METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR AZIMUTH MEASUREMENTS USING GYRO SENSORS
First Claim
1. A method for azimuth measurements using a gyro sensor, comprising:
- acquiring a first data from the gyro sensor with an input axis aligned to an first angular orientation parallel to a horizontal plane perpendicular to a gravity direction at a measuring position in downhole;
acquiring a second data from the gyro sensor with the input axis flipped to a second angular orientation opposite to the first angular orientation at the measuring position after acquiring the first data; and
determining an earth rate component at the first angular orientation based on a difference between the first data and the second data to cancel out bias of the gyro sensor.
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Abstract
A method and system for azimuth measurements using one or more gyro sensors is disclosed. The method includes acquiring a first data from each of the gyro sensors with an input axis aligned to a first angular orientation and acquiring a second data from each of the gyro sensors with the input axis flipped to a second angular orientation opposite to the first angular orientation. An earth rate component at the first angular orientations is determined based on a difference between the first data and the second data to cancel out bias of each of the gyro sensors. The method may include acquiring a third data of the gyro sensor with the input axis aligned to the same angular orientation as the first angular orientation. An average of the first data and the third data may be used instead of the first data for determining the earth rate component.
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Citations
59 Claims
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1. A method for azimuth measurements using a gyro sensor, comprising:
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acquiring a first data from the gyro sensor with an input axis aligned to an first angular orientation parallel to a horizontal plane perpendicular to a gravity direction at a measuring position in downhole; acquiring a second data from the gyro sensor with the input axis flipped to a second angular orientation opposite to the first angular orientation at the measuring position after acquiring the first data; and determining an earth rate component at the first angular orientation based on a difference between the first data and the second data to cancel out bias of the gyro sensor. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A method for azimuth measurements using two or three gyro sensors, comprising:
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acquiring a first data from each of the gyro sensors with an input axis aligned to an first angular orientation at a measuring position in downhole, the input axes of the gyro sensors being orthogonal to each other; acquiring a second data from each of the gyro sensors with the input axis flipped to a second angular orientation opposite to the first angular orientation at the measuring position after acquiring the first data; and determining an earth rate component at the first angular orientation based on a difference between the first data and the second data to cancel out bias of each of the gyro sensors. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method for azimuth measurements using two or three gyro sensors, comprising:
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acquiring a first data from each of the gyro sensors with an input axis aligned to an first angular orientation at a measuring position in downhole, the input axes of the gyro sensors being orthogonal to each other; acquiring a second data from each of the gyro sensors with the input axis flipped to a second angular orientation opposite to the first angular orientation at the measuring position after acquiring the first data; determining an earth rate component at the first angular orientation based on a difference between the first data and the second data to cancel out bias of each of the gyro sensors; and repeating acquiring the first data, acquiring the second data and determining the earth rate component, after rotating each of the gyro sensors so as to align each input axis of the gyro sensors to another first angular orientation rotated by 90 degrees from the original first angular orientation. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A method for azimuth measurements using two or three gyro sensors, comprising:
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acquiring a first data from each of the gyro sensors with an input axis aligned to a first angular orientation at a measuring position in downhole, the input axes of the gyro sensors being orthogonal to each other; acquiring a second data from each of the gyro sensors with the input axis flipped to a second angular orientation opposite to the first angular orientation at the measuring position after acquiring the first data; determining an earth rate component at the first angular orientation based on a difference between the first data and the second data to cancel out bias of each of the gyro sensors; repeating acquiring the first data, acquiring the second data and determining the earth rate component for each of the gyro sensors at a plurality of discrete angular orientations; fitting a sinusoidal curve to the earth rate components at the plurality of discrete angular orientations; and determining an earth rate vector with respect to a predetermined orthogonal sensor coordinates based on based on a result of the sinusoidal curve fitting. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
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36. A system for azimuth measurements, comprising:
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a housing; two or three gyro sensors having input axes orthogonal to each other; three orthogonal axis accelerometers; a driving mechanism for rotating or flipping the gyro sensors; a controller for controlling the driving mechanism; a data processing unit; and a power supply unit, wherein the data processing unit comprises a computer having a processor and a memory, wherein the memory stores a program having instructions for; acquiring a first data from each of the gyro sensors with an input axis aligned to a first angular orientation; acquiring a second data from each of the gyro sensors with the input axis flipped to a second angular orientation opposite to the first angular orientation after acquiring the first data; determining an earth rate component at the first angular orientation based on a difference between the first data and the second data to cancel out bias of each of the gyro sensors; repeating acquiring the first data, acquiring the second data and determining the earth rate component for each of the gyro sensors at a plurality of discrete angular orientations; fitting a sinusoidal curve to the earth rate components at the plurality of discrete angular orientations; determining an earth rate vector with respect to a predetermined orthogonal sensor coordinates based on based on a result of the sinusoidal curve fitting; determining a gravity direction with respect to the orthogonal sensor coordinates based on acceleration data of gravity acquired with the accelerometers; determining a north direction by projecting the earth rate vector onto a horizontal plane perpendicular to the gravity direction; and determining an azimuth of a target direction on the horizontal plane based on the north direction. - View Dependent Claims (37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59)
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Specification