drilling floor requires a distinguished structure for the ACS and a reliable collision-avoidance algorithm, which is not similar to any algorithm in other applications, such as automobiles and robotics. The aim of this paper is to provide a comprehension of the configuration of an ACS in an Integrated Drilling System and to develop a practical anti-collision algorithm that can be applied to the machine arrangement for an offshore drilling operation. By analyzing the motions and using kinematic parameters, such as the speed and deceleration information of drilling equipment, a kinematic collision box algorithm is developed to eliminate the limitation of conventional algorithms. While the conventional collision-avoidance algorithm uses a collision box with fixed size, the kinematic collision box algorithm uses a collision box with a flexible scale that can be correspond to the velocity and deceleration rate of the equipment. Several operating scenarios are simulated by a visual model of ACS to authenticate the functionality of the proposed algorithm. The operation of the top drive is an outstanding scenario. Only 2.25 s are required to stop the top drive from its maximum velocity, and a conventional algorithm uses this number to create a fixed bounding box. Also, the kinematic collision box algorithm uses the real-time data of velocity and acceleration to adjust the scale of the bounding box when the speed of the top drive increases from 0 to its maximum value. The simulation result illustrates the reliability and advances of the kinematic collision box algorithm in performing the collision-avoidance function in ACS compared to the conventional algorithm.