Borehole instrument for borehole profiling and imaging

Abstract

A borehole instrument includes a housing sized and shaped to fit inside a borehole, at least one image sensor disposed within the housing and configured to capture images of an inside wall of the borehole, at least one illumination light source disposed within the housing and configured to illuminate the inside wall of the borehole, a laser light source disposed within the housing and configured to emit laser light towards the inside wall of the borehole, a data processing subsystem coupled to the image sensor and configured to receive image data from the image sensor, the image data representative of images of the inside wall of the borehole. The data processing subsystem is further configured to capture borehole profile data from images containing laser light reflected from the inside wall of the borehole.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A borehole instrument comprising:
 a housing sized and shaped to fit inside a borehole;   at least one image sensor disposed within the housing and configured to capture images of an inside wall of the borehole;   at least one illumination light source disposed within the housing and configured to illuminate the inside wall of the borehole;   a laser light source disposed within the housing and configured to emit laser light towards the inside wall of the borehole; and   a data processing subsystem coupled to the image sensor and configured to receive image data from the image sensor, the image data representative of images of the inside wall of the borehole, the data processing subsystem further configured to capture borehole profile data from images containing laser light reflected from the inside wall of the borehole.   
     
     
         2 . The borehole instrument of  claim 1 , further comprising capturing optics positioned to direct image light reflected from the inside wall onto the image sensor and positioned to direct laser light reflected from the inside wall onto the image sensor. 
     
     
         3 . The borehole instrument of  claim 2 , wherein the capturing optics comprises an aspheric imaging mirror. 
     
     
         4 . The borehole instrument of  claim 1 , wherein the data processing subsystem comprises a communications interface configured to transmit the image data, the borehole profile data, or both the image data and the borehole profile data to a computer. 
     
     
         5 . The borehole instrument of  claim 4 , wherein the computer is an on-board disposed inside the housing. 
     
     
         6 . The borehole instrument of  claim 5 , wherein the computer is configured to transmit data to an up-hole computer. 
     
     
         7 . The borehole instrument of  claim 1 , wherein the data processing subsystem comprises a data processor configured to perform image processing on the image data, the borehole profile data, or both the borehole image data and the profile data. 
     
     
         8 . The borehole instrument of  claim 7 , wherein the image processing is pre-processing and the data processing subsystem further comprises a communications interface configured to transmit pre-processed data to a computer. 
     
     
         9 . The borehole instrument of  claim 1 , further comprising laser-shaping optics configured to shaped emitted laser light into a sheet. 
     
     
         10 . The borehole instrument of  claim 9 , wherein the sheet is frustoconical in shape and is at an angle of between about 10 degree and about 30 degrees with respect to a field of view of the image sensor. 
     
     
         11 . The borehole instrument of  claim 1 , wherein the data processing subsystem is configured to modulate the laser light source and the illumination light source to capture images containing laser light reflected from the inside wall of the borehole more often than capturing images of the inside wall containing laser light. 
     
     
         12 . The borehole instrument of  claim 1 , further comprising a cylindrical window positioned to allow emission of illumination light and laser light and to allow capture of images by the image sensor. 
     
     
         13 . The borehole instrument of  claim 1 , further comprising an inertial measurement unit connected to the data processing subsystem. 
     
     
         14 . A borehole instrument comprising:
 a housing sized and shaped to fit inside a borehole;   a window;   an image sensor disposed within the housing and configured to capture images of an inside wall of the borehole through the window;   at least one illumination light source disposed within the housing and configured to direct illumination light through the window to the inside wall of the borehole;   a laser light source disposed within the housing and configured to emit laser light;   laser-shaping optics configured to shaped emitted laser light into a sheet directed through the window to the inside wall of the borehole;   capturing optics positioned to direct image light reflected from the inside wall onto the image sensor and positioned to direct laser light reflected from the inside wall onto the image sensor;   a data processing subsystem coupled to the image sensor and configured to receive image data from the image sensor, the image data representative of images of the inside wall of the borehole, the data processing subsystem further configured to capture borehole profile data from images containing laser light reflected from the inside wall of the borehole; and   a computer connected to the data processing subsystem, wherein the data processing subsystem is configured to transmit the image data, the borehole profile data, or both the image data and the borehole profile data to the computer.   
     
     
         15 . The borehole instrument of  claim 14 , wherein the data processing subsystem is configured to modulate the laser light source and the illumination light source to capture images containing laser light reflected from the inside wall of the borehole more often than capturing images of the inside wall containing laser light. 
     
     
         16 . The borehole instrument of  claim 14 , wherein the computer is configured to transmit data to an up-hole computer. 
     
     
         17 . The borehole instrument of  claim 14 , wherein the data processing subsystem is configured to perform pre-processing on the image data, the borehole profile data, or both the borehole image data and the profile data. 
     
     
         18 . The borehole instrument of  claim 14 , wherein the sheet of laser light is frustoconical in shape and is at an angle of between about 10 degree and about 30 degrees with respect to a field of view of the image sensor. 
     
     
         19 . A method for capturing data from a borehole, the method comprising:
 illuminating an inside wall of the borehole;   emitting laser light onto the inside wall of the borehole;   capturing images of the inside wall of the borehole to obtain captured images that are represented by image data;   processing the image data to extract borehole profile data from laser light present in the captured images; and   performing the illuminating, the emitting of laser light, and the capturing of images during a single pass of the borehole.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , further comprising using the captured images and the borehole profile data to generate a 3D representation of the borehole.