Attitude Measurement and Optimization for Horizontal Directional Drilling Based on MARG Sensor

Abstract

Attitude measurement of the drill bit is the key for horizontal directional drilling, which determines the final positioning accuracy. As for disadvantages of existing algorithms, a method is proposed to get the azimuth, the inclination, and the tool face angle based on gyros. In order to improve attitude measurement accuracy, a quaternion-based attitude complementary filter algorithm is adopted. The accelerometer and magnetometer are used to measure the components of the earth’s gravity field and magnetic field to compensate for gyro drift errors over time, while the gyro ensures the stability of the drill with dynamic acceleration and enhances the robustness of the system. Detailed analysis and simulation results are presented. Results show that the quaternion-based attitude complementary filter algorithm using multiple MARG (Magnetic, Angular Rate, Gravity) sensors can effectively reduce the gyro drift errors and make the attitude measurement error less than +/-0.3 degree.