Patent ID: 9702241
Date: 2017-07-11
CPC Classifications: E21B

Claim:
1. An apparatus, comprising: a rotating section to couple to a well-bore drillstring and a rotation position sensor to provide an indication of a rotating magnetic tool face associated with the rotating section, the rotation position sensor comprising multiple magnets circumferentially spaced apart from each other on the rotating section, with at least one of the multiple magnets positioned in a first plane on the rotating section, and a remainder of the multiple magnets positioned in a second plane on the rotating section, wherein the planes are parallel to each other and spaced apart along a longitudinal axis of the rotating section; a substantially fixed section to couple to a well-bore and an angular position sensor to provide an indication of rotary angular displacement between the rotating section and the substantially fixed section, the substantially fixed section to couple to the well-bore drillstring or arranged as a part of the well-bore drillstring; and a processor to determine a magnetic tool face of the substantially fixed section by combining the rotating magnetic tool face and the rotary angular displacement.