A team of students from Missouri S&T, competing in only its second year, is one of nine teams from around the world selected as a finalist in the Society of Petroleum Engineers’ Drilling Systems Automation Technical Section (DSATS) Drillbotics Competition. Judges will visit Missouri S&T on May 1 to review the team’s project.

During the fall semester, teams submit design reports on how they would build and operate a small-scale drilling rig. Rigs must be fully functional, autonomous and capable of drilling through rock samples without destroying the samples or malfunctioning.

Judges select the finalists to compete in a second phase during the spring semester. During phase two, teams build the actual drilling rig they outlined in phase one of the competition.

Judges visit each university participating in phase two and test the rigs, which must be able to drill through an unknown rock sample. Judges score the drilling rigs on their build quality, drilling capability and data collection abilities.

For more information about the Missouri S&T team, visit drillbotics.mst.edu.

The Drillbotics team is one of 20 student-run groups in Missouri S&T’s Student Design and Experiential Learning Center (SDELC). The SDELC, housed in the Kummer Student Design Center, provides teams with computer design laboratories, a manufacturing shop, office space and logistical support. Design teams mirror small start-up companies that plan large-scale projects, organize into departments, raise funds, communicate their ideas and solve open-ended design challenges. Almost every team competes annually at an event against other collegiate teams from around the country and the world.