Horizontal directional drilling machine employing inertial navigation control system and method
First Claim
1. A method for controlling a cutting tool coupled to a drill pipe for use in horizontal directional drilling, comprising:
- moving the cutting tool along a generally horizontal underground path;
sensing movement of the drill pipe;
sensing, by selective use of a plurality of navigation sensors disposed proximate the cutting tool, movement of the cutting tool, each of the navigation sensors sensing movement of the cutting tool in a manner differing from that of other navigation sensors of the plurality of navigation sensors;
monitoring each of the navigation sensors and drill pipe movement;
determining a particular navigation sensor having an acceptable accuracy; and
controlling cutting tool movement along the underground path using sensor data received from at least the particular navigation sensor.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method for controlling an underground boring tool involves the use of one or more of a gyroscope, accelerometer, and magnetometer sensor provided in or proximate the boring tool. The location of the boring tool is detected substantially in real-time. A controller produces a control signal substantially in real-time in response to the detected boring tool location and sensed parameters of a boring tool driving apparatus. The control signal is applied to the driving apparatus to control one or both of a rate and a direction of boring tool movement along the underground path. The gyroscope, accelerometer, and magnetometers may be of a conventional design, but are preferably of a solid-state design. Telemetry data is communicated electromagnetically, optically or capacitively between the navigation sensors at the boring tool and the controller via the drill string or an above-ground tracker unit. The tracker unit may further include a re-calibration unit which communicatively cooperates with the navigation sensors to reestablish a proper heading or orientation of the boring tool if needed. The controller determines a location of the boring tool in at least two of x-, y-, and z-plane coordinates and may also determine an orientation of the boring tool in at least two of yaw, pitch, and roll. A handheld remote unit may be used by an operator to control all or a sub-set of boring system functions.
-
Citations
43 Claims
-
1. A method for controlling a cutting tool coupled to a drill pipe for use in horizontal directional drilling, comprising:
-
moving the cutting tool along a generally horizontal underground path;
sensing movement of the drill pipe;
sensing, by selective use of a plurality of navigation sensors disposed proximate the cutting tool, movement of the cutting tool, each of the navigation sensors sensing movement of the cutting tool in a manner differing from that of other navigation sensors of the plurality of navigation sensors;
monitoring each of the navigation sensors and drill pipe movement;
determining a particular navigation sensor having an acceptable accuracy; and
controlling cutting tool movement along the underground path using sensor data received from at least the particular navigation sensor. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
-
-
18. A system for controlling an excavation implement for use in horizontal directional drilling, comprising:
-
a cutting tool coupled to a drill pipe;
a driving apparatus coupled to the drill pipe for driving the cutting tool along a generally horizontal underground path, the driving apparatus comprising at least one pipe sensor that senses movement of the drill pipe;
a navigation sensor unit provided proximate the cutting tool, the navigation sensor unit comprising a plurality of navigation sensors, each of the navigation sensors sensing movement of the cutting tool in a manner differing from that of other navigation sensors of the plurality of navigation sensors; and
a controller communicatively coupled to the driving apparatus and the navigation sensor unit, the controller monitoring each of the navigation sensors and the pipe sensor, determining a particular navigation sensor having an acceptable accuracy, and using sensor data received from at least the particular navigation sensor to control cutting tool movement along the underground path. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
-
-
30. A system for controlling an excavation implement for use in horizontal directional drilling, comprising:
-
a cutting tool coupled to a drill pipe;
a driving apparatus coupled to the drill pipe for driving the cutting tool along a generally horizontal underground path, the driving apparatus comprising at least one pipe sensor that senses movement of the drill pipe;
a navigation sensor unit provided proximate the cutting tool, the navigation sensor unit comprising a plurality of navigation sensors, each of the navigation sensors producing sensor data by sensing movement of the cutting tool in a manner differing from that of other navigation sensors of the plurality of navigation sensors; and
a controller communicatively coupled to the driving apparatus and the navigation sensor unit, the controller monitoring each of the navigation sensors and applying a weighting algorithm to sensor data received from the navigation sensors when computing a location or an orientation of the cutting tool, the weighting algorithm applied by the controller accounting for changes in navigation sensor performance as the cutting tool moves along the underground path. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43)
-
Specification