System sequential status indicator for downhole tracking

Abstract

A drilling system and method may be used with a drilling rig for tracking one or more drill string components relative to one or more blockages, obstacles, and/or other conditions that may affect the progress of the drill string components within the borehole and/or during travelling into and/or out of the borehole. An output response may be generated based on the tracking of the drill string components, and the output response may include, but is not limited to, controlling one or more pieces of drilling equipment, controlling a drilling process, and/or generating a visualization of a status of the drill string components.

That which is claimed: 
     
         1 . A method comprising:
 providing a plurality of device indicators on a user interface, each device indicator corresponding to a drill string component along a drill string;   determining a position of each drill string component relative to an interest point along a borehole; and   controlling a characteristic of each device indicator based on the position of the particular drill string component relative to the interest point.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising predicting a status of the drill string component over a projected interval and providing an indication of the predicted status. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein controlling the characteristic comprises providing a first characteristic based on the position of the drill string component being at the position of the one or more interest points and providing a second characteristic based on the position of the drill string component being different from the position of the one or more interest points. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein controlling the characteristic comprises controlling at least one of a color of the indicator, a size of the indicator, or a shape of the indicator. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising displaying a mapping of the borehole with the one or more interest points and a mapping of the drill string relative to the one or more interest points. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the device indicator comprises a current status indicator, and wherein controlling the characteristic of the device indicator comprises controlling a characteristic of the current status indicator based on a present condition of the drill string component. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the device indicator comprises a projected status indicator, and wherein controlling the characteristic of the device indicator comprises controlling a characteristic of the projected status indicator based on a predicted future condition of the drill string component. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising mapping the plurality of device indicators corresponding to placement of the drill string components along the drill string. 
     
     
         9 . Non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising a plurality of instructions executable by one or more processors, which, when executed on the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform actions comprising:
 displaying a plurality of device indicators on a user interface, each device indicator corresponding to a drill string component along a drill string;   determining a position of each drill string component relative to an interest point along a borehole; and   controlling a characteristic of each device indicator based on the position of the particular drill string component relative to the interest point.   
     
     
         10 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 9 , wherein the instructions further comprise instructions, which, when executed on the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform actions comprising:
 providing a first alert based on the position of the drill string component being at the position of the one or more interest points and providing a second alert based on the position of the drill string component being different from the position of the one or more interest points.   
     
     
         11 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 9 , wherein the instructions further comprise instructions, which, when executed on the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform actions comprising:
 controlling at least one of a color of the indicator, a size of the indicator, or a shape of the indicator.   
     
     
         12 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 9 , wherein the instructions further comprise instructions, which, when executed on the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform actions comprising:
 displaying a mapping of the borehole with the one or more interest points and a mapping of the drill string relative to the one or more interest points.   
     
     
         13 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 9 , wherein the instructions further comprise instructions, which, when executed on the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform actions comprising:
 controlling a characteristic of a current status indicator based on a present condition of the drill string component; and   controlling a characteristic of a projected status indicator based on a predicted future condition of the drill string component.   
     
     
         14 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 9 , wherein the instructions further comprise instructions, which, when executed on the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform actions comprising:
 mapping the plurality of device indicators corresponding to placement of the drill string components along the drill string.   
     
     
         15 . A system comprising:
 a processor; and   non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising a plurality of instructions executable by the processor, wherein the plurality of instructions, when executed on the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform actions comprising:
 identifying a plurality of drill string components along a drill string; 
 for each drill string component, identifying one or more interest points along a borehole; 
 tracking each drill string component within the borehole and relative to the corresponding one or more interest points; and 
 generating an output response based on the tracking of each drill string component relative to the corresponding one or more interest points along the borehole. 
   
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the plurality of instructions, when executed on the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform actions comprising:
 adjusting a drilling operation as the output response based on an identified or predicted problem from the tracking of each drill string component relative to the corresponding one or more interest points along the borehole, and wherein adjusting a drilling operation comprises postponing a slide, performing a slide sooner than planned, extending a slide, changing RPM, changing WOB, or controlling mud flow.   
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the plurality of instructions, when executed on the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform actions comprising generating the output response by:
 generating a mapping of the drill string, the mapping of the drill string comprising a plurality of indicators, each corresponding to a drill string component of the plurality of drill string components;   displaying the mapping of the drill string; and   controlling at least one characteristic of each indicator based on the tracking of the corresponding drill string component relative to the corresponding one or more interest points along the borehole.   
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein displaying the mapping of the drill string further comprises displaying a mapping of the borehole with the one or more interest points. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the plurality of instructions, when executed on the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform actions comprising generating the output response by providing an alert on a user interface of a current position of each drill string component relative to the one or more interest points. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the plurality of instructions, when executed on the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform actions comprising generating the output response by predicting a future status of each drill string component relative to the one or more interest points and providing an alert of the predicted future status of each drill string component relative to the one or more interest points on a user interface.