Horizontal directional drilling system including sonde position detection using global positioning systems

Abstract

A locator device and methods of use are disclosed. The locator device includes a first locating system configured to generate to sense an electromagnetic field emanating from a sonde associated with a drill head, and a second locating system including a global positioning system. The locator device includes a display on the locating system configured to display a map of the area in which the locator device resides based on a location detected by the global positioning system. The locator device also includes control electronics configured to, upon receipt of an input from a user, record location data in a memory associated with the locator device for use by a horizontal directional drilling control system.

1 . A horizontal directional drilling system comprising:
 a horizontal directional drilling machine positioned at a job site;   a horizontal directional drilling data server positioned remotely from and communicatively connected to the horizontal directional drilling machine, the horizontal directional drilling data server including a database configured to collect operational data from the horizontal directional drilling machine in at least near real-time, the operational data including GPS data indicating an approximate location of the horizontal directional drilling machine.   
     
     
         2 . The horizontal directional drilling system of  claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of horizontal directional drilling machines positioned at geographically-dispersed job sites, each of the plurality of horizontal directional drilling machines communicatively connected to the horizontal directional drilling data server. 
     
     
         3 . The horizontal directional drilling system of  claim 1 , wherein the operational data includes GPS data indicating an approximate location of a sonde associated with the HDD machine. 
     
     
         4 . The horizontal directional drilling system of  claim 1 , wherein the database is further configured to store one or more bore plans associated with the job site. 
     
     
         5 . The horizontal directional drilling system of  claim 4 , wherein the horizontal directional drilling machine is configured to, prior to the drilling operation, request and receive a bore plan from among the one or more bore plans associated with the job site. 
     
     
         6 . The horizontal directional drilling system of  claim 5 , wherein the horizontal directional drilling machine is configured to, during the drilling operation, request and receive an updated bore plan associated with the job site. 
     
     
         7 . The horizontal directional drilling system of  claim 1 , wherein the database is further configured to store a plurality of types of data selected from the group consisting of: bore plan data; boring logs; job data; site data; rig telematics data; maintenance data; and reports. 
     
     
         8 . The horizontal directional drilling system of  claim 1 , further comprising a remote computing system communicatively connected to the horizontal directional drilling data server. 
     
     
         9 . The horizontal directional drilling system of  claim 1 , wherein the horizontal directional drilling data server is configured to generate one or more reports relating to a job performed by the horizontal directional drilling system at the job site. 
     
     
         10 . A horizontal directional drilling data server communicatively connected to a plurality of horizontal directional drilling machines at geographically dispersed locations, the horizontal directional drilling data server including a database configured to store a plurality of types of data from each of the horizontal directional drilling machines selected from the group consisting of: bore plan data; boring logs; job data; site data; rig telematics data; maintenance data; and reports.