Seismic-while-drilling survey systems and methods
AssigneeDatacloud International, Inc.
InventorsDaniel Palmer, Krishna Srinivasan
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Respective embodiments disclosed herein include methods and apparatuses (1) for surveying a mine bench or other material body using at least seismic data obtained via geophone and measurement module data synchronized via a wireless link; (2) for generating hyperspectral panoramic imaging data of a blast hole or other borehole; or (3) for allowing a neural network to facilitate a differential blast design that targets a first bench part more weakly than the differential blast design targets a second bench part (along the same mine bench) at least partly based on data indicative of a much higher concentration of a valuable material in the second bench part than in the first.
Claims20
A surveying method for use with a drill rig that includes a drill bit adjacent a material body of a mine, the surveying method comprising:
- detecting an onboard indication of a movement of said drill bit via one or more vibration sensors aboard a movable part of said drill rig, wherein a first electromagnetic transducer is operably coupled to said one or more vibration sensors aboard said movable part of said drill rig;
- detecting a geological signal that indicates both said movement of said drill bit and one or more geological properties of said material body via an array of several geophones mechanically coupled to said material body, wherein a second electromagnetic transducer is operably coupled to said array of several geophones mechanically coupled to said material body of said mine;
- and
- synchronizing said onboard indication and said geological signal that indicates both said movement of said drill bit and said one or more geological properties of said material body via said array of several geophones across one or more wireless signal paths spanning one or more free space media between said first electromagnetic transducer operably coupled to said one or more vibration sensors aboard said movable part of said drill rig and said second electromagnetic transducer operably coupled to said array of several geophones mechanically coupled to said material body of said mine without using any synch times stored aboard said movable part of said drill rig, wherein said synch time is instead established by transmitting a frequency-modulated electromagnetic synchronizing signal indicative of a synchronizing event via said first electromagnetic transducer and said second electromagnetic transducer across said one or more wireless signal paths spanning said one or more free space media between said first electromagnetic transducer operably coupled to said one or more vibration sensors aboard said movable part of said drill rig and said second electromagnetic transducer operably coupled to said array of several geophones mechanically coupled to said material body of said mine, and wherein a frequency modulation of said frequency-modulated electromagnetic synchronizing signal signifies said synchronizing event.
A surveying method for use with a drill rig that includes a drill bit adjacent a material body of a mine, the surveying method comprising:
- detecting an onboard indication of a movement of said drill bit via one or more vibration sensors aboard a movable part of said drill rig, wherein a first electromagnetic transducer is operably coupled to said one or more vibration sensors aboard said movable part of said drill rig;
- detecting a geological signal that indicates both said movement of said drill bit and one or more geological properties of said material body via one or more geophones mechanically coupled to said material body, wherein a second electromagnetic transducer is operably coupled to said one or more geophones mechanically coupled to said material body of said mine;
- and
- synchronizing said onboard indication and said geological signal that indicates both said movement of said drill bit and said one or more geological properties of said material body via said one or more geophones mechanically coupled to said material body across one or more wireless signal paths spanning one or more free space media between said first electromagnetic transducer operably coupled to said one or more vibration sensors aboard said movable part of said drill rig and said second electromagnetic transducer operably coupled to said one or more geophones mechanically coupled to said material body of said mine.
A surveying system for use with a drill rig that includes a drill bit adjacent a material body of a mine, said surveying system comprising:
- transistor-based circuitry configured to detect an onboard indication of a movement of said drill bit via one or more vibration sensors aboard a movable part of said drill rig, wherein a first electromagnetic transducer is operably coupled to said one or more vibration sensors aboard said movable part of said drill rig;
- transistor-based circuitry configured to detect a geological signal that indicates both said movement of said drill bit and one or more geological properties of said material body via one or more geophones mechanically coupled to said material body, wherein a second electromagnetic transducer is operably coupled to said one or more geophones mechanically coupled to said material body of said mine;
- and
- transistor-based circuitry configured to synchronize said onboard indication and said geological signal that indicates both said movement of said drill bit and said one or more geological properties of said material body via said one or more geophones mechanically coupled to said material body across one or more wireless signal paths spanning one or more free space media between said first electromagnetic transducer operably coupled to said one or more vibration sensors aboard said movable part of said drill rig and said second electromagnetic transducer operably coupled to said one or more geophones mechanically coupled to said material body of said mine.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.