The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Feb. 25, 1997
Filed:
May. 20, 1996
Mark R Doyle, Houston, TX (US);
David M Chace, Houston, TX (US);
Dennis E Roessler, Houston, TX (US);
John T Evans, Houston, TX (US);
Paul A Bergren, Houston, TX (US);
Western Atlas International, Inc., Houston, TX (US);
Abstract
A method for determining orientation of an instrument with respect to earth's gravity. The method includes measuring components of earth's gravity along mutually orthogonal axes. One of the axes is substantially parallel to an axis of the instrument. Tilt of the instrument along two orthogonal axes is measured. One of the tilt axes is substantially parallel to the instrument axis. The instrument is rotated about its axis, and biases of the sensors used to measure the components of earth's gravity perpendicular to the instrument axis are calculated by averaging measurements made by these sensors during rotation. The ratio of gains of these sensors is determined from the range of amplitudes of the output of these sensors during rotation. A roll angle is determined from the bias corrected measurements of components of the earth's gravity perpendicular to the axis. The tilt measurement with respect to the two orthogonal axes is then calibrated by using the calculated roll angle. Gain and offset calibration of all the sensors used to measure the components of the earth's gravity is performed using the calibrated tilt measurements and the orientation is calculated from the gravity measurements after correction for gain and offset of the sensors.