Apparatus and methods for controlling drilling

A method for controlling drilling operations, the method comprising:

• accessing a drilling plan for a borehole, the drilling plan comprising one or more of planned path for the borehole, drill string information of a drill string, mud properties, drill bit properties, formation properties, and drill rig properties;
• receiving a plurality of operating parameters from a rig for the borehole, the plurality of operating parameters comprising one or more of an observed toolface, a spindle setting, a rate of penetration, a differential pressure, and a weight-on-bit;
• receiving one or more propagation functions for the borehole determined by a model of the drill string;
• determining one or more spindle changes or one or more block speed changes based at least in part on the propagation functions and the plurality of operating parameters;
• generating one or more predicted drill properties from a simulator using the one or more spindle changes or the one or more block speed changes;
• adjusting the one or more spindle changes or the one or more block speed changes based at least on the one or more predicted drill properties;
• and
• sending control signals to one or more control systems to implement and drill in accordance with the one or more adjusted spindle changes or the one or more adjusted block speed changes.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a set of instructions, the set of instructions comprising:

• one or more instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a drill rig system, cause the drill rig system to:
• access a drilling plan for a borehole, the drilling plan comprising one or more of planned path for the borehole, drill string information of a drill string, mud properties, drill bit properties, formation properties, and drill rig properties;
• receive a plurality of operating parameters from a rig for the borehole, the plurality of operating parameters comprising one or more of an observed toolface, a spindle setting, a rate of penetration, a differential pressure, and a weight-on-bit;
• receive one or more propagation functions for the borehole determined by a model of the drill string;
• determine one or more spindle changes or one or more block speed changes based at least in part on the propagation functions and the plurality of operating parameters;
• generate one or more predicted drill properties from a simulator using the one or more spindle changes or the one or more block speed changes;
• adjust the one or more spindle changes or the one or more block speed changes based at least on the one or more predicted drill properties;
• and
• send control signals to one or more control systems to implement and drill in accordance with the one or more adjusted spindle changes or the one or more adjusted block speed changes.