Patent ID: 7258175

Claim:
A method of generating and recording or displaying a sequence of drill bits, chosen from among a plurality of bit candidates to be used, for drilling an Earth formation in response to input data representing Earth formation characteristics of the formation to be drilled, comprising the steps of: comparing said input data representing said characteristics of the formation to be drilled with a set of historical data including a plurality of sets of Earth formation characteristics and a corresponding plurality of sequences of drill bits to be used in connection with said sets of Earth formation characteristics, and, using statistical processing, locating a substantial match between said characteristics of the formation to be drilled associated with said input data and at least one of said plurality of sets of Earth formation characteristics associated with said set of historical data, wherein the Earth formation characteristics include rock strength; when said substantial match is found, generating one of said plurality of sequences of drill bits in response thereto; and recording or displaying said one of said plurality of sequences of drill bits on a recorder or display device.