WorldWide Drilling Resource®

www.starironworks.com 257 Caroline Street Punxsutawney, PA 15767 800-927-0560 • 814-427-2555 Fax: 814-427-5164 SERVING THE WATER WELL INDUSTRY Serving the Drilling Industry upon start-up. For example, if you want a computer-controlled device to be “off” when you power it up, you must tell it to do so. Often, this is done within the initialization r outine. Since most static RAM* data contents are unknown upon start-up, if this is not done, the RAM data values controlling the on-off function could have it power up either on or off, and whether it powered up on or off would be totally unpredictable. A reset vector operation can be executed at other times besides power-up as well. Most well-designed computer systems have hardware** and software*** used for detecting abnormal program operation. If that happens, the reset vector is triggered, which forces the computer program to start over and almost always corrects the corrupted data so the program can operate cor- rectly. Most of the time, this is not transparent to the user . . . meaning the user is unaware this is happening and can use the computer as he or she normally would. All microprocessors have an external RESET pin so a hardware reset can be asserted using an external mechanical switch or other component. The problem with this approach is everything the microprocessor is doing instantly stops. I’ve worked in the technology industry, and one would not believe how many times incredibly expensive computer systems had to be reset. All or part of the system would be “locked up” and refused to work until it was reset. Any reset that requires operator intervention, in my opinion, constitutes an unac- ceptable failure and should be grounds for rejection and replacement of the equip- ment. We have been building computers long enough to know how to make sure they operate correctly without humans having to clean up their messes. We use many microprocessor-based products every day that never need to be RESET. It’s because most customers would not accept a product that needs to be RESET periodically. It has even been reported that pilots have needed to RESET autopilot computer in-flight - not a comforting thought for those whose lives depend on the computer to get them to their destination in one piece. That’s why I advocate the pilots fly the plane and the computer serve to make the pilots better, but that’s a conversation for another time. Of course, there will be rare exceptions where failures are not the fault of the equipment, but those will be excep- tions and not the rule as is now the case. The bottom line is, we build the equipment to operate as reliably as humanly possible. Anything less should be rejected out-of-hand. *RAM stands for Random Access Memory, which is volatile memory - meaning when powered up, the memory contents are unknown. **Hardware in a computer context is equipment that is physically present. It can be seen and touched. ***Software are the instructions and information (data) entered into the computer system. Britt Britt Storkson may be contacted via e-mail to michele@worldwidedrillingresource.com 20 APRIL 2020 WorldWide Drilling Resource ® Storkson cont’d from page 8. Thank you for your assistance, Ed. You are a pleasure to work with. Katie Englin Seametrics