Patent Publication Number: US-2016222775-A1

Title: Unified control system for drilling rigs

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/109,923, which was filed Jan. 30, 2015, and is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     This disclosure relates to drilling rigs and, more particularly, to a unified control system for drilling rigs. 
     A drilling rig may include a number of unintegrated systems for performing various operations of the drilling rig. For example, drilling operations, pumping operations, hoisting and rotating operations, and other operations may be performed using different discrete systems. Each discrete system may include different components, such as controllers, for implementing the operations. The components of such systems may be provided by different entities (e.g., companies, operators, etc.). Moreover, operations performed on the drilling rig may be performed by different entities, and each entity may have varying degrees of communication with other entities or systems present at the drilling rig (i.e., an entity might not have access to another entities&#39; system, or an entity might not have the ability to control another entities&#39; systems). Additionally, the control of a drilling rig could involve multiple entities and the ability to control drilling rig systems might be limited to onsite access at the drilling rig. 
     SUMMARY 
     Embodiments of the disclosure may provide a method for a drilling rig. The method includes receiving, at a rig controller, data from a plurality of rig subsystems, and determining, at the rig controller, a first command based at least partially on the data from the plurality of rig subsystems. The first command is related to an operating parameter of a first device of a first one of the plurality of rig subsystems. The method also includes transmitting the first command to a first subsystem controller of the first one of the plurality of rig subsystems. The first subsystem controller is configured to control the first device and implement the command. 
     Embodiments of the disclosure may also provide a method for a drilling rig. The method includes receiving, at a control system, sensor data from a plurality of subsystems, each of the plurality of subsystems including a subsystem controller. The method also includes determining, at the control system, a command for a device of the drilling rig based on the sensor data from at least two of the plurality of subsystems. The device is controlled by the subsystem controller of one of the plurality of subsystems. The method also includes transmitting data representing the command to the subsystem controller of the one of the plurality of subsystems. The data is configured to cause the subsystem controller of the one of the plurality of subsystems to implement the parameter adjustment 
     Embodiments of the disclosure may further provide a system for a drilling rig. The system includes a computing resource environment located at a drilling rig, the computing resource environment including a control device. The system also includes a human-machine interface for receiving a first command from a user. The control device is configured to receive sensor data from a plurality of subsystems of the drilling rig and to provide control commands to a plurality of subsystems based upon the sensor data and the first command. 
     The foregoing summary is provided to introduce a subset of the features discussed in greater detail below. Thus, this summary should not be considered exhaustive or limiting on the disclosed embodiments or the appended claims. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Various aspects of this disclosure may be better understood upon reading the following detailed description and upon reference to the drawings in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic diagram illustrating a drilling rig and an example unified control system in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure; 
         FIG. 2  is a block diagram illustrating an example unified control system for a drilling rig in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure; 
         FIGS. 3A and 3B  are block diagrams providing example control processes via the unified control system of  FIG. 2  in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure; 
         FIG. 4  is a block diagram depicting the addition of an example offsite user device to the unified control system of  FIG. 2  in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure; 
         FIG. 5  is a block diagram depicting example networks of the unified control system of  FIG. 2  in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure; 
         FIG. 6  is a block diagram of an example control process via an example unified control system for a drilling rig in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure; 
         FIG. 7  is a diagram of rig crews of a non-unified control system and a unified control system in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure; and 
         FIG. 8  illustrates a schematic view of a computing system in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Reference will now be made in detail to specific embodiments illustrated in the accompanying drawings and figures. In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the invention. However, it will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that the invention may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures, components, circuits, and networks have not been described in detail so as not to unnecessarily obscure aspects of the embodiments. 
     It will also be understood that, although the terms first, second, etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another. For example, a first object could be termed a second object or step, and, similarly, a second object could be termed a first object or step, without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. 
     The terminology used in the description of the invention herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting. As used in the description of the invention and the appended claims, the singular forms “a,” “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will also be understood that the term “and/or” as used herein refers to and encompasses any and all possible combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. It will be further understood that the terms “includes,” “including,” “comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. Further, as used herein, the term “if” may be construed to mean “when” or “upon” or “in response to determining” or “in response to detecting,” depending on the context. 
       FIG. 1  illustrates a conceptual, schematic view of a control system  100  for a drilling rig  102 , according to an embodiment. The control system  100  may include a rig computing resource environment  105 , which may be located onsite at the drilling rig  102  and, in some embodiments, may have a coordinated control device  104 . The control system  100  may also provide a supervisory control system  107 . In some embodiments, the control system  100  may include a remote computing resource environment  106 , which may be located offsite from the drilling rig  102 . 
     The remote computing resource environment  106  may include computing resources locating offsite from the drilling rig  102  and accessible over a network. A “cloud” computing environment is one example of a remote computing resource. The cloud computing environment may communicate with the rig computing resource environment  105  via a network connection (e.g., a WAN or LAN connection). In some embodiments, the remote computing resource environment  106  may be at least partially located onsite, e.g., allowing control of various aspects of the drilling rig  102  onsite through the remote computing resource environment  102  (e.g., via mobile devices). Accordingly, “remote” should not be limited to any particular distance away from the drilling rig  102 . 
     Further, the drilling rig  102  may include various systems with different sensors and equipment for performing operations of the drilling rig  102 , and may be monitored and controlled via the control system  100 , e.g., the rig computing resource environment  105 . Additionally, the rig computing resource environment  105  may provide for secured access to rig data to facilitate onsite and offsite user devices monitoring the rig, sending control processes to the rig, and the like. 
     Various example systems of the drilling rig  102  are depicted in  FIG. 1 . For example, the drilling rig  102  may include a downhole system  110 , a fluid system  112 , and a central system  114 . In some embodiments, the drilling rig  102  may include an information technology (IT) system  116 . The downhole system  110  may include, for example, a bottomhole assembly (BHA), mud motors, sensors, etc. disposed along the drill string, and/or other drilling equipment configured to be deployed into the wellbore. Accordingly, the downhole system  110  may refer to tools disposed in the wellbore, e.g., as part of the drill string used to drill the well. 
     The fluid system  112  may include, for example, drilling mud, pumps, valves, cement, mud-loading equipment, mud-management equipment, pressure-management equipment, separators, and other fluids equipment. Accordingly, the fluid system  112  may perform fluid operations of the drilling rig  102 . 
     The central system  114  may include a hoisting and rotating platform, top drives, rotary tables, kellys, drawworks, pumps, generators, tubular handling equipment, derricks, masts, substructures, and other suitable equipment. Accordingly, the central system  114  may perform power generation, hoisting, and rotating operations of the drilling rig  102 , and serve as a support platform for drilling equipment and staging ground for rig operation, such as connection make up, etc. The IT system  116  may include software, computers, and other IT equipment for implementing IT operations of the drilling rig  102 . 
     The control system  100 , e.g., via the coordinated control device  104  of the rig computing resource environment  105 , may monitor sensors from multiple systems of the drilling rig  102  and provide control commands to multiple systems of the drilling rig  102 , such that sensor data from multiple systems may be used to provide control commands to the different systems of the drilling rig  102 . For example, the system  100  may collect temporally and depth aligned surface data and downhole data from the drilling rig  102  and store the collected data for access onsite at the drilling rig  102  or offsite via the rig computing resource environment  105 . Thus, the system  100  may provide monitoring capability. Additionally, the control system  100  may include supervisory control via the supervisory control system  107 . 
     In some embodiments, one or more of the downhole system  110 , fluid system  112 , and/or central system  114  may be manufactured and/or operated by different vendors. In such an embodiment, certain systems may not be capable of unified control (e.g., due to different protocols, restrictions on control permissions, safety concerns for different control systems, etc.). An embodiment of the control system  100  that is unified, may, however, provide control over the drilling rig  102  and its related systems (e.g., the downhole system  110 , fluid system  112 , and/or central system  114 , etc.). Further, the downhole system  110  may include one or a plurality of downhole systems. Likewise, fluid system  112 , and central system  114  may contain one or a plurality of fluid systems and central systems, respectively. 
     In addition, the coordinated control device  104  may interact with the user device(s) (e.g., human-machine interface(s))  118 ,  120 . For example, the coordinated control device  104  may receive commands from the user devices  118 ,  120  and may execute the commands using two or more of the rig systems  110 ,  112 ,  114 , e.g., such that the operation of the two or more rig systems  110 ,  112 ,  114  act in concert and/or off-design conditions in the rig systems  110 ,  112 ,  114  may be avoided. 
       FIG. 2  illustrates a conceptual, schematic view of the control system  100 , according to an embodiment. The rig computing resource environment  105  may communicate with offsite devices and systems using a network  108  (e.g., a wide area network (WAN) such as the internet). Further, the rig computing resource environment  105  may communicate with the remote computing resource environment  106  via the network  108 .  FIG. 2  also depicts the aforementioned example systems of the drilling rig  102 , such as the downhole system  110 , the fluid system  112 , the central system  114 , and the IT system  116 . In some embodiments, one or more onsite user devices  118  may also be included on the drilling rig  102 . The onsite user devices  118  may interact with the IT system  116 . The onsite user devices  118  may include any number of user devices, for example, stationary user devices intended to be stationed at the drilling rig  102  and/or portable user devices. In some embodiments, the onsite user devices  118  may include a desktop, a laptop, a smartphone, a personal data assistant (PDA), a tablet component, a wearable computer, or other suitable devices. In some embodiments, the onsite user devices  118  may communicate with the rig computing resource environment  105  of the drilling rig  102 , the remote computing resource environment  106 , or both. 
     One or more offsite user devices  120  may also be included in the system  100 . The offsite user devices  120  may include a desktop, a laptop, a smartphone, a personal data assistant (PDA), a tablet component, a wearable computer, or other suitable devices. The offsite user devices  120  may be configured to receive and/or transmit information (e.g., monitoring functionality) from and/or to the drilling rig  102  via communication with the rig computing resource environment  105 . In some embodiments, the offsite user devices  120  may provide control processes for controlling operation of the various systems of the drilling rig  102 . In some embodiments, the offsite user devices  120  may communicate with the remote computing resource environment  106  via the network  108 . 
     The user devices  118  and/or  120  may be examples of a human-machine interface. These devices  118 ,  120  may allow feedback from the various rig subsystems to be displayed and allow commands to be entered by the user. In various embodiments, such human-machine interfaces may be onsite or offsite, or both. 
     The systems of the drilling rig  102  may include various sensors, actuators, and controllers (e.g., programmable logic controllers (PLCs)), which may provide feedback for use in the rig computing resource environment  105 . For example, the downhole system  110  may include sensors  122 , actuators  124 , and controllers  126 . The fluid system  112  may include sensors  128 , actuators  130 , and controllers  132 . Additionally, the central system  114  may include sensors  134 , actuators  136 , and controllers  138 . The sensors  122 ,  128 , and  134  may include any suitable sensors for operation of the drilling rig  102 . In some embodiments, the sensors  122 ,  128 , and  134  may include a camera, a pressure sensor, a temperature sensor, a flow rate sensor, a vibration sensor, a current sensor, a voltage sensor, a resistance sensor, a gesture detection sensor or device, a voice actuated or recognition device or sensor, or other suitable sensors. 
     The sensors described above may provide sensor data feedback to the rig computing resource environment  105  (e.g., to the coordinated control device  104 ). For example, downhole system sensors  122  may provide sensor data  140 , the fluid system sensors  128  may provide sensor data  142 , and the central system sensors  134  may provide sensor data  144 . The sensor data  140 ,  142 , and  144  may include, for example, equipment operation status (e.g., on or off, up or down, set or release, etc.), drilling parameters (e.g., depth, hook load, torque, etc.), auxiliary parameters (e.g., vibration data of a pump) and other suitable data. In some embodiments, the acquired sensor data may include or be associated with a timestamp (e.g., a date, time or both) indicating when the sensor data was acquired. Further, the sensor data may be aligned with a depth or other drilling parameter. 
     Acquiring the sensor data into the coordinated control device  104  may facilitate measurement of the same physical properties at different locations of the drilling rig  102 . In some embodiments, measurement of the same physical properties may be used for measurement redundancy to enable continued operation of the well. In yet another embodiment, measurements of the same physical properties at different locations may be used for detecting equipment conditions among different physical locations. In yet another embodiment, measurements of the same physical properties using different sensors may provide information about the relative quality of each measurement, resulting in a “higher” quality measurement being used for rig control, and process applications. The variation in measurements at different locations over time may be used to determine equipment performance, system performance, scheduled maintenance due dates, and the like. Furthermore, aggregating sensor data from each subsystem into a centralized environment may enhance drilling process and efficiency. For example, slip status (e.g., in or out) may be acquired from the sensors and provided to the rig computing resource environment  105 , which may be used to define a rig state for automated control. In another example, acquisition of fluid samples may be measured by a sensor and related with bit depth and time measured by other sensors. Acquisition of data from a camera sensor may facilitate detection of arrival and/or installation of materials or equipment in the drilling rig  102 . The time of arrival and/or installation of materials or equipment may be used to evaluate degradation of a material, scheduled maintenance of equipment, and other evaluations. 
     The coordinated control device  104  may facilitate control of individual systems (e.g., the central system  114 , the downhole system, or fluid system  112 , etc.) at the level of each individual system. For example, in the fluid system  112 , sensor data  128  may be fed into the controller  132 , which may respond to control the actuators  130 . However, for control operations that involve multiple systems, the control may be coordinated through the coordinated control device  104 . Examples of such coordinated control operations include the control of downhole pressure during tripping. The downhole pressure may be affected by both the fluid system  112  (e.g., pump rate and choke position) and the central system  114  (e.g. tripping speed). When it is desired to maintain certain downhole pressure during tripping, the coordinated control device  104  may be used to direct the appropriate control commands. Furthermore, for mode based controllers which employ complex computation to reach a control setpoint, which are typically not implemented in the subsystem PLC controllers due to complexity and high computing power demands, the coordinated control device  104  may provide the adequate computing environment for implementing these controllers. 
     In some embodiments, control of the various systems of the drilling rig  102  may be provided via a multi-tier (e.g., three-tier) control system that includes a first tier of the controllers  126 ,  132 , and  138 , a second tier of the coordinated control device  104 , and a third tier of the supervisory control system  107 . The first tier of the controllers may be responsible for safety critical control operation, or fast loop feedback control. The second tier of the controllers may be responsible for coordinated controls of multiple equipment or subsystems, and/or responsible for complex model based controllers. The third tier of the controllers may be responsible for high level task planning, such as to command the rig system to maintain certain bottom hole pressure. In other embodiments, coordinated control may be provided by one or more controllers of one or more of the drilling rig systems  110 ,  112 , and  114  without the use of a coordinated control device  104 . In such embodiments, the rig computing resource environment  105  may provide control processes directly to these controllers for coordinated control. For example, in some embodiments, the controllers  126  and the controllers  132  may be used for coordinated control of multiple systems of the drilling rig  102 . 
     The sensor data  140 ,  142 , and  144  may be received by the coordinated control device  104  and used for control of the drilling rig  102  and the drilling rig systems  110 ,  112 , and  114 . In some embodiments, the sensor data  140 ,  142 , and  144  may be encrypted to produce encrypted sensor data  146 . For example, in some embodiments, the rig computing resource environment  105  may encrypt sensor data from different types of sensors and systems to produce a set of encrypted sensor data  146 . Thus, the encrypted sensor data  146  may not be viewable by unauthorized user devices (either offsite or onsite user device) if such devices gain access to one or more networks of the drilling rig  102 . The sensor data  140 ,  142 ,  144  may include a timestamp and an aligned drilling parameter (e.g., depth) as discussed above. The encrypted sensor data  146  may be sent to the remote computing resource environment  106  via the network  108  and stored as encrypted sensor data  148 . 
     The rig computing resource environment  105  may provide the encrypted sensor data  148  available for viewing and processing offsite, such as via offsite user devices  120 . Access to the encrypted sensor data  148  may be restricted via access control implemented in the rig computing resource environment  105 . In some embodiments, the encrypted sensor data  148  may be provided in real-time to offsite user devices  120  such that offsite personnel may view real-time status of the drilling rig  102  and provide feedback based on the real-time sensor data. For example, different portions of the encrypted sensor data  146  may be sent to offsite user devices  120 . In some embodiments, encrypted sensor data may be decrypted by the rig computing resource environment  105  before transmission or decrypted on an offsite user device after encrypted sensor data is received. 
     The offsite user device  120  may include a client (e.g., a thin client) configured to display data received from the rig computing resource environment  105  and/or the remote computing resource environment  106 . For example, multiple types of thin clients (e.g., devices with display capability and minimal processing capability) may be used for certain functions or for viewing various sensor data. 
     The rig computing resource environment  105  may include various computing resources used for monitoring and controlling operations such as one or more computers having a processor and a memory. For example, the coordinated control device  104  may include a computer having a processor and memory for processing sensor data, storing sensor data, and issuing control commands responsive to sensor data. As noted above, the coordinated control device  104  may control various operations of the various systems of the drilling rig  102  via analysis of sensor data from one or more drilling rig systems (e.g.  110 ,  112 ,  114 ) to enable coordinated control between each system of the drilling rig  102 . The coordinated control device  104  may execute control commands  150  for control of the various systems of the drilling rig  102  (e.g., drilling rig systems  110 ,  112 ,  114 ). The coordinated control device  104  may send control data determined by the execution of the control commands  150  to one or more systems of the drilling rig  102 . For example, control data  152  may be sent to the downhole system  110 , control data  154  may be sent to the fluid system  112 , and control data  154  may be sent to the central system  114 . The control data may include, for example, operator commands (e.g., turn on or off a pump, switch on or off a valve, update a physical property setpoint, etc.). In some embodiments, the coordinated control device  104  may include a fast control loop that directly obtains sensor data  140 ,  142 , and  144  and executes, for example, a control algorithm. In some embodiments, the coordinated control device  104  may include a slow control loop that obtains data via the rig computing resource environment  105  to generate control commands. 
     In some embodiments, the coordinated control device  104  may intermediate between the supervisory control system  107  and the controllers  126 ,  132 , and  138  of the systems  110 ,  112 , and  114 . For example, in such embodiments, a supervisory control system  107  may be used to control systems of the drilling rig  102 . The supervisory control system  107  may include, for example, devices for entering control commands to perform operations of systems of the drilling rig  102 . In some embodiments, the coordinated control device  104  may receive commands from the supervisory control system  107 , process the commands according to a rule (e.g., an algorithm based upon the laws of physics for drilling operations), and/or control processes received from the rig computing resource environment  105 , and provides control data to one or more systems of the drilling rig  102 . In some embodiments, the supervisory control system  107  may be provided by and/or controlled by a third party. In such embodiments, the coordinated control device  104  may coordinate control between discrete supervisory control systems and the systems  110 ,  112 , and  114  while using control commands that may be optimized from the sensor data received from the systems  110   112 , and  114  and analyzed via the rig computing resource environment  105 . 
     The rig computing resource environment  105  may include a monitoring process  141  that may use sensor data to determine information about the drilling rig  102 . For example, in some embodiments the monitoring process  141  may determine a drilling state, equipment health, system health, a maintenance schedule, or any combination thereof. Furthermore, the monitoring process  141  may monitor sensor data and determine the quality of one or a plurality of sensor data. In some embodiments, the rig computing resource environment  105  may include control processes  143  that may use the sensor data  146  to optimize drilling operations, such as, for example, the control of drilling equipment to improve drilling efficiency, equipment reliability, and the like. For example, in some embodiments the acquired sensor data may be used to derive a noise cancellation scheme to improve electromagnetic and mud pulse telemetry signal processing. The control processes  143  may be implemented via, for example, a control algorithm, a computer program, firmware, or other suitable hardware and/or software. In some embodiments, the remote computing resource environment  106  may include a control process  145  that may be provided to the rig computing resource environment  105 . 
     The rig computing resource environment  105  may include various computing resources, such as, for example, a single computer or multiple computers. In some embodiments, the rig computing resource environment  105  may include a virtual computer system and a virtual database or other virtual structure for collected data. The virtual computer system and virtual database may include one or more resource interfaces (e.g., web interfaces) that enable the submission of application programming interface (API) calls to the various resources through a request. In addition, each of the resources may include one or more resource interfaces that enable the resources to access each other (e.g., to enable a virtual computer system of the computing resource environment to store data in or retrieve data from the database or other structure for collected data). 
     The virtual computer system may include a collection of computing resources configured to instantiate virtual machine instances. The virtual computing system and/or computers may provide a human-machine interface through which a user may interface with the virtual computer system via the offsite user device or, in some embodiments, the onsite user device. In some embodiments, other computer systems or computer system services may be utilized in the rig computing resource environment  105 , such as a computer system or computer system service that provisions computing resources on dedicated or shared computers/servers and/or other physical devices. In some embodiments, the rig computing resource environment  105  may include a single server (in a discrete hardware component or as a virtual server) or multiple servers (e.g., web servers, application servers, or other servers). The servers may be, for example, computers arranged in any physical and/or virtual configuration 
     In some embodiments, the rig computing resource environment  105  may include a database that may be a collection of computing resources that run one or more data collections. Such data collections may be operated and managed by utilizing API calls. The data collections, such as sensor data, may be made available to other resources in the rig computing resource environment or to user devices (e.g., onsite user device  118  and/or offsite user device  120 ) accessing the rig computing resource environment  105 . In some embodiments, the remote computing resource environment  106  may include similar computing resources to those described above, such as a single computer or multiple computers (in discrete hardware components or virtual computer systems). 
     In some embodiments, a control process for the drilling rig  102  may be determined offsite and provided to the drilling rig  102  via the unified control system  100 .  FIGS. 3A and 3B  depict an example control process for the drilling rig  102  via the unified control system  100  in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure. Moreover, although  FIGS. 3A and 3B  are described with reference to example control processes, the techniques illustrated in the figures and described herein are also applicable to other suitable control processes. 
     As shown in  FIGS. 3A and 3B , a user  162  may access, via the offsite user device, encrypted sensor data  148  stored on the rig computing resource environment. For example, the rig computing resource environment  105  may provide access to a rig status application  164  accessible via a rig status interface  165  provided on the offsite user device  120 . Upon analyzing the encrypted sensor data, a control process  166  may be determined at an offsite location. The control process  166  may be sent to the rig computing resource environment  105  via the wide area network  108  and used to control one or more systems of the drilling rig  102 , such as via commands provided from the coordinated control device  104 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 3B , the rig computing resource environment  105  may receive the control process  166 . In some embodiments, the control process  166  may be a supervisory control process used by the supervisory control system  107 . The control process  166  may be sent to the rig computing resource environment via a network (e.g., a wide area network  108 ). After receiving the control process  166 , the rig computing resource environment  105 , may, via the coordinated control device  104  for example, issue a control command  167  to control one or more systems of the drilling rig  102 . For example, as shown in  FIG. 3B , control data  168  may be sent to the downhole system  110  and control data  170  may be sent to the fluid system  112 . In some embodiments, as noted above, the control process  166  may be provided via the supervisory control system  107 . 
     The coordinated control device  104  may also include an event detector, or drilling state analyzer. The event detector or drilling state analyzer may determine the state of the drilling (such as drilling, tripping, etc.), and/or the events of the drilling process (such as kick, loss, etc.) based on the sensor data collected from the various systems. This may be employed to inform automated decision-making, e.g., using the coordinated control device  104  and/or user-based decision-making via the user devices  118 ,  120 . 
     In some embodiments, additional user devices, such as offsite user devices that have proper security credentials, may be able to access data from the drilling rig  102  via the rig computing resource environment  105 .  FIG. 4  depicts an example of the addition of another example offsite user device  120  to the system  100  in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure. The offsite user device  120  may access some or all of the encrypted sensor data  148  using a rig status interface  172  to access the rig status application  164  described above. 
     In some embodiments, the rig computing resource environment  105  may include one or more firewalls, authentication servers, or other devices that provision access to the offsite user device  120 . For example, different levels of access to different types of sensor data may be provided to offsite user devices (e.g., by way of user accounts associated with a user of an offsite user device, a token provided by the offsite user device, or other suitable authentication techniques or combination thereof). In some embodiments, a user may be provided access to sensor data from a particular system of the drilling rig  102  and may be denied access to sensor data from other system of the drilling rig  102 . For example, a user may be associated with a particular system, such as the downhole system  110 , of the drilling rig  102 . In such embodiments, a user may use the offsite user device  120  to access sensor data  140  received from the downhole system  110  and stored in the rig computing resource environment  105  (or, in some embodiments, the remote computing resource environment  106 ). In such embodiments, the user  162  may be unable to access sensor data provided from the other systems  112 ,  114 , and  116  of the drilling rig  102 . 
     The aforementioned components of the system  100 , such as sensors, actuators, and controllers, may be segregated into different communication networks (e.g., via a firewall), such that components in one network may be unable to access components and/or data on another network unless explicitly authorized by a user (e.g., an administrator) of the system  100 .  FIG. 5  depicts an example of various example networks of the system  100  in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure.  FIG. 5  depicts the rig computing resource environment  105  in communication with the systems of the drilling rig  102 , such as the downhole system  110 , the fluid system  112 , the central system  114 , and the IT system  116  via various different communication networks. 
     In some embodiments, various components of the drilling rig systems and/or the systems themselves may be segregated on different communication networks. For example, as shown in  FIG. 5 , the sensors  122  of the downhole system  110 , the sensors  128  of the fluid system  116 , and the sensors  134  of the central system  114  may communicate using a sensor network  180 . The controllers  126  and actuators  124  of the downhole system  110 , the controllers  132  and actuators  130  of the fluid system  132 , and the controllers  138  and actuators  136  of the central system  114  may communicate using an operations network  182 . The operations network  182  may also be used for communication of automation data, process control data, and other data. 
     Devices using the IT system  116 , such as the onsite client devices  118 , may communicate using an IT network  184 . Finally, other networks  184  may be used in the system  100 . In some embodiments, other networks  184  may include a guest network having limited access to a restricted set of networks, and may be used for guests onsite at the drilling rig  102 . In some embodiments, other networks  184  may include a company-specific local area network (LAN) for employees of a company having operations at the drilling rig  102 . 
     Each of the example networks  180 ,  182 ,  184 , and  186  may be implemented using any suitable network and networking technology. Additionally, the networks  180 ,  182 ,  184 , and  186  may include a wired network, a wireless network, or both. Moreover, it should be appreciated that, in some embodiments, components of the drilling rig  102  may communicate over different networks separately and simultaneously. 
     Each of the example networks  180 ,  182 ,  184 , and  186  depicted in  FIG. 5  may be segregated from one another (e.g., via a firewall). The rig computing resource environment  105  may receive and send data over each of the networks  180 ,  182 ,  184 , and  186 . For example, as described above, the rig computing resource environment  105  may receive data from the sensors  122 ,  128 , and  134  via the sensor network  180 . In another example, the rig computing resource environment  105  may send commands to the different systems  110 ,  112 , and  114  via the operations network  182 . In some embodiments, for example, the rig computing resource environment may provide access to data (e.g., via a rig status application) to the onsite user devices  118  via the IT network  184 . In some embodiments, the rig computing resource environment  105  may monitor and control the networks  180 ,  182 ,  184 , and  186 . 
     In some embodiments, as shown in  FIG. 5 , the rig computing resource environment  105  may include a network security system  188 . In other embodiments, the network security system  188  may be distinct from the rig computing resource environment  105 . The network security system  188  may provide for a single entry point  190  for devices (e.g., onsite user devices, offsite user devices, etc.) to access data and applications provided by the rig computing resource environment  105 . Thus, in such embodiments, the networks  180 ,  182 ,  184 , and  186 , and systems and components of the drilling rig  102 , may only be accessed via connection through the single entry point  190 . In some embodiments, the network security system  188  may, depending on particular access levels, provide for access to the networks  180 ,  182 ,  184 , and  186  of the drilling rig  102 . The network security system  188  may provide user authentication, user device authentication, and other authentications to determine and provide different levels of access to different users or user devices. For example, if an offsite user device connects to the rig computing resource environment  105  via the single entry point  190 , the offsite user device may have access to the IT network  184 , but may be restricted from accessing the sensor network  180  and communicating directly with the sensors  122 ,  128 , and  134 . However, depending on a level of access, the offsite user device may be able to access sensor data via an application provided by the rig computing resource environment  105 . In another example, depending on its access level, a user device may issue control commands to one or more of the controllers  126 ,  132 , and  138  via the rig computing resource environment  105 .  FIG. 6  depicts an example control process  200  for using the unified control system  100  in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure.  FIG. 6  depicts a first column  202  corresponding to the coordinated control device  104  of the rig computing resource environment  105 , a second column  204  corresponding to the rig computing resource environment  105 , and a third column  206  corresponding to an offsite user device. Sensor data may be acquired by the coordinated control device (block  208 ), such as from various sensors of different systems of the drilling rig  102 . For example, in some embodiments sensor data may be provided via a sensor network, such as that illustrated in  FIG. 5  and described above. Acquired sensor data may be received by the rig computing resource environment device (block  212 ). For example, in some embodiments, sensor data may be transmitted over a sensor network (e.g., in real time) to the rig computing resource environment. As noted above, in some embodiments, the received sensor data may be time stamped and aligned with one or more drilling parameters (e.g., depth) before being encrypted by the rig computing resource environment  105 . 
     The sensor data at the rig computing resource environment may be provided to offsite user devices (block  214 ). For example, in some embodiments, the sensor data may be transmitted over a wide area network (e.g., the Internet) in response to a request from an offsite user device that has an appropriate level of access determined by a network security system of the rig computing resource environment. In some embodiments, the sensor data may be provided via an application executed server-side on the rig control and monitoring device, client-side on the offsite user device, or a distributed application having both server-side and client-side components. The sensor data sent by the rig computing resource environment may be received at the offsite user device (block  216 ). In some embodiments, the sensor data may be analyzed via the offsite user device (block  218 ). In some embodiments, analysis may be performed using processing capabilities of the offsite user device. In some embodiments, analysis of sensor data may be performed via other devices in communication with the offsite user device. 
     After analysis of the sensor data, a control process (e.g., a new or modified control process) may be determined (block  220 ). In some embodiments, a control process may include new or modified control commands for components of systems of the drilling rig  102 . The control process may be sent to the rig computing resource environment  106  (block  222 ) via a network (e.g., a wide area network such as the Internet). The control process may be received at the rig computing resource environment  105  (block  224 ). In some embodiments, additional processing, such as decoding, decrypting, or other processes may be performed on the control process. Next, a control process may be sent to the coordinated control device (block  226 ). In some embodiments, for example, a control process suitable for one or more systems of the drilling rig may be determined by the rig computing resource environment from a received control process. In some embodiments, a control process received at the rig computing resource environment  105  may be a supervisory control process. 
     A control process may be received by the coordinated control device (block  228 ). Using the control process, the coordinated control device may issue control commands to components of systems of the drilling rig (block  230 ). In this manner, sensor data acquired at a drilling rig may be sent real-time to offsite user devices for analysis and determination of control processes. 
       FIG. 7  is a diagram illustrating an example rig crew for a non-unified control system and an example rig crew for a unified control system (e.g., unified control system  100 ) described herein. The left column  700  of  FIG. 7  depicts a rig crew for non-unified control systems and the right side  702  of  FIG. 7  depicts a rig crew for a unified control system. As shown in  FIG. 7 , the rig crew for the non-unified control system may include 28 or greater persons. In such instances, for example, a day crew  704  may include 15 or more persons, a night crew  706  may include 12 or more persons, a casing team  708  may include 6 or more persons, and a cementing team  710  may include 9 or more persons. 
     In contrast to non-unified control systems, a rig crew for the unified control system described herein may include fewer personnel. For example, as shown in  FIG. 7 , in some embodiments a rig crew for the unified control system may include 16 or more person. The rig crew for the unified control system may oversee multiple systems, e.g., the systems  110 ,  112 , and  114 , using the unified control system without having distinct teams for each system or for operations carried out using each system. 
     As shown in  FIG. 7 , the rig crew for the unified control system may include, for example, a well construction supervisor  712 , a well construction engineer  714  (also referred to as a “driller”), a downhole engineer  716 , a fluids engineer  718 , a data systems manager  720 , and a number of multi-skilled technicians  722  that may work in two 12-hour shifts. Additionally, the rig crew for the unified control system may be used in a hierarchical arrangement to further reduce the number of crew and supervisory personnel. For example, as shown in  FIG. 7 , the well construction engineer  714 , the downhole engineer  716 , the fluids engineer  718 , and the data systems manager  720  may be under the supervision of the well construction supervisor  712 . The multi-skilled technicians  722  may be under the supervision of the well construction engineer  714 . 
     Accordingly, it will be appreciated that the unified control system  100  disclosed herein, in at least some embodiments, may provide for enhanced workflows, which may allow for a reduced headcount on the rig. For example, operation of well construction in various phases may be performed using uniform or general rig crew, e.g., rather than highly specialized crews for each subsystem (e.g., fluid crew, managed pressure drilling crew, cementing crew, casing crew, etc.). Further, embodiments of the present disclosure may facilitate delegating the operation of rig subsystem control, maintenance, etc. to different personnel on the rig, e.g., by including role-based data provision to the user devices  118 ,  120 , among other things. Furthermore, e.g., through the use of the remote computing environment, the system  100  may facilitate controlling or monitoring the operation of the rig and/or different subsystems from one or a plurality of unified human-machine interfaces, e.g., with proper user credentials that may be enforced by the control device  104 . 
     In some embodiments, the methods of the present disclosure may be executed by a computing system.  FIG. 8  illustrates an example of such a computing system  800 , in accordance with some embodiments. The computing system  800  may include a computer or computer system  801 A, which may be an individual computer system  801 A or an arrangement of distributed computer systems. The computer system  801 A includes one or more analysis modules  802  that are configured to perform various tasks according to some embodiments, such as one or more methods disclosed herein. To perform these various tasks, the analysis module  802  executes independently, or in coordination with, one or more processors  804 , which is (or are) connected to one or more storage media  806 . The processor(s)  804  is (or are) also connected to a network interface  807  to allow the computer system  801 A to communicate over a data network  809  with one or more additional computer systems and/or computing systems, such as  801 B,  801 C, and/or  801 D (note that computer systems  801 B,  801 C and/or  801 D may or may not share the same architecture as computer system  801 A, and may be located in different physical locations, e.g., computer systems  801 A and  801 B may be located in a processing facility, while in communication with one or more computer systems such as  801 C and/or  801 D that are located in one or more data centers, and/or located in varying countries on different continents). 
     A processor may include a microprocessor, microcontroller, processor module or subsystem, programmable integrated circuit, programmable gate array, or another control or computing device. 
     The storage media  806  may be implemented as one or more computer-readable or machine-readable storage media. Note that while in the example embodiment of  FIG. 6  storage media  806  is depicted as within computer system  801 A, in some embodiments, storage media  806  may be distributed within and/or across multiple internal and/or external enclosures of computing system  801 A and/or additional computing systems. Storage media  806  may include one or more different forms of memory including semiconductor memory devices such as dynamic or static random access memories (DRAMs or SRAMs), erasable and programmable read-only memories (EPROMs), electrically erasable and programmable read-only memories (EEPROMs) and flash memories, magnetic disks such as fixed, floppy and removable disks, other magnetic media including tape, optical media such as compact disks (CDs) or digital video disks (DVDs), BLUERAY® disks, or other types of optical storage, or other types of storage devices. Note that the instructions discussed above may be provided on one computer-readable or machine-readable storage medium, or alternatively, may be provided on multiple computer-readable or machine-readable storage media distributed in a large system having possibly plural nodes. Such computer-readable or machine-readable storage medium or media is (are) considered to be part of an article (or article of manufacture). An article or article of manufacture may refer to any manufactured single component or multiple components. The storage medium or media may be located either in the machine running the machine-readable instructions, or located at a remote site from which machine-readable instructions may be downloaded over a network for execution. 
     In some embodiments, the computing system  800  contains one or more rig control module(s)  808 . In the example of computing system  800 , computer system  801 A includes the rig control module  808 . In some embodiments, a single rig control module may be used to perform some or all aspects of one or more embodiments of the methods disclosed herein. In alternate embodiments, a plurality of rig control modules may be used to perform some or all aspects of methods herein. 
     It should be appreciated that computing system  800  is only one example of a computing system, and that computing system  800  may have more or fewer components than shown, may combine additional components not depicted in the example embodiment of  FIG. 8 , and/or computing system  800  may have a different configuration or arrangement of the components depicted in  FIG. 8 . The various components shown in  FIG. 8  may be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination of both hardware and software, including one or more signal processing and/or application specific integrated circuits. 
     Further, the steps in the processing methods described herein may be implemented by running one or more functional modules in information processing apparatus such as general purpose processors or application specific chips, such as ASICs, FPGAs, PLDs, or other appropriate devices. These modules, combinations of these modules, and/or their combination with general hardware are all included within the scope of protection of the invention. 
     Conditional language, such as, among others, “can,” “could,” “might,” or “may,” unless specifically stated otherwise, or otherwise understood within the context as used, is generally intended to convey that certain implementations could include, while other implementations do not include, certain features, elements, and/or operations. Thus, such conditional language is not generally intended to imply that features, elements, and/or operations are in any way used for one or more implementations or that one or more implementations necessarily include logic for deciding, with or without user input or prompting, whether these features, elements, and/or operations are included or are to be performed in any particular implementation. 
     Many modifications and other implementations of the disclosure set forth herein will be apparent having the benefit of the teachings presented in the foregoing descriptions and the associated drawings. Therefore, it is to be understood that the disclosure is not to be limited to the specific implementations disclosed and that modifications and other implementations are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims. Although specific terms are employed herein, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense and not for purposes of limitation.