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Thoughts on Complexity and Reliability by Britt Storkson Owner, P2FlowLLC As a computer controls developer, I am constantly amazed (and often dismayed) at the complex, very costly computer control systems I am asked to evaluate from time to time. Often, these are one-of- a-kind creations whose functions exist solely in the minds of the programmers/devel- opers. If they retire, move away, or oth- erwise expire, the owner must scrap the entire system and start over again - at great expense - even if the problem is nothing more than a blown fuse. One of the things which motivated me to learn how to develop computer controls was rebellion. I rebelled against the status quo of using a complex, difficult computer to do simple tasks. Sure, the computer has its place, but using a complex machine to do a simple task presents and exacerbates all sorts of problems. User confusion goes up while durability, reliability, and repeatability goes down. And the trending is exponential, not linear. Twice the complexity results in at least four times the confusion. Perhaps the following quotes explain some of this: “Increasingly, people seem to misinterpret complexity as sophistication, which is baffling - the incomprehensible should cause suspicion rather than admiration. Possibly this trend results from a mistaken belief that using a somewhat mysterious device confers an aura of power on the user.” ~ Niklaus Wirth “Simplicity is hard to build, easy to use, and hard to charge for. Complexity is easy to build, hard to use, and easy to charge for.” ~ Chris Sacca One day, I was called to check out a water pump that wasn’t working right. The system was more than just a simple pres- sure switch as it had a few more things attached to it, but it wasn’t super complex. I asked the maintenance people how the system worked when it was working right. They didn’t know. They called the architect who was responsible for coordinating the various mechanical and electrical systems when the building was built. They didn’t know either. How was I going to make the system work right when I did not know how it was when it was working right? That’s when I decided to build water pump control systems to serve a specific function. For example, if a customer needed a one-pump on-off pump function with time delays for stability, that’s all they would get. It’s also all they needed to know. Likewise, if the customer needed a two-pump alter- nating control, meaning when the pump turned on, pump 1 would come on. When it turned on again, pump 2 would come on, and so on. That’s all they would get. It’s also all the customer needed to learn. The control unit contained nothing more to confuse the customer. If we can use two wires to detect whether a fluid level is above or below a certain point, why not do it? If it’s durable, reliable, and does what we need it to do, why go any further? Britt Britt Storkson may be contacted via e-mail to michele@worldwidedrillingresource.com Canada Dealmakers Donnald and Simon (far left & far right) from Nordic Drill / Puitbec Group of Québec, were pleased to stand with John and Kevin of Insitu Contractors, Inc. of Ontario, who purchased a Nordic Drill DRC-10-A. Nordic Drill / Puitbec Group Send your deals to: promotions@worldwidedrillingresource.com 23 WorldWide Drilling Resource ® SEPTEMBER 2016