Control system for a drilling apparatus

Abstract

A control system for a percussive drilling apparatus, the control system including a control unit for controlling machine control level operations of the percussive drilling apparatus, one or more machine control nodes connected to the control unit via a control bus, the machine control nodes providing at least one output from one or more sensors of the percussive drilling apparatus, and a measurement-while-drilling analysis functionality arranged to operate at the machine control level. The measurement-while-drilling analysis functionality being arranged to obtain measurement data of the one or more sensors from the one or more machine control nodes via the control bus and to carry out a measurement-while-drilling analysis of a drilling process.

1 . A control system for a percussive drilling apparatus, the control system comprising:
 a control bus;   a control unit connected to the control bus for controlling machine control level operations of the percussive drilling apparatus via the control bus, wherein the machine control level operations are operations and measurements relating to managing movements of the percussive drilling apparatus or its sub-units via the control bus;   one or more machine control nodes connected to the control bus and the control unit via the control bus, wherein the one or more machine control nodes are nodes of the control system arranged to provide information about the state of, or to enable to provide control information for managing the movements of the percussive drilling apparatus or its sub-units, said one or more machine control nodes being arranged to provide at least one output from one or more sensors of the percussive drilling apparatus, said one or more sensors providing real-time measurement data about conditions at the drill bit and/or about the properties of geological formation; and   a measurement-while-drilling analysis functionality connected to the control bus and arranged to operate at said machine control level, said measurement-while-drilling analysis functionality being arranged to obtain said real-time measurement data of said one or more sensors from said one or more machine control nodes via the control bus and to carry out a real-time measurement-while-drilling analysis of a drilling process based on said real-time measurement data.   
     
     
         2 . The control system according to  claim 1 , wherein the measurement-while-drilling analysis functionality is a hardware module operating as a machine control node connected to the control unit via the control bus. 
     
     
         3 . The control system according to  claim 1 , wherein the measurement-while-drilling analysis functionality is a software module integrated into a machine control node or the control unit. 
     
     
         4 . The control system according to  claim 1 , wherein the measurement-while-drilling analysis functionality is arranged to be controlled by commands or information contained in messages of a protocol used in said control bus. 
     
     
         5 . The control system according to  claim 1 , further comprising an interface to a user interface of the percussive drilling apparatus, the user interface including means for monitoring and/or controlling the operation of the measurement-while-drilling analysis functionality. 
     
     
         6 . The control system according to  claim 1 , wherein the measurement-while-drilling analysis functionality is arranged to carry out the measurement-while-drilling analysis without storing the measurement data of said one or more sensors in a memory. 
     
     
         7 . The control system according to  claim 1 , wherein control data of the drilling process is used as a further input for the measurement-while-drilling analysis. 
     
     
         8 . The control system according to  claim 1 , wherein the control system is arranged to monitor operation of at least one machine control node used to control the drilling process, and data obtained from monitoring the operation of the at least one machine control node is used to supplement the measurement-while-drilling analysis. 
     
     
         9 . The control system according to  claim 1 , wherein changes in rock material being drilled are arranged to be analysed during a constant state of a first drilling parameter on the basis of changes caused to at least a second drilling parameter. 
     
     
         10 . The control system according to  claim 1 , wherein the control system is arranged to adjust at least the first drilling parameter to be kept constant on the basis of changes in at least the second parameter. 
     
     
         11 . The control system according to  claim 9 , wherein the measurement-while-drilling analysis functionality is arranged to identify the constant state of at least the first parameter and perform the measurement-while-drilling analysis on the basis of changes in at least the second parameter. 
     
     
         12 . The control system according to  claim 7 , wherein diagnostics provided by the measurement-while-drilling analysis is arranged to be displayed on the user interface of the percussive drilling apparatus. 
     
     
         13 . The control system according to  claim 7 , wherein diagnostics provided by the measurement-while-drilling analysis is arranged to be provided to a remote computer. 
     
     
         14 . A percussive drilling apparatus arranged to carry out a drilling process, the percussive drilling apparatus comprising a control system, the control system including a control bus; a control unit connected to the control bus for controlling machine control level operations of the percussive drilling apparatus via the control bus, wherein the machine control level operations are operations and measurements relating to managing movements of the percussive drilling apparatus or its sub-units via the control bus; one or more machine control nodes connected to the control bus and the control unit via the control bus, wherein the one or more machine control nodes are nodes of the control system arranged to provide information about the state of, or to enable to provide control information for managing the movements of the percussive drilling apparatus or its sub-units, said one or more machine control nodes being arranged to provide at least one output from one or more sensors of the percussive drilling apparatus, said one or more sensors providing real-time measurement data about conditions at the drill bit and/or about the properties of geological formation; and a measurement-while-drilling analysis functionality connected to the control bus and arranged to operate at said machine control level, said measurement-while-drilling analysis functionality being arranged to obtain said real-time measurement data of said one or more sensors from said one or more machine control nodes via the control bus and to carry out a real-time measurement-while-drilling analysis of a drilling process based on said real-time measurement data. 
     
     
         15 . An auxiliary equipment for a percussive drilling apparatus arranged to carry out a drilling process, the auxiliary equipment comprising a control system, the control system including a control bus; a control unit connected to the control bus for controlling machine control level operations of the percussive drilling apparatus via the control bus, wherein the machine control level operations are operations and measurements relating to managing movements of the percussive drilling apparatus or its sub-units via the control bus; one or more machine control nodes connected to the control bus and the control unit via the control bus, wherein the one or more machine control nodes are nodes of the control system arranged to provide information about the state of, or to enable to provide control information for managing the movements of the percussive drilling apparatus or its sub-units, said one or more machine control nodes being arranged to provide at least one output from one or more sensors of the percussive drilling apparatus, said one or more sensors providing real-time measurement data about conditions at the drill bit and/or about the properties of geological formation; and a measurement-while-drilling analysis functionality connected to the control bus and arranged to operate at said machine control level, said measurement-while-drilling analysis functionality being arranged to obtain said real-time measurement data of said one or more sensors from said one or more machine control nodes via the control bus and to carry out a real-time measurement-while-drilling analysis of a drilling process based on said real-time measurement data. 
     
     
         16 . A method of analysing drilling process of a percussive drilling apparatus, the method comprising:
 obtaining measurement data of one or more sensors of the drilling apparatus from one or more machine control nodes via a control bus, said sensors providing real-time measurement data about conditions at the drill bit and/or about the properties of geological formation; and   carrying out an measurement-while-drilling analysis of a drilling process, at a machine control level, based on said obtained real-time measurement data.   
     
     
         17 . A computer program product, stored on a non-transitory memory medium, comprising computer program code which, when executed by a processor, causes an apparatus to perform the steps of  claim 16 .