Abstract: An untethered downhole tool includes a housing and a propeller. The housing is configured to house a logging tool and a power supply. The housing defines a longitudinal axis. The propeller includes a propeller blade. The propeller is coupled to the power supply for receiving power from the power supply to rotate. The propeller is positioned at an end of the housing such that the axis of rotation of the propeller is substantially parallel and/or inline with the longitudinal axis of the housing for the untethered downhole tool to traverse a well.

Abstract: An autonomous downhole robot tool string configured for navigating and collecting information in a downhole environment comprises a sensor head having a cylindrical housing positioned at a distal end of the tool string which includes a wobbler ultrasonic transducer with a tubular structure housing an ultrasonic transducer wherein the tubular structure is tiltable about the shaft, and wherein the distal end of the sensor head is mounted for panned movement about the longitudinal axis providing two degrees of freedom for the wobbler ultrasonic transducer. First and second caliper ultrasonic transducers are positioned on the cylindrical housing facing the downhole environment, each caliper transducers is configured to pan about an axis orthogonal to the longitudinal axis of the tool string. An electronics bay section coupled to the sensor head includes electronic circuits for controlling components of the sensor head.

Abstract: Untethered, downhole robots are described. In some cases, the downhole robots are configured to have a density within + or ?20% of wellbore fluid in which it will be operating. In some cases, the downhole robots a controller capable of discerning deviation of the wellbore from vertical and, in response, control a buoyancy system to change longitudinal distribution of the weight of the robot, wherein the magnitude of the change in the longitudinal distribution of the weight suffices to reorient the robot.

Abstract: In an implementation, a downhole robot for oil wells includes a pressure housing enclosing an internal gas-filled or vacuum-filled volume and at least one propulsion unit coupled to an end of the pressure housing. The downhole robot includes at least one centralization element. At least one sensor measures properties of interest with respect to the downhole robot and for an environment outside of the downhole robot. The downhole robot also includes a buoyancy system, an electrical power supply, an anchoring system, and a power system configured for non-contact operation.

Abstract: A wellhead attachment can be used to deploy an untethered downhole tool into a well. The wellhead attachment includes a housing, a relief valve, a mounting flange, and a gate valve. The housing is configured to house the untethered downhole tool. The relief valve is in fluid communication with the housing and located at a first end of the wellhead attachment. The mounting flange is located at a second end of the wellhead attachment. The mounting flange is configured to couple to a tree of the well. The gate valve is coupled to the housing and the mounting flange. The gate valve is positioned between the housing and the mounting flange. The housing is positioned between the relief valve and the gate valve.

Abstract: An untethered downhole tool includes a housing and a propeller. The housing is configured to house a logging tool and a power supply. The housing defines a longitudinal axis. The propeller includes a propeller blade. The propeller is coupled to the power supply for receiving power from the power supply to rotate. The propeller is positioned at an end of the housing such that the axis of rotation of the propeller is substantially parallel and/or inline with the longitudinal axis of the housing for the untethered downhole tool to traverse a well.

Abstract: A system and method measure distances using physically offset transducers. The system includes first and second transducers physically offset by a predetermined offset distance for generating time-of-flight values of sonic pulses from the transducers to an object. A processor determines a speed of sound in a medium from the time-of-flight values and the offset distance, and determines a distance of at least one of the transducers from the object using the speed of sound and a corresponding time-of-flight value. A controller generates a control signal from the determined distance to control movement of a mobile device. A method implements the system.

Abstract: An autonomous downhole robot tool string configured for navigating and collecting information in a downhole environment comprises a sensor head having a cylindrical housing positioned at a distal end of the tool string which includes a wobbler ultrasonic transducer with a tubular structure housing an ultrasonic transducer wherein the tubular structure is tiltable about the shaft, and wherein the distal end of the sensor head is mounted for panned movement about the longitudinal axis providing two degrees of freedom for the wobbler ultrasonic transducer. First and second caliper ultrasonic transducers are positioned on the cylindrical housing facing the downhole environment, each caliper transducers is configured to pan about an axis orthogonal to the longitudinal axis of the tool string. An electronics bay section coupled to the sensor head includes electronic circuits for controlling components of the sensor head.

Abstract: An apparatus for detecting and determining geometric features inside a borehole comprises a body section coupled to and deployable in the borehole by a conveyor, a head section having a first end pivotably coupled to the body section via a joint and a second end having an array of ultrasonic transducers. The array of transducers comprises, for example, a multiplicity of individual actuator elements and a multiplicity of individual sensor elements. An electronic control unit controls the timing of emission of ultrasonic radiation from the actuator elements of the array, receives signals generated by the sensor elements of the array, and controls movement of the head section via an actuator coupled to the joint. A method for reconstructing a geometry and detecting and identifying features in a borehole is also provided.

Abstract: A modular mobility platform has extendable and retractable tractor treads for engaging the walls of a downhole environment. The extendable and retractable tractor treads allow the platform to successfully navigate longitudinally through the downhole environment. The platform is composed of a plurality of different modules removably interconnected together longitudinally. Each module has at least one specific function, such as sensing, navigation, mobility, control, communication, power, or a combination thereof. The platform has longitudinally-directed detectors for detecting the forward or reverse direction through which the platform is to travel. A front end of the platform having a sensor at the forward end thereof articulates to navigate the mobility platform laterally through splits in the downhole environment. A system and method use the modular mobility platform.

Abstract: Some methods of scale and corrosion monitoring of a well include receiving information from a plurality of transducers disposed in a ring on a circumference of a tubing of the well, the received information including frequency domain information representing a first longitudinal ultrasonic wave and a first torsional ultrasonic wave to arrive at the plurality of transducers; determining arrival times for the first longitudinal ultrasonic wave and the first torsional ultrasonic wave to arrive at the plurality of transducers based on the received information; comparing the determined arrival times with a range of predetermined arrival times from a model that accounts for wave refraction using a ray tracing scheme to determine a wall thickness of the tubing, a scale thickness of scale within the tubing, and a scale shear wave velocity of the scale; and identifying a material of the scale based on the determined scale shear wave velocity.

Abstract: A modular mobility platform has extendable and retractable tractor treads for engaging the walls of a downhole environment. The extendable and retractable tractor treads allow the platform to successfully navigate longitudinally through the downhole environment. The platform is composed of a plurality of different modules removably interconnected together longitudinally. Each module has at least one specific function, such as sensing, navigation, mobility, control, communication, power, or a combination thereof. The platform has longitudinally-directed detectors for detecting the forward or reverse direction through which the platform is to travel. A system and method use the modular mobility platform.

Abstract: There is disclosed a system for automatically detecting an irregularity on a pipe. The system includes a camera arranged at an external surface of the pipe, the camera being configured to capture a Red, Green and Blue (RBG) image of a region of a pipe. One or more hardware processors are in communication with the camera and are configured to: convert the RGB image to a modified image; split the modified image into a plurality of components; generate a binary image via performing a thresholding operation which utilizes the plurality of components; and detect the irregularity on the pipe via performing a feature extraction process on the binary image. Also disclosed and described is a related method.

Abstract: An assembly and a method for entering a lateral branch of a main wellbore through a lateral window with an assembly are described. The assembly includes an arm coupled to a body. The arm positions the body to enter the lateral branch. The assembly includes an actuator to actuate the arm relative to the body. The assembly includes a first sensor, a second sensor, and a controller. The first sensor senses a condition of the arm and transmit the condition of the arm to the controller. The second sensor senses when the assembly is located in the main wellbore or the lateral branch transmits the location to the controller. Responsive to either the first signal or the second signal, the controller actuates the arm relative to the body to position the body to enter the lateral window and determines when the assembly has entered the lateral branch.

Abstract: Downhole equipment and surface equipment communicate wirelessly with each other. A signal wirelessly transmitted at a first frequency from a downhole controller disposed within a wellbore is received at a surface location. The received signal is demodulated to a demodulated digital value. The demodulated value is added to an end of a buffer string. The buffer string is processed to determine whether the buffer string contains a message that is valid. In response to determining that the buffer string contains the message that is valid, the message is decoded. A command signal is wirelessly transmitted at a second frequency different from the first frequency to the downhole controller to adjust a state of the downhole controller.

Abstract: A system includes a surface sub-system and a downhole sub-system. The surface subsystem includes a pump and a surface valve sub-assembly. The pump is configured to pump a fluid from a container, downhole into a wellbore. The surface valve sub-assembly is fluidically coupled to the pump and configured to receive a first portion of the fluid pumped by the pump. The surface valve sub-assembly includes a dump valve, a surface controller, and a return line. The surface controller is configured to adjust fluid flow through the dump valve, and the return line is configured to flow fluid from the dump valve to the container. The downhole sub-system includes a turbine-generator and a downhole controller coupled to the turbine-generator. The turbine-generator is configured to generate an output in response to receiving a second portion of the fluid pumped by the pump.

Abstract: An assembly and a method for entering a lateral branch of a main wellbore through a lateral window with an assembly are described. The assembly includes an arm coupled to a body. The arm positions the body to enter the lateral branch. The assembly includes an actuator to actuate the arm relative to the body. The assembly includes a first sensor, a second sensor, and a controller. The first sensor senses a condition of the arm and transmit the condition of the arm to the controller. The second sensor senses when the assembly is located in the main wellbore or the lateral branch transmits the location to the controller. Responsive to either the first signal or the second signal, the controller actuates the arm relative to the body to position the body to enter the lateral window and determines when the assembly has entered the lateral branch.

Abstract: There is disclosed a system for automatically detecting an irregularity on a pipe. The system includes a camera arranged at an external surface of the pipe, the camera being configured to capture a Red, Green and Blue (RBG) image of a region of a pipe. One or more hardware processors are in communication with the camera and are configured to: convert the RGB image to a modified image; split the modified image into a plurality of components; generate a binary image via performing a thresholding operation which utilizes the plurality of components; and detect the irregularity on the pipe via performing a feature extraction process on the binary image. Also disclosed and described is a related method.

Abstract: Some methods of scale and corrosion monitoring of a well include receiving information from a plurality of transducers disposed in a ring on a circumference of a tubing of the well, the received information including frequency domain information representing a first longitudinal ultrasonic wave and a first torsional ultrasonic wave to arrive at the plurality of transducers; determining arrival times for the first longitudinal ultrasonic wave and the first torsional ultrasonic wave to arrive at the plurality of transducers based on the received information; comparing the determined arrival times with a range of predetermined arrival times from a model that accounts for wave refraction using a ray tracing scheme to determine a wall thickness of the tubing, a scale thickness of scale within the tubing, and a scale shear wave velocity of the scale; and identifying a material of the scale based on the determined scale shear wave velocity.

Abstract: Downhole equipment and surface equipment communicate wirelessly with each other. A signal wirelessly transmitted at a first frequency from a downhole controller disposed within a wellbore is received at a surface location. The received signal is demodulated to a demodulated digital value. The demodulated value is added to an end of a buffer string. The buffer string is processed to determine whether the buffer string contains a message that is valid. In response to determining that the buffer string contains the message that is valid, the message is decoded. A command signal is wirelessly transmitted at a second frequency different from the first frequency to the downhole controller to adjust a state of the downhole controller.