System and method for determining incremental progression between survey points while drilling
First Claim
1. A method for calculating a path during drilling comprising:
- receiving, by a surface steerable system coupled to a drilling rig, a first set of toolface information from a bottom hole assembly (BHA) located in a borehole and coupled to a drillstring, wherein the first set of toolface information corresponds to a first current location of the BHA between a first survey point that has been passed and a second directly sequential survey point that has not yet been reached;
calculating, by the surface steerable system, an amount of first incremental progress made by the BHA since the first survey point;
calculating, by the surface steerable system, a first estimate of the first current location based on the first toolface information, the first survey point and the amount of first incremental progress;
causing, by the surface steerable system, at least one drilling parameter to be modified in order to alter a drilling direction of the BHA based on the first estimate if the surface steerable system determines that the first estimate indicates the drilling direction needs to be altered;
receiving, by the surface steerable system coupled to the drilling rig, a second set of toolface information from the bottom hole assembly (BHA) located in the borehole and coupled to the drillstring, wherein the second set of toolface information corresponds to a second current location of the BHA between the first survey point that has been passed and the second directly sequential survey point that has not yet been reached;
calculating, by the surface steerable system, an amount of second incremental progress made by the BHA since the first incremental process was calculated;
calculating, by the surface steerable system, a second estimate of the second current location based on the second set of toolface information and the amount of second incremental progress occurring since the first estimate and without directly referencing the first survey point; and
causing, by the surface steerable system, at least one drilling parameter to be modified in order to alter the drilling direction of the BHA based on the second estimate if the surface steerable system determines that the second estimate indicates the drilling direction needs to be altered.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method for surface steerable drilling are provided. In one example, the system receives toolface information for a bottom hole assembly (BHA) and non-survey sensor information corresponding to a location of the BHA in a borehole. The system calculates an amount of incremental progress made by the BHA based on the non-survey sensor information and calculates an estimate of the location based on the toolface information and the amount of incremental progress. The system repeats the steps of receiving toolface information and non-survey sensor information and calculating an amount of incremental progress to calculate an estimate of a plurality of locations representing a path of the BHA from a first survey point towards a second sequential survey point.
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Citations
25 Claims
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1. A method for calculating a path during drilling comprising:
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receiving, by a surface steerable system coupled to a drilling rig, a first set of toolface information from a bottom hole assembly (BHA) located in a borehole and coupled to a drillstring, wherein the first set of toolface information corresponds to a first current location of the BHA between a first survey point that has been passed and a second directly sequential survey point that has not yet been reached; calculating, by the surface steerable system, an amount of first incremental progress made by the BHA since the first survey point; calculating, by the surface steerable system, a first estimate of the first current location based on the first toolface information, the first survey point and the amount of first incremental progress; causing, by the surface steerable system, at least one drilling parameter to be modified in order to alter a drilling direction of the BHA based on the first estimate if the surface steerable system determines that the first estimate indicates the drilling direction needs to be altered; receiving, by the surface steerable system coupled to the drilling rig, a second set of toolface information from the bottom hole assembly (BHA) located in the borehole and coupled to the drillstring, wherein the second set of toolface information corresponds to a second current location of the BHA between the first survey point that has been passed and the second directly sequential survey point that has not yet been reached; calculating, by the surface steerable system, an amount of second incremental progress made by the BHA since the first incremental process was calculated; calculating, by the surface steerable system, a second estimate of the second current location based on the second set of toolface information and the amount of second incremental progress occurring since the first estimate and without directly referencing the first survey point; and causing, by the surface steerable system, at least one drilling parameter to be modified in order to alter the drilling direction of the BHA based on the second estimate if the surface steerable system determines that the second estimate indicates the drilling direction needs to be altered. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method for calculating a path during drilling of a bottom hole assembly between a first survey point that has been passed and a second directly sequential survey point that has not been reached, comprising:
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(a) calculating, by the surface steerable system, an amount of first incremental progress made by the BHA since the first survey point; (b) calculating, by the surface steerable system, a first estimate of a first current location based at least on the first survey point and the amount of first incremental progress; (c) causing, by the surface steerable system, at least one drilling parameter to be modified in order to alter a drilling direction of the BHA based on the first estimate if the surface steerable system determines that the first estimate indicates the drilling direction needs to be altered; (d) calculating, by the surface steerable system, an amount of second incremental progress made by the BHA since the first incremental process was calculated; (e) calculating, by the surface steerable system, a second estimate of the second current location based at least on the amount of second incremental progress occurring since the first estimate and without directly referencing the first survey point; and (f) causing, by the surface steerable system, at least one drilling parameter to be modified in order to alter the drilling direction of the BHA based on the second estimate if the surface steerable system determines that the second estimate indicates the drilling direction needs to be altered. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. A surface steerable system for use with a drilling rig comprising:
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a network interface; a processor coupled to the network interface; and a memory coupled to the processor, the memory storing a plurality of instructions for execution by the processor, the plurality of instructions including; (a) instructions for calculating, by the surface steerable system, an amount of first incremental progress made by the BHA since the first survey point; (b) instructions for calculating, by the surface steerable system, a first estimate of a first current location based at least on the first survey point and the amount of first incremental progress; (c) instructions for causing, by the surface steerable system, at least one drilling parameter to be modified in order to alter a drilling direction of the BHA based on the first estimate if the surface steerable system determines that the first estimate indicates the drilling direction needs to be altered; (d) instructions for calculating, by the surface steerable system, an amount of second incremental progress made by the BHA since the first incremental process was calculated; (e) instructions for calculating, by the surface steerable system, a second estimate of the second current location based at least on the amount of second incremental progress occurring since the first estimate and without directly referencing the first survey point; and (f) instructions for causing, by the surface steerable system, at least one drilling parameter to be modified in order to alter the drilling direction of the BHA based on the second estimate if the surface steerable system determines that the second estimate indicates the drilling direction needs to be altered. - View Dependent Claims (25)
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Specification