System and method for drilling a wellbore using pattern detection

A system for drilling a wellbore, comprising:

• sensors coupled to drilling equipment and configured to provide measurements of drilling equipment operation used to drill the wellbore;
• an actuator to affect operation of the drilling equipment;
• a pattern detection system coupled to the sensors and the actuator, the pattern detection system comprising:
• a database configured to store a library of defined patterns, each of the defined patterns corresponding to an operational behavior of the drilling equipment;
• a pattern detector coupled to the database, the pattern detector comprising:
• a pattern characterization unit configured to characterize the measurements as correlating to one of the defined patterns;
• a pattern detection unit configured to detect the one of the defined patterns in the measurements;
• and
• a pattern classification unit configured to:
• extract a feature from the measurements;
• and
• determine a condition of the drilling equipment by comparing the feature to a threshold derived from the one of the defined patterns;
• wherein the pattern detection system is configured to signal the actuator to adjust operation of the drilling equipment based on the condition.

A pattern detection system for monitoring operation of drilling equipment used to drill a wellbore, the system comprising:

• a pattern generator configured to:
• combine measurements from a plurality of instances of the drilling equipment acquired over time to produce a library of defined patterns, each of the defined patterns corresponding to an operational behavior the drilling equipment;
• and
• store the library of defined patterns in a database;
• a pattern detector coupled to the database, the pattern detector comprising:
• a pattern characterization unit configured to characterize measurements received from sensors coupled to the drilling equipment as correlating to one of the defined patterns;
• a pattern detection unit configured to detect the one of the defined patterns in the measurements;
• and
• a pattern classification unit configured to:
• extract a feature from the measurements;
• and
• determine a condition of the drilling equipment by comparing the feature to a threshold derived from the one of the defined patterns;
• and
• schedule replacement of a portion of the drilling equipment associated with the measurements received from the sensors based on the condition indicating potential failure of the drilling equipment.