Oil rig drill pipe and tubing tally system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12584730-B2
Application number	US-202418612696-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 21, 2024
Priority date	Nov 12, 2014
Publication date	Mar 24, 2026
Grant date	Mar 24, 2026

Abstract

Disclosed embodiments relate to systems and methods for locating, measuring, counting or aiding in the handling of drill pipes 106 . The system 100 comprises at least one camera 102 capable of gathering visual data 150 regarding detecting, localizing or both, pipes 106 , roughnecks 116 , elevators 118 and combinations thereof. The system 100 further comprises a processor 110 and a logging system 114 for recording the gathered visual data 150 . The method 200 comprises acquiring visual data 150 using a camera 106 , analyzing the acquired data 150 , and recording the acquired data 150.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A computer vision system for a drilling rig, the system comprising:
one or more cameras, wherein each camera has a field of view that includes a region of interest, wherein the region of interest comprises a region above a borehole of a well being drilled by a drilling rig; and a computer vision processor operably coupled to the one or more cameras, the computer vision processor configured to receive, from the one or more cameras, visual data relating to a drill pipe segment in the region of interest, and configured to provide instructions to at least one piece of equipment of the drilling rig, wherein the computer vision processor is adapted to:
analyze the visual data;
estimate a background in the field of view from the visual data;
detect an object in the field of view based on a change in the visual data;
determine whether the detected object is a pipe in the field of view based on the change in the visual data meeting a predetermined change in information;
responsive to the determination of the pipe in the field of view, halt the estimation of the background while the pipe is present in the field of view; and
responsive to the determination that the change in the visual data does not meet the predetermined change in information or responsive to a determination that the pipe is not present in the field of view, update the background estimation;
generate a pipe tally report based on the detection of the object as the pipe; and
interrupt operations of the at least one piece of equipment based on the visual data being outside a predetermined set of conditions,
wherein the computer vision processor is further configured to detect the object in the visual data as the pipe based on the change in the visual data meeting a predefined object aspect ratio and a predefined object size.

2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the predetermined change in information comprises a change in pixel values, a change in color histograms, or a change in texture features.

3 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the computer vision processor is further configured to measure a length or a diameter based on the detection of the object as the pipe.

4 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the computer vision processor further configured to estimate a per frame velocity of the pipe.

5 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the pipe tally report comprises information about at least one of a pipe length, a pipe diameter, a time the pipe is added to a drill string, or a time the pipe is removed from the drill string.

6 . A method comprising:
receiving, by a computer vision processor, visual data relating to a drill pipe segment in a region of interest in a field of view from one or more cameras, wherein the region of interest comprises a region above a borehole of a well being drilled by a drilling rig; analyzing, by the computer vision processor, the visual data; estimating, by the computer vision processor, a background in the field of view from the visual data; detecting, by the computer vision processor, an object in the field of view based on a change in the visual data; determining, by the computer vision processor, whether the detected object in the field of view of the visual data is a pipe based on the change in the visual data meeting a predetermined change in information; responsive to the determination of the pipe in the field of view, halting the estimation of the background while the pipe is present in the field of view; and responsive to the determination that the change in the visual data does not meet the predetermined change in information or responsive to a determination that pipe is not present in the field of view, updating the background estimation; generating a pipe tally report based on the detection of the object as the pipe; and interrupting operations of at least one piece of equipment based on the visual data being outside a predetermined set of conditions, wherein detecting the object in the visual data as the pipe is further based on the change in the visual data meeting a predefined object aspect ratio and a predefined object size.

7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the predetermined change in information comprises a change in pixel values, a change in color histograms, or a change in texture features.

8 . The method of claim 6 , further comprising measuring at least one of a length or a diameter of the pipe based on the detection of the object as the pipe.

9 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the predetermined set of conditions is based on the measured length or diameter.

10 . The method of claim 6 , further comprising estimating a per frame velocity of the pipe.

11 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the pipe tally report comprises information about at least one of a pipe length, a pipe diameter, a time the pipe is added to a drill string, or a time the pipe is removed from the drill string.

12 . The method of claim 6 , further comprising generating an alert upon determining that the predetermined condition has occurred.

13 . The method of claim 6 , further comprising recording the visual data and displaying the recorded data on a display.

14 . A non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising a plurality of instructions executable by one or more processors, the plurality of instructions comprising instructions which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform actions including:
acquiring visual data relating to a drill pipe segment in a region of interest in a field of view from one or more cameras, wherein the region of interest comprises a region above a borehole of a well being drilled by a drilling rig; analyzing the visual data; estimating a background in the field of view from the visual data; detecting an object in the field of view based on a change in the visual data; determining whether the detected object in the visual data is a based on the change in the visual data meeting a predetermined change in information; responsive to the determination of the pipe in the field of view, halting the estimation of the background while the pipe is present in the field of view; and responsive to the determination that the change in the visual data does not meet the predetermined change in information or responsive to a determination that the pipe is not present in the field of view, updating the background estimation; generating a pipe tally report based on the detection of the object as the pipe; and interrupting operations of at least one piece of equipment based on the visual data being outside a predetermined set of conditions, wherein detecting the object in the visual data as the pipe is further based on the change in the visual data meeting a predefined object aspect ratio and a predefined object size.

15 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 14 , wherein the instructions further comprise instructions which, when executed on the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform actions including measuring at least one of a length or a diameter of the pipe based on the detection of the object as the pipe.

16 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 14 , wherein the instructions further comprise instructions which, when executed on the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform actions including applying shape and size constraints to reduce false alerts to detect the object as the pipe.

17 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of clai

Assignees

• Helmerich & Payne Tech Llc

Inventors

• Torrione Peter A

Classifications

• G08B21/187

  Machine fault alarms · CPC title

• G08B21/182

  Level alarms, e.g. alarms responsive to variables exceeding a threshold · CPC title

• G01B11/022

  by means of tv-camera scanning · CPC title

• E21B19/06

  Elevators, i.e. rod- or tube-gripping devices · CPC title

• E21B17/006

  Accessories for drilling pipes, e.g. cleaners (wear protectors E21B17/10; handling drilling pipes E21B19/00; thread protectors B65D59/00) · CPC title