14 MARCH 2025 WorldWide Drilling Resource® Automating Your Personal Life by Britt Storkson Owner, P2FlowLLC The Epoch Times has an article commenting on personal automation, not just machine automation. https://www.theepochtimes.com/health/6-downsides-of-automating-your-personal-life5775527?ea_src=frontpage&ea_cnt=a&ea_med=top-news-health-medium-0 The article reviews six subjects in a philosophical context. I’d like to comment on four of these subjects as it relates to computer automation impacting our real-world activities. They are: Losing touch with what is really happening. I see this one played out all of the time. It’s amazing to me to observe how little the people in charge of operating complicated computer systems actually know about how the thing works. I could cite many examples, but I remember when I worked for a large tech company, several members of my team were having trouble with fuel pump cavitation pumping diesel fuel and were at a total loss as to what to do about it. First of all, they didn’t know what cavitation was. Cavitation basically happens when you’re trying to push more fluid out of the pump than existing conditions (in this case atmospheric pressure) can push into the pump. The next issue was they didn’t know how to fix it. The fix is to slow the pump motor rpm (pump impeller rotational speed - revolutions per minute) so the fluid isn’t physically being pulled apart, resulting in cavitation. Since they did not even understand the basics of fluid pumping, it only follows they would not know how to craft a solution. Mechanically, the solution here would be to install a pressure sustaining/pressure relief (PSPR) valve on the pump discharge. Simply put, the PSPR valve maintains a back pressure at the discharge which limits the flow through the pump to whatever flow rate that won’t cause cavitation. Electronically, the solution would be to run the pump with a variable frequency (speed) drive and build a control unit to detect cavitation and slow the motor speed when that happens. Or more simply, just reduce the fluid rate of flow. Erosion of valuable skills. I see this one demonstrated by the dependence on calculators for math functions. People lose their ability to do basic math with a pencil and paper because the calculator has always done it for them. There’s nothing wrong with using a calculator to save time and increase accuracy, but to not be able to do math without it, is a problem. More dependencies mean less resiliency. More dependency makes one more vulnerable when problems come along - and all of us experience problems from time to time. Not being able to change a tire when you have tire trouble, makes you vulnerable. You may get lucky and have a Good Samaritan come along to help right away, but you may also have to wait hours for a service truck to arrive, or worse. The best approach is to learn how to change the tire so you aren’t dependent on outside help. Big companies often depend on outside help to run most everything, but I’m not so sure it’s a good strategy because they lose control of what’s happening at their facility, which can impact their bottom line in a very negative way. Technology can be hard to repair. Hard to repair? Often, the technology is impossible to repair. With a computer, very little is repairable. All of the physical components are soldered into place on a printed circuit board and it’s often more costly to replace one component than it is to replace the entire circuit board. While automation is a good thing, it can be overused and improperly used to one’s detriment. One should never automate something unless there is a clear advantage for doing so, and the costs of automating don’t exceed the cost of doing it the old way. Britt Britt Storkson may be contacted via e-mail to michele@ worldwidedrillingresource.com Look for the article From the Map to the Field ~ Part 2 in the April issue of WorldWide Drilling Resource®
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