The Hague, Netherlands-based Shell and the Palo-Alto-based HP said in a joint release that by delivering a much higher channel count and a broader sensor frequency range than are currently available, the new system promises to vastly improve the quality of seismic data and be cheaper to operate than existing systems.

For seismic analysis, HP's Enterprise Services division is aiming to develop wireless accelerometer sensors, akin to the controllers used in the Nintendo Wii, but a thousand times more accurate from its recent breakthrough in high-performance sensing technology based on microelectromechanical devices, originally developed for HP print heads.

Both companies will use their knowledge and experience to produce a groundbreaking solution to sense, collect and store geophysical data, which will then be integrated with Shell's computing and seismic imaging system.

''These advances in technology to discover energy resources could transform the ability to pinpoint abundant new oil and gas reserves,'' said Joe Eazor, (right) senior VP and GM, HP Enterprise Services.  ''HP is uniquely positioned to offer Shell a complete sensor system that delivers innovation to address key technical seismic challenges.''

The multi-year project, where both companies have not disclosed the financial terms, will allow the oil and gas major to use a million wireless accelerometer sensors to collect high quality seismic data by deploying a million wireless accelerometer sensors, compared with the thousands of wired sensors that it currently deploys.

"We think this will represent a leap forward in seismic data quality that will provide Shell with a competitive advantage in exploring difficult oil and gas reservoirs, such as sub-salt plays in the Middle East or unconventional gas in North America," said Gerald Schotman, (left)  executive VP, Innovation/R&D, Shell.
"As a result of this exciting collaboration, we expect to fully realise the potential of Shell's processing and imaging technology on land," he added.

The G job history behind sensor
The story behind the development is redolent of the whole HP garage and rat pack ethic. HP Labs senior researcher Pete Hartwell is considered the father of the company's ultra-sensitive accelerometer. (Right. Photo: Margie Wylie) who  conceived the motion sensor six years ago almost by accident in a secret flight of curiosity.

"We were working on the atomic resolution storage project to essentially take a rewritable CD and shrink it to the size of a chip," he said. "One element of the design was a MEMS actuator to move the storage media across a read/write head. The actuator used sets of electrodes arranged as a variable capacitor to control the movements of the media on a large MEMS shuttle."

Hartwell realised if he rearranged the electrodes—effectively "ran the design backwards"- he would create an interesting motion sensor. In that design the media shuttle acted as a very large proof mass, a key component that determines the sensitivity of an accelerometer.

"I got one of my colleagues to build the electronics for it, and I just snuck it into the mask set," said Hartwell. "We call it a g-job or garage job" a reference to the garage where HP was born, he said. "It's a side project under the covers that you're not telling anyone about," he added.

The resulting sensor, one of 16 chips in the three-wafer MEMS storage design, was built in a former HP fab that is now part of the Agilent spin-out.

When the storage program was cancelled, Hartwell went back to his g-job design, did some tests and ran the numbers. "It was already better than any MEMS sensor on the market," he said.

The large proof mass in the device is the main reason for its high sensitivity. The way electrodes are used to sense movement as a function of capacitance is another key to the sensitivity and inherently digital nature of the design.

"I was talking about using [the sensor] for game controllers long before the Nintendo Wii and portable navigation devices," said Hartwell. "I caught the eye of some people in the imaging and printing group, and they said they could build it in their inkjet fab," he said.

And the rest, as they say, will be history.