# US 12,000,271 B2 · Autonomous wellbore drift robot

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- Number: US 12,000,271 B2
- Document ID: US12000271B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 17/823,864
- Filed: 2022-08-31
- Published: 2024-02-29
- Granted: 2024-06-04
- Earliest claimed: 2022-08-31
- Assignees: Saudi Arabian Oil Company
- Applicants: Saudi Arabian Oil Company
- Inventors: Fiddoson Sweiyi Fiddo; Torty Chinenye Kalu-Ulu; Meshal A. Al-Amri
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12000271B2

## CPC

- E21B 47/13: by electromagnetic energy, e.g. radio frequency
- E21B 47/0025: {generating an image of the borehole wall using down-hole measurements, e.g. acoustic or electric}
- E21B 47/024: of devices in the borehole (determining slope or direction of the borehole E21B47/022)
- E21B 47/08: Measuring diameters or related dimensions at the borehole
- E21B 23/001: {Self-propelling systems or apparatus, e.g. for moving tools within the horizontal portion of a borehole}
- E21B 2200/20: Computer models or simulations, e.g. for reservoirs under production, drill bits
- E21B 2200/22: Fuzzy logic, artificial intelligence, neural networks or the like
- E21B: EARTH OR ROCK DRILLING; OBTAINING OIL, GAS, WATER, SOLUBLE OR MELTABLE MATERIALS OR A SLURRY OF MINERALS FROM WELLS

## Abstract

A drift robot performs a drifting operation of a wellbore in a subterranean formation. The drift robot includes an elongated body to be deployed into a well conduit in the wellbore, a propulsion system for propelling the elongated body to traverse the well conduit, retractable landings attached to the elongated body for selectively anchoring the elongated body to an internal surface of the well conduit, sensors attached to the elongated body to generate sensor measurements of the well conduit, a smart camera disposed at one end of the elongated body to capture camera images of interior features of the well conduit, and a controller that adjusts the elongated body based at least on the sensor measurements and the camera images.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A drift robot for performing a drifting operation of a wellbore in a subterranean formation, comprising:
an elongated body to be deployed into a well conduit in the wellbore and comprising:
a plurality of segments connected into a sequence; and
a linking mechanism that links two adjacent segments and adjusts an angle between the two adjacent segments;
a propulsion system for propelling the elongated body to traverse the well conduit;
a plurality of retractable landings attached to the elongated body for selectively anchoring the elongated body to an internal surface of the well conduit;
a plurality of sensors attached to the elongated body to generate sensor measurements of the well conduit;
a smart camera disposed at one end of the elongated body to capture camera images of interior features of the well conduit; and
a controller that
analyzes the camera images to detect a curved section of the well conduit; and
adjusts, in response to detecting the curved section, the elongated body at least by the linking mechanism adjusting the angle between the two adjacent segments.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The drift robot of claim 1, further comprising a wireless communication interface configured to:
receive a user command from a remote-control console to the controller; and
selectively send the sensor measurements and the camera images from the controller to the remote-control console.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The drift robot of claim 2,
wherein the sensor measurements comprise an internal diameter of the well conduit and measured properties of particles found in the well conduit, and
wherein the controller is further configured to selectively generate an alert based on the sensor measurements for sending to the remote-control console.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The drift robot of claim 1, wherein navigating the elongated body comprises:
retrieving the plurality of retractable landings while the elongated body traverses the well conduit; and
extending the plurality of retractable landings against the internal surface of the well conduit when the elongated body reaches a target location in the well conduit.

### Claim 5 (depends on 4)

The drift robot of claim 4, further comprising:
a global positioning system (GPS) device to determine a physical location of the elongated body,
wherein said extending the plurality of retractable landings is in response to the physical location matching the target location.

### Claim 6

A system for performing a drifting operation of a wellbore in a subterranean formation, comprising:
a remote-control console at the Earth surface that is used by a user to monitor the drifting operation; and
a drift robot, comprising:
an elongated body to be deployed into a well conduit in the wellbore and comprising:
a plurality of segments connected into a sequence; and
a linking mechanism that links two adjacent segments and adjusts an angle between the two adjacent segments;
a propulsion system for propelling the elongated body to traverse the well conduit;
a plurality of retractable landings attached to the elongated body for selectively anchoring the elongated body to an internal surface of the well conduit;
a plurality of sensors attached to the elongated body to generate sensor measurements of the well conduit;
a smart camera disposed at one end of the elongated body to capture camera images of interior features of the well conduit;
a controller that
analyzes the camera images to detect a curved section of the well conduit; and
adjusts, in response to detecting the curved section, the elongated body at least by the linking mechanism adjusting the angle between the two adjacent segments; and
a wireless communication interface configured to:
receive a user command from the remote-control console to the controller; and
selectively send the sensor measurements and the camera images from the controller to the remote-control console.

### Claim 7 (depends on 6)

The system of claim 6,
wherein the sensor measurements comprise an internal diameter of the well conduit and measured properties of particles found in the well conduit, and
wherein the controller is further configured to selectively generate an alert based on the sensor measurements for sending to the remote-control console.

### Claim 8 (depends on 6)

The system of claim 6, wherein navigating the elongated body comprises:
retrieving the plurality of retractable landings while the elongated body traverses the well conduit; and
extending the plurality of retractable landings against the internal surface of the well conduit when the elongated body reaches a target location in the well conduit.

### Claim 9 (depends on 8)

The system of claim 8, the drift robot further comprising:
a global positioning system (GPS) device to determine a physical location of the elongated body,
wherein said extending the plurality of retractable landings is in response to the physical location matching the target location.

### Claim 10

A method for performing a drifting operation of a wellbore in a subterranean formation, comprising:
disposing, from a wellhead of the wellbore, a drift robot into a well conduit in the wellbore, wherein the drift robot comprises:
an elongated body comprising:
a plurality of segments connected into a sequence; and
a linking mechanism that links two adjacent segments and adjusts an angle between the two adjacent segments;
a propulsion system for propelling the elongated body to traverse the well conduit;
a plurality of retractable landings attached to the elongated body for selectively anchoring the elongated body to an internal surface of the well conduit;
a plurality of sensors attached to the elongated body to generate sensor measurements of the well conduit;
a smart camera disposed at one end of the elongated body to capture camera images of interior features of the well conduit;
a controller that
analyzes the camera images to detect a curved section of the well conduit; and
adjusts, in response to detecting the curved section, the elongated body at least by the linking mechanism adjusting the angle between the two adjacent segments; and
a wireless communication interface to provide wireless data communications;
selectively sending, using the wireless communication interface, the sensor measurements and the camera images to a remote-control console at the Earth surface; and
selectively displaying, using the remote-control console, the sensor measurements and the camera images for viewing by a user.

### Claim 11 (depends on 10)

The method of claim 10, further comprising:
receiving a user command from the remote-control console to the controller.

### Claim 12 (depends on 11)

The method of claim 11,
wherein the sensor measurements comprise an internal diameter of the well conduit and measured properties of particles found in the well conduit, and
wherein the controller is further configured to selectively generate an alert based on the sensor measurements for sending to the remote-control console.

### Claim 13 (depends on 10)

The method of claim 10, wherein navigating the elongated body comprises:
retrieving the plurality of retractable landings while the elongated body traverses the well conduit; and
extending the plurality of retractable landings against the internal surface of the well conduit when the elongated body reaches a target location in the well conduit.

### Claim 14 (depends on 13)

The method of claim 13, the drift robot further comprising:
a global positioning system (GPS) device to determine a physical location of the elongated body,
wherein said extending the plurality of retractable landings is in response to the physical location matching the target location.