# US 11,111,732 B2 · Drill bits with incorporated sensing systems > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 11,111,732 B2 - Document ID: US11111732B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 16/525,039 - Filed: 2019-07-29 - Published: 2021-02-04 - Granted: 2021-09-07 - Earliest claimed: 2019-07-29 - Assignees: Saudi Arabian Oil Company - Applicants: Saudi Arabian Oil Company - Inventors: Guodong Zhan; Chinthaka Pasan Gooneratne; Bodong Li; Timothy E. Moellendick - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11111732B2 ## CPC - E21B 12/02: Wear indicators - E21B 10/46: characterised by wear resisting parts, e.g. diamond inserts - E21B 44/00: Automatic control systems specially adapted for drilling operations, i.e. self-operating systems which function to carry out or modify a drilling operation without intervention of a human operator, e.g. computer-controlled drilling systems; Systems specially adapted for monitoring a plurality of drilling variables or conditions - E21B 47/01: Devices for supporting measuring instruments on drill bits, pipes, rods or wirelines; Protecting measuring instruments in boreholes against heat, shock, pressure or the like - E21B 47/107: using acoustic means - E21B 47/013: Devices specially adapted for supporting measuring instruments on drill bits - E21B: EARTH OR ROCK DRILLING; OBTAINING OIL, GAS, WATER, SOLUBLE OR MELTABLE MATERIALS OR A SLURRY OF MINERALS FROM WELLS ## Abstract The present disclosure is directed to systems, methods, and apparatuses for obtaining sensor data from sensors incorporated into a drill bit during a drilling operation to form a wellbore. The obtained sensor data may be used to control an aspect of the drilling operation. The sensors may be incorporated into drill bit cutters of a drill bit, a drill bit body of a drill bit, or both. Example sensors include acoustic sensors, pressure sensor, vibration sensor, accelerometers, gyroscopic sensors, magnetometer sensors, and temperature sensors. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A drill bit for forming a wellbore, the drill bit comprising: a body comprising a connector for a drill string; a drill bit cutter coupled to the body, the drill bit cutter comprising: a substrate with a first end and an opposite second end; an end cap formed on the first end of the substrate, the end cap having a cutting surface operable to engage formation rock to form the wellbore; and an acoustic sensor attached to the second end of the substrate, the acoustic sensor configured to transmit acoustic waves and receive reflected acoustic waves; and a processor electrically connected to the acoustic sensor, the processor operable to determine a condition of the drill bit cutter based on at least one of a phase difference and a frequency difference between a transmitted acoustic wave and a received acoustic wave of the acoustic sensor. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The drill bit of claim 1, wherein the acoustic sensor is adapted to determine an amount of wear of the drill bit cutter. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The drill bit of claim 2, wherein the drill bit cutter comprises an additional sensor disposed at an interface between the end cap and the substrate. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The drill bit of claim 1, further comprising an additional sensor formed on a surface of the drill bit cutter. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The drill bit of claim 4, wherein the additional sensor is formed on the drill bit cutter by a chemical vapor deposition process. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The drill bit of claim 5, wherein the chemical vapor deposition process is atomic layer deposition. ### Claim 7 (depends on 5) The drill bit of claim 5, wherein the additional sensor comprises a plurality of sensors, and wherein the plurality of sensors are formed on the drill bit cutter. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The drill bit of claim 1, wherein the drill bit cutter comprises a plurality of drill bit cutters, wherein the acoustic sensor comprises a plurality of acoustic sensors, and wherein at least one of the plurality of acoustic sensors is coupled to each of the drill bit cutters. ### Claim 9 A method for controlling a drilling process using a drill bit, the method comprising: receiving data from an acoustic sensor of a drill bit cutter of the drill bit, the acoustic sensor attached to a first end of a substrate of the drill bit cutter during formation of a wellbore, the drill bit cutter comprising an end cap formed on an opposite second end of the substrate, the end cap having a cutting surface operable to engage formation rock to form the wellbore; determining a condition of the drill bit cutter based on the received data from the acoustic sensor by determining at least one of a phase difference and a frequency difference between a transmitted acoustic wave and a received acoustic wave of the acoustic sensor; and altering a drilling parameter of the drill bit based on the determined condition. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The method of claim 9, wherein the method further comprises: determining a downhole drilling condition within the wellbore based on the drill bit condition of the drill bit cutter; and determining a drilling characteristic based on the determined downhole drilling condition; wherein altering the drilling parameter is based on the determined drilling characteristic. ### Claim 11 (depends on 9) The method of claim 9, wherein receiving data from the acoustic sensor comprises receiving data from the acoustic sensor in real-time. ### Claim 12 (depends on 10) The method of claim 10, wherein the received data is acoustic data. ### Claim 13 (depends on 10) The method of claim 10, wherein the condition of the drill bit is a wear condition of a drill bit. ### Claim 14 (depends on 10) The method of claim 10, wherein the drilling characteristic comprises a rate of penetration of the drill bit or a depth of cut of the drill bit. ### Claim 15 (depends on 10) The method of claim 10, wherein the drilling parameter is selected from a group consisting of a rotational speed of the drill bit, a flow rate of drilling mud pumped during drilling, or a loading force applied to the drill bit. ### Claim 16 (depends on 9) The method of claim 9, further comprising receiving data from one or more additional sensors coupled to the drill bit, the one or more additional sensors formed on a surface of the drill bit, a sensor embedded in a portion of the drill bit, or a sensor located at an interface between portions of a drill bit. ### Claim 17 An apparatus for controlling a drilling operation using a drill bit for forming a wellbore, the apparatus comprising: one or more processors; and a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium coupled to the one or more processors and storing programming instructions for execution by the one or more processors, the programming instructions to instruct the one or more processors to: receiving data from an acoustic sensor of a drill bit cutter of the drill bit, the acoustic sensor attached to a first end of a substrate of the drill bit cutter during formation of a wellbore, the drill bit cutter comprising an end cap formed on an opposite second end of the substrate, the end cap having a cutting surface operable to engage formation rock to form the wellbore; determine a condition of the drill bit cutter based on the received data from the acoustic sensor by determining at least one of a phase difference and a frequency difference between a transmitted acoustic wave and a received acoustic wave of the acoustic sensor; and alter a drilling parameter of the drill bit based on the determined condition. ### Claim 18 (depends on 17) The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the programming instructions to instruct the one or more processors to alter a drilling parameter based on the received sensor data comprises programming instructions to instruct the one or more processors to: determine a downhole drilling condition within the wellbore based on the drill bit condition of the drill bit cutter; and determine a drilling characteristic based on the determined downhole drilling condition; wherein altering the drilling parameter is based on the determined drilling characteristic. ### Claim 19 (depends on 18) The method of claim 18, wherein the drilling parameter is selected from a group consisting of a rotational speed of the drill bit, a flow rate of drilling mud pumped during drilling, or a loading force applied to the drill bit. ### Claim 20 (depends on 17) The method of claim 17, further comprising receiving data from one or more additional sensors coupled to the drill bit, the one or more additional sensors formed on a surface of the drill bit, a sensor embedded in a portion of the drill bit, or a sensor located at an interface between portions of a drill bit.