Patterned substrate for use in image-based classification of rock cuttings

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12254408-B2
Application number	US-202017756393-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 15, 2020
Priority date	Dec 16, 2019
Publication date	Mar 18, 2025
Grant date	Mar 18, 2025

Abstract

A method of producing an image of at least one rock cutting. The method can include forming or obtaining a substrate having a patterned top surface. The method can also include using the patterned top surface of the substrate to support at least one rock cutting, controlling an image acquisition system to acquire at least one image of the rock cutting for storage and subsequent image processing.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for automated classification of rock cuttings, comprising:
forming a substrate having a patterned top surface;
while using the patterned top surface of the substrate to support a rock cutting, producing, by an image acquisition system, a sequence of images of the rock cutting using focal plane stacking;
processing, by one or more computers, the sequence of images by aligning and merging the images to generate a sharpened image of the rock cutting;
inputting as training data, by the one or more computers, the sharpened image of the rock cutting into an automated texture-based deep learning classifier of rock cuttings; and
classifying a rock cutting using the automated texture-based deep learning classifier that has been trained using the sharpened image.

2. A method according to claim 1 , wherein:
the image acquisition system comprises a camera with a fixed or variable focus lens and a light source.

3. A method according to claim 1 , further comprising:
controlling the image acquisition system to acquire the sequence of images of the rock cutting, each at different focus settings corresponding to different height levels across a height of the rock cutting, wherein at least one of the focus settings corresponds to the plane of the patterned top surface of the substrate.

4. A method according to claim 3 , wherein:
the focus setting corresponding to the plane of the patterned top surface of the substrate focuses the image acquisition system on patterns formed in the patterned substrate.

5. A method according to claim 3 , wherein:
the focus setting corresponding to the plane of the patterned top surface of the substrate is determined manually or by automatic methods.

6. A method according to claim 3 , further comprising:
registering or storing in electronic form the focus setting corresponding to the plane of the patterned top surface of the substrate for access and use in imaging at least one additional sample of rock cuttings.

7. A method according to claim 1 , wherein:
the patterned top surface of the substrate is formed by laser cutting, or by printing or other deposition of nanoparticles.

8. A method according to claim 1 , wherein:
the patterned top surface of the substrate is defined by a dithering algorithm.

9. A method according to claim 1 , wherein:
the patterned top surface provides a blue background for the rock cutting.

10. A method according to claim 1 , which is configured to produce an image of a plurality or mixture of rock cuttings.

11. A method according to claim 8 , wherein:
the dithering algorithm is a Stucki dithering, a Floyd-Steinberg dithering, or a Jarvis dithering.

12. A system for producing an image of at least one rock cutting, comprising:
a substrate having a patterned top surface and configured to support a rock cutting; and
an image acquisition system configured to acquire a sequence of images of the rock cutting using focal plane stacking while the rock cutting is supported on the patterned top surface of the substrate.

Assignees

• Schlumberger Technology Corp

Inventors

• Sharma Richa
• Elias Quincy K

Classifications

• G06N3/0464

  Convolutional networks [CNN, ConvNet] · CPC title

• G06T2207/30181

  Earth observation · CPC title

• G06T7/60

  Analysis of geometric attributes · CPC title

• G01N33/24

  Earth materials (G01N33/42 takes precedence) · CPC title

• G06V10/22

  by selection of a specific region containing or referencing a pattern; Locating or processing of specific regions to guide the detection or recognition · CPC title