WorldWide Drilling Resource

The Future of Technology Adapted from Information by Volvo Construction Equipment Volvo Construction Equipment’s (CE’s) Building Tomorrowinitiative focuses on using imagination, hard work, and technological innovation to develop a cleaner, smarter, more connected world. The company has recently partnered with professional futurists to gather their forecasts for the industries the company’s customers work in, including construction, mining, and infrastructure. Students from the Columbia College of Hollywood will animate these visions of the future. Futurists forecast the coming trends in science, technology, and business. They help companies understand how the innovations of today will impact the industries of the future. Volvo CE recently engaged David Zach and Glen Hiemstra, known for their work with dozens of innovative Fortune 500 companies, to provide expert forecasts on where the industrial sector may be headed. Here is a sample of the technological forecasts for each industry: Road Infrastructure - Nanotechnology will allow roadways to be built from more resilient glass-like materials. Photogenic cells along roadways will capture solar energy, transporting it to local power grids. Self-healing epoxies will enable bridges and other metal structures to “heal” themselves from damage. Roadways will have embedded censors that provide road, weather, and traffic conditions. Sensors in construction equipment will provide data for predictive analytics and increase uptime. Construction - Buildings of all sizes will become increasingly modular, utilizing prefabricated elements. Entire rooms and the furnishings will be built in a specialized location, then installed at the job. Drones will be used to monitor construction sites, reporting critical data and visualizations. Entire neighborhoods will be 3D printed and completed with prefabricated elements. Mining - Autonomous and remote-controlled equipment will remove humans from dangerous situations. Humans will control mining equipment from remote locations via simulators providing tangible feedback. Automated, fully electric machines will handle repetitive duty-cycle work with no emissions. With programmed, autonomous machines, mining operations will work around the clock, while robots move in to pick materials from mine shafts using artificial intelligence to sort them. We will increasingly extract materials from the ocean, asteroids, and eventually other planets. “In order to build tomorrow, that means having a good sense of what tomorrow may look like,” said Stephen Roy, senior vice president for the Americas, Volvo CE. “While no one can be 100% certain about what the future has in store, these professional futurists can give us an educated guess based on the research, science, and economic trends we see today. We asked students from the Columbia College of Hollywood to animate some of these forecasts so that we have a vision of the possible future from those young persons who will soon inhabit it.” C&G 8 NOVEMBER 2020 WorldWide Drilling Resource ® Transitional and Substation Lighting Solutions Adapted from Information by Mineglow Most conventional lighting systems are not designed to function in the demanding and harsh conditions of the mining sector, with factors such as high ambient temperatures, high moisture, and being on continuously. Typical lighting in underground mines consists of evenly spaced fixtures, resulting in uneven light distribution with high and low spots of luminescence, causing glare and possible confusion. They are also high maintenance due to the short life span and ongoing need for replacement of components. The x-Glo LED strip lighting system is a low-maintenance product with a five-year warranty and an expected life span up to ten years. It is designed for a complete flood of luminescence to light up every crack and crevice in a 180-degree angle from ceiling to floor. There will never be any dark spots. The x-Glo low-voltage products are waterproof, fire retardant, easily installed, as well as impact and shock resistant. Not just for mines, they can be used for any commercial, industrial, or residential lighting solution. MIN First of Its Kind Adapted from Information by Mount Sopris Instruments The first fully digital MSI-360 Digital Camera from Mount Sopris Instruments works up to 6562 feet using standard 4conductor wireline and displays high-resolution downhole and side view video in real time at the surface on multiple phones, tablets, or laptops using the unit’s built-in Wi-Fi. Downhole sidewall and down view video are recorded simultaneously. It can be used on standard geophysical wireline, along with other groundwater tools such as resistivity, caliper, fluid conductivity/temperature, and natural gamma. Well inspectors can also take pictures while recording video. The downhole view is displayed next to two side view videos that each cover 180 degrees of the borehole wall. MSI-360 can be used for water well, pump, casing, pylon, caisson, and shaft inspection; equipment recovery and fishing; strata identification; and 4G remote monitoring. The company is also developing capability for this system on single conductor 1/8-inch and 3/16-inch wireline. WTR

RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDk4Mzk=