System and method for inhibiting or causing automated actions based on person locations estimated from multiple video sources

1. A system for inhibiting or causing automated actions based on estimated person locations comprising:

a plurality of video sources configured to detect a location of one or more persons on a drilling site having a drilling rig and one or more pieces of machinery associated with the drilling rig, each of the one or more pieces of machinery having a respective known location, wherein at least one video source is calibrated using pre-existing fiducials in visual data from the at least one video source, wherein the pre-existing fiducials comprise the one or more pieces of machinery, wherein the calibration is based on the known locations of the one or more pieces of machinery, and wherein at least one video source is positioned to capture a perspective view, and

at least one processor operably connected to the calibrated video sources wherein said processor aggregates possible person locations, generates bounding box data for at least one person in a frame, and processes the bounding box data to determine person locations in 3-dimensions; and

a machinery control system configured to initiate, alter or interrupt automated activities in response to determined person locations in 3-dimensions, wherein the machinery control system is operably connected to equipment.

2. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a visualization of an environment presented to an end user.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of video sources are combined to provide enhanced person location confidence.

4. The system of claim 1 , further comprising an alarm for alerting staff to an occurrence of a pre-determined condition.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein at least one video source is a camera.

6. A method for inhibiting, altering or causing automated actions based on estimated person locations on a drilling site having a drilling rig, the method comprising:

acquiring visual data from at least one video source, wherein at least one video source is positioned to capture a perspective view and calibrated using pre-existing fiducials in the visual data, wherein the pre-existing fiducials comprise one or more pieces of machinery associated with the drilling rig, and wherein the calibration is based on known locations of the one or more pieces of machinery,

analyzing the visual data,

generating bounding box data for at least one person in a frame;

processing the bounding box data to determine person locations in 3-dimensions; and

inhibiting or causing automated actions based on the person locations in 3-dimensions using a machinery control system, wherein the machinery control system is operably connected to equipment.

7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising displaying the acquired or analyzed data.

8. The method of claim 6 , further comprising alerting staff to an occurrence of a pre-determined condition.

9. The method of claim 6 , further comprising processing bounding box data to determine person locations via triangulation.

10. A system for monitoring personnel location on a drilling site having a drilling rig and controlling automated equipment in response to personnel location, the system comprising:

at least one video stream provided by at least one camera operably connected to a processor, wherein at least one camera is positioned to capture a perspective view and calibrated using pre-existing fiducials in the video stream, wherein the pre-existing fiducials comprise one or more pieces of machinery associated with the drilling rig, wherein the calibration is based on known locations of the one or more pieces of machinery, and wherein the processor is configured to monitor a location of any personnel present in the video stream in 3-dimensions and generate bounding box data for any personnel present in the video stream in 3-dimensions;

a machinery control system operably connected to the processor, wherein the machinery control system is configured to receive commands to either initiate or stop automated operations of equipment based on the bounding box data for personnel present in the video stream in 3-dimensions; and

a graphical user interface configured to provide the video stream to an operator.

11. The system of claim 1 , wherein the equipment is down-hole drilling equipment.

12. The system of claim 1 , wherein the equipment is selected from the group consisting of conveyors, cranes, hoists, pumps, carts, sleds, elevators, winches, and top drives.

13. The system of claim 1 , wherein the calibration comprises detecting the pre-existing fiducials in the visual data automatically.

14. The system of claim 1 , wherein the calibration comprises using a camera parameter optimization technique selected from the group comprising: linear least-squares, non-linear least-squares, and batch-least squares.

15. The method of claim 6 , wherein the calibration comprises detecting the pre-existing fiducials in the visual data automatically.

16. The method of claim 6 , wherein the calibration comprises using a camera parameter optimization technique selected from the group comprising: linear least-squares, non-linear least-squares, and batch-least squares.

17. The system of claim 10 , wherein the calibration comprises detecting the pre-existing fiducials in the video steam automatically.