Projects

LWD and MWD involve real-time data collection, but they target different aspects of drilling operations.

Logging While Drilling (LWD) is concerned with subsurface formation evaluation

LWD - Collecting geological and petrophysical data while drilling a borehole.

LWD acquires detailed information about the formation, its physical, chemical, and mineralogical characteristics.

In LWD data is captured and stored. After the data transmission to the surface, the "information dump" is analyzed.

Measurement While Drilling (MWD)

MWD focuses on the drilling process itself.

MWD - Measurement circuits in the drill string to provide Real-time monitoring of drilling parameters, 

including the borehole’s trajectory, depth, and other drilling conditions, information for optimized drill steering. 

MWD provides information that enhances the efficiency of the drilling operation, detecting issues with the drill bit, monitoring downhole pressure, temperature and Wellbore trajectory.

Seismic While Drilling (SWD)

Seismic measurements while the drill string is lowered in the borehole and during drilling

SWD - drill bit-SWD, recording seismic noise generated by a rock bit on any number of surface seismic sensors

• Layout on a 14" x 2.150" High Temperature PCB 
• 10-Layer Impedance controlled PCB
• DSP micro-Processor to collect and store up to 32M Bytes of Seismic data, communication to surface
• FPGA to interface between DSP, SRAM data and EEPROM Memory and control Clocks and timing

• DSP to collect seismic data
• DMA memory transfer
• FPGA to interface and address decode SRAM
• FPGA with UART, USB, MIL-STD 1553 Manchester Encoder / Decoder for serial communication

Downhole Hybrid controller implementing MODBUS protocol

A MIL-STD 1553 Manchester serial interface for surface communication

Downhole control of valve positions

Temperature and position and current Sensors for protection and control

Power supply (regulator) designs refer to an integral part of a PCBA layout. (I.E. Not stand-alone supplies)

Low Dropout (LDO) regulators use off-the-shelf components and used in very low current applications.

Switching Regulators provide higher efficiencies (>90%) and are used in low power designs.

Switching Regulators are grouped into Buck, (step-down), (Boost), step-up, or Buck-Boost converter.

• Seismic data acquisition requires very low noise Regulators
• The solution here is to design regulator circuits that can be synchronized to the system clock / timing
• This way ADC sampling is done during a stable clock period
•  Buck converters cause input-side pulsed currents, a phase-shifted external SYNC clock signal is used
• This ensures that multiple regulators do not draw current from the input source at the same time

• Many designs do not require synchronization to system timing
• The same DC-DC converter is implemented without synchronizing to a clock
• Other commercially available off-the-shelf (COTS) DC-DC converters without synchronizing pins are used
• Additionally Isolated DC-DC converter designs are used when the output(s) are not reference to the same ground

Complete power scheme often uses High side switches for DC distribution so section can be powered down

Current measurement sections can form part of DC converter designs

Battery management designs implement "ideal diode" devices to switch power sources during operation

Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) is a low-power version of Bluetooth technology. 

It is designed for devices like smartwatches, fitness trackers, and smart home devices.

BLE consumes significantly less power than conventional Bluetooth, allowing for longer battery life

BLE designs invariably require iOS (Apple) or Android phone app

• Remote monitoring of swimming pool water chemistry
• Hand-held Security Lock controller that transfers collected data via BLE to a base station
• BLE module used for instrument control setup

• Nordic nRF52xx designs that implement UART services to communicate with the communications controller
• BLE programming to configure product and company data during advertising, version information etc.
• Over The Air (OTA) updates are built into all designs so there is no need for wired connection to a product
• This allows for code updates, device parameter changes

The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) is a network of member organizations that are the caretakers and innovators of Bluetooth® technology. Bluetooth technology is constantly enhancing existing applications and improving performance.

On September 3, 2024, the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) unveiled the latest of the Bluetooth Core Specification: Bluetooth 6.0.

IECEx certified Gauges, used with a variety of sensor types for pressure, load, force, and torque applications

• Pressure measurement up to 99,999 PSI with 0.25% accuracy 
• 0-1V 16-bit DAC for slave gauge output
• IECEx certified 4-20mA Plugin options for Pressure Gauge System

• High Power LED Lamp
• High Power LEDs on Metal Core (MCPCB) for light Fixture
• WHITE 4000K output
• Output adjustable up to 4800 lumens

Our designs can be modified to target alternate applications.

Modifying functioning Electronic Hardware for new products are typically a speedier and less expensive approach

A variety of power designs referred to as DC-DC converters have been implemented over the years and probably too numerous or generic to showcase.

General designs include small standalone supplies powered by "wall wart" DC supplies.

• Power Tracking 2A step-down Battery Charger
• Input voltage range - 4.95V to 32V
• Constant-current/constant-voltage charge for a single 4000mAh Li-Ion cell
• Charge current set to 2A maximum

• Battery Protection for 12V 3-cell Li-Ion battery pack
• Thermal Protector, Safety PTC Thermistor for CHG/DSG temperature Sense
• Intrinsic Safe (IS) compliance
• Industry Standard two wire SMBus communications interface

Our charger designs can be customized for Solar panel input and float voltage up to14.4V

Accommodates different Chemistries like Li-Ion/Polymer, LiFePO4 (Lithium Phosphate) and (Sealed Lead Acid) SLA

Product Development of Wireless Seismic Data Acquisition system and sub-systems.

Drive change to new M4 Processor for 4 Chanel Analog Capture Subsystem. Including Schematic and Layout.

Schematic Capture and Layout of Dual Processor ARM and XMEGA Control Board.

SCH & PCB Layout of a Base Station Board for RF Data collection / Relay from Acquisition system.

Design, Capture and Layout of a Trigger board for synchronizing Seismic Source with the timing system.

Design of various small test interface boards for internal testing, support and interim solutions.

Designed various Switching Converter Power Supplies (Buck / Boost) as part of designs.

Designed CAD Templates for Schematic and Layout to aid standardizing CAD output to PLM system.

Implement Altium Database to enable easy re-use of CAD components with populated data.

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