System and method for locating, measuring, counting, and aiding in the handling of drill pipes

1. A system for handling drill pipe, the system comprising a computer system coupled to a drill pipe elevator or roughneck associated with a drilling rig, wherein the computer system is adapted to:

receive image data from at least one camera at a drill site, wherein the camera has a field of view comprising a space above a borehole of a well;

determine, responsive to the image data, a pipe in the field of view and a diameter of the pipe;

determine, responsive to the diameter of the pipe, if a pre-determined condition has occurred; and

adjust or halt a drill pipe elevator operation or a roughneck operation upon determining that the pre-determined condition has occurred.

2. The system of claim 1 , further comprising the at least one camera.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein said at least one camera comprises at least one processor.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the computer system is further adapted to:

generate a well state report comprising a pipe tally responsive to the image data;

determine, responsive to the image data, an aggregate motion of the drill pipe within the field of view relative to the borehole; and

update the well state report based on the determined aggregate motion being in well or out of well relative to the borehole.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the computer system is adapted to determine if the pre-determined condition has occurred by:

estimating an enter length and diameter of the drill pipe entering the borehole based on the image data;

estimating an exit length and diameter of the drill pipe exiting the borehole based on the image data;

comparing the exit length and diameter with the enter length and diameter; and

determining the pre-determined condition has occurred based on the exit length and diameter being outside of a tolerance of the enter length and diameter.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the computer system is adapted determine if the pre-determined condition has occurred responsive to a detection of a marking system on the drill pipe in the image data.

7. The system of claim 1 , further comprising at least one display system for displaying collected or analyzed data responsive to the image data.

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

9. A method for handling of a drill pipe, the method comprising:

acquiring visual data from at least one camera at a drill site, wherein the camera has a field of view comprising a space above a borehole of a well,

analyzing said visual data and detecting an object in the visual data as the drill pipe;

determining, responsive to the visual data, a diameter of the drill pipe;

determining, responsive to the diameter of the drill pipe, if a pre-determined condition has occurred; and

adjusting or halting a drill pipe elevator operation or a roughneck operation upon determining that the pre-determined condition has occurred.

10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising detecting an aggregate motion of the drill pipe responsive to the visual data and relative to the borehole, and wherein determining if the pre-determined condition has occurred is further responsive to the detected aggregate motion of the drill pipe.

11. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

recording the visual data from the at least one camera; and

displaying recorded data on a display.

12. The method of claim 9 , further comprising generating an alert upon determining that the pre-determined condition has occurred.

13. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising a plurality of instructions executable by one or more processors, the instructions comprising instructions which, when executed on the one or more data processors, cause the one or more data processors to perform actions including:

acquiring visual data from at least one camera at a drill site, wherein the camera has a field of view comprising a space above a borehole of a well,

analyzing said visual data and detecting an object in the visual data as a drill pipe;

determining, responsive to the visual data, a diameter of the drill pipe;

determining, responsive to the diameter of the drill pipe, if a pre-determined condition has occurred; and

providing instructions to adjust or halt a drill pipe elevator operation or a roughneck operation upon determining that the pre-determined condition has occurred.

14. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 13 , wherein the instructions further comprise instructions which, when executed on the one or more data processors, cause the one or more data processors to perform actions including:

generating a well state report comprising a pipe tally responsive to the visual data;

determining, responsive to the visual data, an aggregate motion of the drill pipe within the field of view relative to the borehole; and

updating the well state report based on the determined aggregate motion being in well or out of well relative to the borehole.

15. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 13 , wherein the instructions further comprise instructions which, when executed on the one or more data processors, cause the one or more data processors to perform actions including:

estimating an entry length and diameter of the drill pipe entering the borehole based on the visual data;

estimating an exit length and diameter of the drill pipe exiting the borehole based on the visual data;

comparing the exit length and diameter with the entry length and diameter; and

determining the pre-determined condition has occurred based on the exit length and diameter being outside of a tolerance of the entry length and diameter.

16. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 13 , wherein the instructions further comprise instructions which, when executed on the one or more data processors, cause the one or more data processors to perform actions including:

determining if the pre-determined condition has occurred responsive to a detection of a marking system on the drill pipe in the visual data.

17. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 13 , wherein the instructions further comprise instructions which, when executed on the one or more data processors, cause the one or more data processors to perform actions including displaying collected or analyzed data responsive to the visual data.

18. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 13 , wherein the instructions further comprise instructions which, when executed on the one or more data processors, cause the one or more data processors to perform actions including alerting staff to the occurrence of the pre-determined condition.

19. A computer vision system for drilling, the system comprising:

a computer system adapted to receive image data from at least one camera at a drill site, wherein the camera has a field of view comprising a space above a borehole of a well being drilled, and wherein the computer system comprises a processor adapted to execute instructions for:

determining, responsive to the image data, a diameter of a pipe;

determining, responsive to the diameter of the pipe, if a pre-determined condition has occurred; and

adjusting or halting a drill pipe elevator operation or a roughneck operation upon determining that a pre-determined condition has occurred.

20. The computer vision system of claim 19 , wherein the pre-determined condition comprises an incorrect pipe diameter for a current drill string.

21. The computer vision system of claim 20 , wherein determining the diameter of the pipe comprises determining an average of the diameter of the pipe.

22. The computer vision system of claim 21 , wherein determining the diameter of the pipe is responsive to a number of pixels of the image data that comprise the pipe.

23. The computer vision system of claim 22 , wherein the instructions further comprise instructions for determining a length of the pipe.

24. The computer vision system of claim 23 , wherein the instructions further comprise instructions for updating a pipe tally responsive to the determination of the diameter and length of the pipe.

25. The computer vision system of claim 21 , wherein the instructions further comprise instructions for generating an alarm if the pre-determined condition has occurred.