Colibrys MEMS Motion Sensors for Drilling Applications

Sensors in general, and more precisely motion sensors, are widely used in the mining business, which requires very robust products that can work precisely underground under very harsh conditions.

Colibrys is a world-leading supplier of standard and customized MEMS-based motion sensors for high precision and high reliability applications in harsh environments. Colibrys’s primary activity is the design, development and production of a range of proprietary high-performances MEMS accelerometers for inertial, tilt, vibration and seismic measurements.

Accelerometers for mining and drilling applications

The measurement of a motion through acceleration, tilt or vibration is extremely important and widely used in mining and drilling related markets. A selection of applications requiring accelerometers includes:

• Down-hole directional drilling
• Horizontal or surface directional drilling
• Measurement while drilling
• Down-hole monitoring or down-hole survey
• Sub-surface seismic imaging
• Reservoir monitoring
• Structural monitoring for rigs, platforms or any construction
• Platform stabilization

Reliable MEMS motion sensors for safety critical applications

Colibrys is clearly committed to the application requirements of the mining and energy markets and offers accelerometers products and services well beyond automotive specifications. Indeed, every single sensor from Colibrys is designed for high end specifications and does not result from screening or selecting the best parts from a very large volume production.

Colibrys produces a few hundred thousand accelerometers per year, which clearly differentiate themselves through their technical specifications: high stability, low noise, low power, low weight and size, as well as high reliability for safety critical applications under harsh environments. Colibrys standard accelerometers are qualified between -55°C to +125°C, but some customers regularly use these products up to 150°C.

Inertial sensing products

The long-term stability, low vibration rectification error and reliability of our MEMS capacitive accelerometers are continuously improved to meet the increasing needs of inertial requirements and are used in a large variety of drilling activities, from down-hole directional drilling to horizontal directional drilling.

The new MS9000 and the MS8000 products families are the best candidates for inertial sensing as our seismic sensors SF1500 and SF2005 can be used for very low signal measurements in seismic applications.

A selection of products is available for inertial measurements in mining. Colibrys offers a full range of products from ±2g to ±200g with some dedicated products for harsh environment applications (i.e. high shock, rough vibrations or high temperatures). All our products are extensively qualified and available for temperature ranges between -55°C to +125°C at least.

Tilt sensing products

Low g inertial sensors, due to their high resolution, high temperature stability and low power consumption, are extremely good products for tilt measurements. These products are advantageously used in down-hole survey and monitoring applications providing very precise inclination information.

Colibrys tilt sensors have demonstrated extremely high reliability under harsh environments and are therefore well regarded worldwide for these types of applications.

Vibration sensing products

Variable capacitance sensors offer benefits as a replacement for traditional piezo-resistive products in some specific applications. For a given acceleration range and bandwidth, the capacitive sensor offers a lower noise floor and a much better stability over temperature and over time.

New VS9000 products from Colibrys are the best adapted products for vibration sensing, which requires small size and weight, wide bandwidth and an extended g range over a large temperature band, combined with the stability and reliability required for safety critical applications.

Standard and semi-custom motion sensors

Colibrys provides unique solutions for a wide range of high performance standard and semi-custom motion sensors for mining and energy applications. Do not hesitate to contact us to know more about our current and future developments.