US 12,000,271 B2
Autonomous wellbore drift robot
Fiddoson Sweiyi Fiddo, Al Khobar (SA); Torty Chinenye Kalu-Ulu, Ras Tanurah (SA); and Meshal A. Al-Amri, Dammam (SA)
Assigned to SAUDI ARABIAN OIL COMPANY, Dhahran (SA)
Filed by SAUDI ARABIAN OIL COMPANY, Dhahran (SA)
Filed on Aug. 31, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/823,864.
Prior Publication US 2024/0068362 A1, Feb. 29, 2024
Int. Cl. E21B 47/13 (2012.01); E21B 23/00 (2006.01); E21B 47/002 (2012.01); E21B 47/024 (2006.01); E21B 47/08 (2012.01)
CPC E21B 47/13 (2020.05) [E21B 47/0025 (2020.05); E21B 47/024 (2013.01); E21B 47/08 (2013.01); E21B 23/001 (2020.05)] 14 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
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.