PIG Device & Windows App
Microline Technology Corp.
Microline’s pipeline inspection system sets a new industry standard, allowing technicians to gather more data with more accuracy in less time.
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Smart PIG
Microline tests oil and gas pipelines for corrosion, deformity, and weakness using Pipeline Inspection Gauges (PIGs) and other tools.
Their new PIG for large-diameter pipelines is 6’ long and 24” in diameter, with 78 circuit boards, incorporating and 90 microprocessors. It can travel over 300 miles and record data from 1,000+ sensors every 16th of an inch (every 500 microseconds).
Streamline Windows App
Technicians manage the PIG with a custom Windows app called Streamline, which can configure, test, prep, launch and gather data from the device.
The platform includes an open-source tool called Cauterize that allows the PIG, Streamline, and other tools to share the same communication protocol. Atomic also developed a simulation framework so the team could test Streamline with real data as they developed it.
Coordinating Stakeholders
Technical Specs
Atomic designed the system architecture and wrote software and firmware for:
Streamline matches data on-screen with the position of the corresponding sensors on the PIG, helping technicians quickly find what they're looking for. It also flattens the data, showing a high-level overview on the main screen and making it easy to access any functional aspect of the PIG without clicking several layers deep.
Unlike other configuration apps, Streamline also reviews the status of each sensor and shows warnings.
Streamline is a beautiful application. Personnel are often under pressure in the field because the customer wants to get the pipe back online ASAP. So we focused heavily on conveying the right amount of information in the right way.
Coordinating Stakeholders
A Partnership with a Storybook Ending
The team’s careful project management, client communication, cutting-edge architecture, and cohesive design strategy helped the team ship the product on time and on budget.
Reflecting back on the multi-year, high-profile project, Robinson said Atomic helped his company arrive at a special moment in time.
“We'd never done anything this big. Ever,” he said. “We’re live across all the major pillars Atomic said they would deliver on. It was delivered on time, on budget, to expectation, live. Not three or four milestones late with people leaving and the platform half-baked and full of bugs.”
StoryLoom began open-beta in December 2022. A global launch is scheduled for the spring of 2023.
“Our future is pretty bright,” said Robinson. “We’ve been given a rare opportunity to find success by chasing opportunities Starship Enterprise-style: going where people aren’t—pushing boundaries.”
Atomic provided embedded software development for Microline’s 24-inch Smart PIG, and Windows app development for Streamline, created using C# in WPF. Atomic also developed an open source tool for communication among different parts of the system and a simulation framework so the team could test Streamline with real data as they developed it.
The Atomic Team
Here are some of our current Atoms who worked on this project. Click their photo to read their bios!
Project domain(s)
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mobile
mobile
desktop
desktop
embedded
