Working machinery

Abstract

In machine guidance for work machines using two-dimensional drawing data, the burden of setting operations during operation is reduced. [Solution] In the information controller 205, the drawing data processing unit 305 generates work data for multiple areas of the work site represented by the two-dimensional drawing data, including area information representing the range of each area and height information representing the height of each area. The area determination unit 304 determines which of the multiple areas the bucket of the hydraulic excavator is located in and obtains the height information corresponding to that area from the work data. The distance calculation unit 303 calculates the distance from the tip (toe) of the bucket 106 to the work target based on the height information obtained by the area determination unit 304.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a working machine such as a hydraulic excavator.

Background Art

[0002] At a work site such as a construction site or a civil engineering site, work is performed using a working machine such as a hydraulic excavator. These days, against the backdrop of the expanding application of ICT (Information and Communication Technology) technology to such work sites, there is an increasing demand for a function that provides various visual information regarding the work situation to the operator of the working machine and supports the operator's operation. Such an operator support function is called machine guidance.

[0003] In machine guidance, for example, output values from a posture sensor that measures the posture of a front working device or an upper swing body of a hydraulic excavator and a position sensor that measures the position of the hydraulic excavator are acquired, and calculations are performed using these sensor output values and information on the work site pre-loaded. As a result, for example, the three-dimensional position of the bucket tip in a coordinate system defined at the work site is calculated, and information such as the distance between the bucket tip and the construction target surface is provided to the operator via a display device such as a monitor.

[0004] To fully utilize the machine guidance described above, design surface data representing the construction target surface in three dimensions is required as construction information to be incorporated into the machine guidance system. This design surface data can generally be created using CAD (Computer-Aided Design) that can create 3D models based on two-dimensional construction drawings. However, engineers who create design surface data need a great deal of knowledge, including the ability to understand construction drawings, CAD knowledge, and the ability to determine an appropriate model range considering the amount of data to be loaded into the machine guidance system. Furthermore, even with this knowledge, creating three-dimensional design surface data is time-consuming, and it can take even more time for inexperienced engineers. Thus, obtaining three-dimensional design surface data for machine guidance requires skilled engineers to invest a great deal of time and effort, which presents a problem.

[0005] Given the background described above, for example, at a construction site where excavation work is performed to create a foundation, the shape of the target surface for construction is simpler compared to general civil engineering work. Therefore, in some cases, instead of creating three-dimensional design surface data, the data from two-dimensional construction drawings is directly loaded into the machine guidance system and machine guidance is used. Specifically, in excavation work, the main task is to excavate the area specified in the construction drawing to a specified height (excavation work). Therefore, the operator can load the two-dimensional construction drawing into the machine guidance system and determine the excavation range by displaying the current position and orientation of the vehicle on this drawing. In addition, machine guidance systems generally have an offset function that allows for manual adjustment of the target height vertically, and by using this offset function, the excavation height can be set arbitrarily. In this way, the effort of creating three-dimensional design surface data can be saved.

[0006] However, with the methods described above, the operator must manually set the excavation height each time during operation, raising concerns about reduced work efficiency due to this setting process and construction defects due to setting errors. On the other hand, when using three-dimensional design plane data, the excavation range and excavation height can be automatically calculated and set, so after loading the design plane data into the machine guidance system, there is almost no need for the operator to perform manual setting operations. In other words, the above concerns are specific problems that arise when using two-dimensional construction drawings instead of creating three-dimensional design plane data with machine guidance.

[0007] Here, methods for easily creating three-dimensional design surface data without using CAD have also been proposed. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a method for creating a simple design surface on-site from a camera attached to construction machinery and reference points laid out at the work site. Also, for example, Patent Document 2 discloses a method for creating a simple design surface from reference points laid out at the work site and the coordinate values ​​of a dozer blade attached to construction machinery at the work site. These methods have in common that they reduce the effort and man-hours required to create three-dimensional design surface data. [Prior art documents] [Patent Documents]

[0008] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2023-11454 [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2021-95775 [Overview of the project] [Problems that the invention aims to solve]

[0009] However, using the methods described in Patent Documents 1 and 2 to create multiple design plane data with different heights, such as in excavation work, requires setting up multiple reference points and adjusting the position of the dozer blade to match the reference points each time. Therefore, these methods are difficult to apply to work sites where the excavation height varies from area to area, such as work sites where excavation work is performed. Consequently, these methods cannot solve the aforementioned problems in machine guidance for work machinery using two-dimensional drawing data.

[0010] The present invention has been made in view of the above, and aims to reduce the burden on setting operations during operation in machine guidance for work machines that utilize two-dimensional drawing data. [Means for solving the problem]

[0011] The work machine according to the present invention comprises a vehicle body consisting of a lower traveling body and an upper rotating body provided on the upper part of the lower traveling body; a work device attached to the upper rotating body and including a work tool according to the application of the work machine; a position sensor installed on the vehicle body to acquire position information according to its own position; posture sensors installed on the work device and the vehicle body, respectively, to detect posture information according to their own posture; a monitor capable of displaying information to be presented to the operator; and a control device that controls the information to be displayed on the monitor based on the position information detected by the position sensor and the posture information detected by the posture sensor, wherein the control device comprises a vehicle body position / posture calculation unit that calculates the position of the work tool at the work site where the work machine is performed based on the position information and posture information; a drawing data processing unit that acquires two-dimensional drawing data of the work site; and a control device that controls the information to be displayed on the monitor based on the position information and posture information. The system comprises a distance calculation unit that calculates the distance to a target, a display control unit that generates the information to be displayed on the monitor based on the distance calculation result by the distance calculation unit and the two-dimensional drawing data acquired by the drawing data processing unit, and an area determination unit that performs area determination to determine the area corresponding to the position of the work tool within the work site. The drawing data processing unit generates work data for a plurality of areas of the work site represented by the acquired two-dimensional drawing data, including area information representing the range of each area and preset height information representing the height of each area. The area determination unit determines, based on the area determination, which of the plurality of areas the work tool is located in and acquires the height information corresponding to that area from the work data. The distance calculation unit performs the distance calculation based on the height information acquired by the area determination unit. [Effects of the Invention]

[0012] According to the present invention, in machine guidance for work machines that utilize two-dimensional drawing data, the burden of setting operations during operation can be reduced.

[0013] Furthermore, additional features related to the present invention will become apparent from the description in this specification and the accompanying drawings. Also, problems, configurations, and effects other than those described above will be clarified by the description of the following embodiments.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0014] [Figure 1] A diagram schematically showing the appearance of a hydraulic excavator, which is an example of a working machine according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] A diagram showing the functional configuration of a control system mounted on a hydraulic excavator. [Figure 3] A functional block diagram showing the functional configuration of a work assistance device. [Figure 4] A diagram showing an example of drawing data. [Figure 5] An explanatory diagram of a method for setting the undercut depth for drawing data. [Figure 6] A diagram showing an example of work data. [Figure 7] A diagram showing the processing flow of a work assistance device in the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 8] A diagram explaining an example of an area determination method. [Figure 9] A diagram showing an example of a machine guidance screen in the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 10] A diagram showing another example of a machine guidance screen in the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 11] A diagram explaining the use case of a determination area hold button. [Figure 12] A diagram showing the processing flow of a work assistance device in the second embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 13] A diagram showing an example of a machine guidance screen in the second embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 14] A diagram showing an overview of the design surface data creation process in the third embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 15] A diagram showing the processing flow of a work assistance device in the third embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 16]A diagram showing an example of an inclined surface setting screen in the third embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 17] A diagram showing an example of a design surface created in the third embodiment of the present invention.

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0015] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following embodiments, as an example of a working machine to which the present invention is applied, a hydraulic excavator equipped with a front working machine will be illustrated and described. However, the application target of the present invention is not limited to this. The present invention can be applied to other working devices as long as they are operated by an operator and have a working device according to their working purposes.

[0016] (First Embodiment) FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing the appearance of a hydraulic excavator, which is an example of a working machine according to an embodiment of the present invention. Further, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the functional configuration of the control system mounted on the hydraulic excavator of the present embodiment together with its related configuration.

[0017] In FIG. 1, a hydraulic excavator 100 includes an articulated front working machine 103 configured by connecting a plurality of driven members (boom 104, arm 105, bucket 106) that can each rotate, and an upper swing body 101 and a lower traveling body 102 that constitute the vehicle body. The upper swing body 101 is provided on the upper part of the lower traveling body 102 so as to be rotatable about a swing axis 107 with respect to the lower traveling body 102.

[0018] In the front work implement 103, the base end of the boom 104 is supported vertically so as to be rotatable at the front of the upper slewing body 101, one end of the arm 105 is supported vertically so as to be rotatable at a different end (tip) of the boom 104 than the base end, and the bucket 106 is supported vertically so as to be rotatable at the other end of the arm 105. The boom 104, arm 105, bucket 106, upper slewing body 101, and lower traveling body 102 are driven by hydraulic actuators: boom cylinder 108, arm cylinder 109, bucket cylinder 110, slewing motor 111, and left and right traveling motors 112, respectively. The slewing motor 111 is mechanically connected to the slewing shaft 107 inside the upper slewing body 101, either directly or via a reduction gear.

[0019] As shown in Figure 2, the hydraulic pump 202 is driven by a prime mover such as the engine 201, and hydraulic fluid is supplied from the hydraulic pump 202 to each hydraulic actuator (hereinafter also referred to as hydraulic actuators 108-112) including the boom cylinder 108, arm cylinder 109, bucket cylinder 110, swing motor 111, and left and right travel motors 112. The direction and flow rate of the hydraulic fluid supplied to each hydraulic actuator 108-112 are controlled by the control valve 203. The control valve 203 is driven by pilot pressure output from a pilot pump (not shown) based on a drive signal from the main controller 204. The main controller 204 generates a drive signal based on an operation signal from the operating device 206 and outputs it to the pilot pump. As a result, pilot pressure is generated in the pilot pump, and the operation of the hydraulic actuators 108-112 is controlled by the control valve 203.

[0020] As shown in Figure 1, an operator's cab 113 is located at the upper front of the upper rotating body 101. The operator's cab 113 is equipped with an operating device 206 (see Figure 2) that outputs operating signals to drive hydraulic actuators 108-112 in response to the operator's actions, and a monitor 114 that serves as a display device to notify the operator of information. The operating device 206 is composed of, for example, a combination of multiple operating levers. Note that in Figure 2, only one of the multiple operating levers that make up the operating device 206 is shown as a representative example.

[0021] Each of the multiple operating levers is assigned to operate one of the hydraulic actuators 108 to 112. For example, a pair of left and right operating levers are assigned to operate hydraulic actuators 108 to 111. Specifically, the operating device 206 includes a pair of left and right operating levers that can be tilted forward, backward, left, and right, and a detection device (not shown) that electrically detects the amount of tilt of these operating levers, i.e., the amount of lever operation, and generates an operating signal. The detection device outputs an operating signal corresponding to the amount of lever operation generated to the main controller 204 via electrical wiring. Similarly, another pair of left and right operating levers are assigned to operate, for example, hydraulic actuator 112.

[0022] As shown in Figure 1, two position sensors 115 and 116 are arranged side by side on the upper rear of the upper rotating body 101. Position sensors 115 and 116 are sensors capable of detecting their own position and are configured, for example, by combining a GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) receiver and an antenna. Specifically, for example, position sensors 115 and 116 have the function of receiving positioning signals transmitted from GNSS satellites orbiting the Earth and calculating their own position in the Earth coordinate system based on the received positioning signals.

[0023] As shown in Figure 2, the position information detected by position sensors 115 and 116 is input to the information controller 205. The information controller 205 can use the position information input from position sensors 115 and 116 to determine the position and orientation of the hydraulic excavator 100. For example, the position of the pivot axis 107 is calculated based on the positions of position sensors 115 and 116, and the result of this calculation is used as the body position of the hydraulic excavator 100 (position of the upper slewing body 101 and the lower traveling body 102). In addition, the deviation between the positions of position sensors 115 and 116 and the position of the pivot axis 107 is calculated, and the orientation of the hydraulic excavator 100 (orientation of the upper slewing body 101) is determined based on the result of this calculation.

[0024] As shown in Figure 1, the upper slewing body 101 and the boom 104, arm 105, and bucket 106 of the front work implement 103 are each equipped with attitude sensors 117-120 (slewing body attitude sensor 117, boom attitude sensor 118, arm attitude sensor 119, and bucket attitude sensor 120). Attitude sensors 117-120 are sensors capable of detecting their own attitude and are configured, for example, using an IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit).

[0025] As shown in Figure 2, the attitude information detected by each of the attitude sensors 117 to 120 is input to the information controller 205. The information controller 205 can use the attitude information input from the attitude sensors 117 to 120 to determine the attitude of the front work implement 103 and the vehicle body (upper slewing body 101, lower traveling body 102) of the hydraulic excavator 100.

[0026] The control system for the hydraulic excavator 100 shown in Figure 2 includes a main controller 204 that controls the overall operation of the hydraulic excavator 100, as well as an information controller 205 that performs various information processing and calculations related to the hydraulic excavator 100. Although not shown, the main controller 204 is computer-equivalent hardware having a processing unit (e.g., CPU) and a storage device (e.g., semiconductor memory such as ROM or RAM) that stores programs executed by the processing unit and data necessary for program execution. Similarly, the information controller 205 is also computer-equivalent hardware having a CPU 2051 which is a processing unit, RAM 2052 which is used as working memory when the CPU 2051 executes programs, ROM 2053 which stores programs executed by the CPU 2051 and data necessary for program execution, and an external interface 2055, all of which are interconnected by a bus 2054.

[0027] The information controller 205 is connected to the main controller 204, position sensors 115 and 116, attitude sensors 117 to 120, and monitor 114 via an external interface 2055. The external interface 2055 can also be connected to an external storage medium 207, such as a USB memory stick, and a communication terminal 208 capable of sending and receiving information with an external system. The information controller 205 can read drawing data 400 (described later) from the external storage medium 207 and the communication terminal 208 via the external interface 2055.

[0028] The information controller 205 calculates the position, orientation, and posture of the excavator 100's body, as well as the posture of the front work implement 103, based on the position information detected by position sensors 115 and 116 and the posture information detected by posture sensors 117 to 120. Then, based on these calculation results and the necessary calculation data (e.g., vehicle dimension data) pre-stored in the ROM 2053, it calculates the position of the tip of the bucket 106 (toe position) at the work site where the excavator 100 will perform its work. It then calculates the positional relationship (distance) between the predetermined design plane of the work site (work target plane) and the toe position of the bucket 106, and outputs the calculation result to the main controller 204 and monitor 114 via the external interface 2055. This allows the distance between the design plane of the work site and the toe position of the bucket 106 to be reflected in the operation control of the excavator 100 performed by the main controller 204 and in the display content on the monitor 114, thereby assisting the operator operating the excavator 100. The specific details of the process at that time will be described later.

[0029] Next, the details of the information controller 205 in this embodiment will be described. As described above, the information controller 205 calculates the distance between the design plane of the work site and the tip position of the bucket 106, and controls the display of the monitor 114 based on the calculation result. This assists the operator operating the hydraulic excavator 100, enabling the operator to perform work using the hydraulic excavator 100 as designed. In other words, the information controller 205 mounted on the hydraulic excavator 100, which is a work machine, is used as a work assistance device to assist the operator operating the hydraulic excavator 100.

[0030] Figure 3 is a functional block diagram showing the functional configuration of the work assistance device implemented in the information controller 205. As shown in Figure 3, the information controller 205 has the following functional blocks: a machine dimension storage unit 301, a vehicle body position / attitude calculation unit 302, a distance calculation unit 303, an area determination unit 304, a drawing data processing unit 305, a display control unit 306, a monitor operation processing unit 307, and a design surface creation unit 308.

[0031] The machine dimension storage unit 301 stores the machine dimensions of each part of the hydraulic excavator 100. The machine dimensions stored in the machine dimension storage unit 301 are read into the vehicle body position and attitude calculation unit 302.

[0032] The vehicle position and attitude calculation unit 302 acquires sensor information (position information, attitude information) from position sensors 115, 116 and attitude sensors 117-120 according to their respective detection results. Based on the acquired sensor information and the mechanical dimensions of each part of the hydraulic excavator 100 read from the mechanical dimension storage unit 301, it calculates the position, orientation, and attitude of the hydraulic excavator 100's body, as well as the attitude of the front work implement 103. Furthermore, based on these calculation results, it calculates the position of the bucket 106's claw at the work site.

[0033] The drawing data processing unit 305 acquires drawing data 400, which represents the work site in two dimensions, from an external storage medium 207 or a communication terminal 208. Based on the acquired drawing data 400, it generates work data representing the work performed by the hydraulic excavator 100 for each area, and transmits it to the area determination unit 304 and the display control unit 306.

[0034] In this embodiment, the data for the excavation work drawing is used as the drawing data 400 for the work site. An excavation work drawing is a two-dimensional drawing that shows the extent of each area to be excavated and the excavation depth (depth to be excavated) for excavation work to be carried out at the work site. Excavation work drawings are generally created using CAD software available on information devices such as PCs or web services, and consist of information necessary to represent the extent of each area to be excavated and the excavation depth in two dimensions, such as lines, points, layers, and fonts. Typically, data representing excavation work drawings is created and managed using well-known data formats such as DXF files and DWG files.

[0035] The drawing data 400 of the excavation work diagram, acquired from the external storage medium 207 or communication terminal 208 via the external interface 2055, is stored in the ROM 2053 within the information controller 205. This drawing data 400 contains characters (numbers) representing the excavation depth for each area necessary for the present invention, but it does not contain numerical information. Therefore, when performing excavation work using the hydraulic excavator 100, it is necessary to add information on the excavation depth to the drawing data 400 in advance. In this embodiment, the drawing data processing unit 305 allows the operator to set the excavation depth information for each area in the drawing data 400, and generates work data representing the excavation depth information for each area based on the setting results.

[0036] The following describes an example of the data generation process performed by the drawing data processing unit 305, with reference to Figures 4, 5, and 6.

[0037] Figure 4 shows an example of drawing data 400 acquired by the drawing data processing unit 305. The drawing data 400 shown in Figure 4 is a two-dimensional drawing of the excavation work, and the extent of each area where the excavation work is to be performed is shown by a combination of line segments. In addition, a number 401 representing the excavation depth is indicated for each area.

[0038] ROM2053 stores various drawing data from work sites acquired to date, including the drawing data 400 shown as an example in Figure 4. The operator can display a list of the drawing data stored in ROM2053 on the monitor 114 and select the drawing data to be used for setting the excavation depth by selecting any drawing data on this list screen. The following describes the processing of the drawing data processing unit 305 using the case where the drawing data 400 in Figure 4 is selected as the target for setting the excavation depth as an example.

[0039] Figure 5 is an explanatory diagram of how to set the excavation depth for the drawing data 400 in Figure 4. When the operator selects the drawing data 400 as the target for setting the excavation depth, an input screen like the one in Figure 5 is displayed on the monitor 114.

[0040] On the input screen in Figure 5, the operator can select the area for which they want to set the excavation depth by operating the touch panel of the monitor 114 or an input device (not shown). In other words, the input screen in Figure 5 functions as a UI (User Interface) screen for setting the excavation depth. It is preferable that the area 500 selected as the setting target on the input screen in Figure 5 be displayed differently from other areas, such as by using highlighting, so that it is easy for the operator to distinguish it.

[0041] Furthermore, when the operator selects Area 500 on the input screen in Figure 5, an input operation frame 501 is displayed for setting a name and height for Area 500. By using the touch panel or other means to input arbitrary characters and numbers in the input operation frame 501, the operator can set a name to identify Area 500 and height information representing the excavation depth of Area 500 for the selected Area 500. Here, the operator inputs the value of the excavation depth for Area 500 as described in the drawing data 400 as the height information for Area 500.

[0042] The drawing data processing unit 305 sets the names and excavation depths of each area based on the characters and numbers entered in the input operation frame 501 on the input screen in Figure 5. It then generates data that links the range of each area shown in the drawing data 400 with the names and excavation depths of each area set on the input screen in Figure 5, and uses this as the work data corresponding to the drawing data 400. Note that the excavation depth may be set automatically by the drawing data processing unit 305 reading the numbers 401 that represent the excavation depth values ​​for each area described in the drawing data 400, rather than being entered by the operator. In this case, any of the various well-known OCR (Optical Character Recognition) technologies can be used to read the numbers 401.

[0043] Figure 6 shows an example of work data generated for the drawing data 400 in Figure 4. The work data 600 shown in Figure 6 has the following data items: name information 601, area information 602, and height information 603. Name information 601 is information representing the name set for each area. Area information 602 is information representing the extent of each area at the work site, that is, the scope of the excavation work, and for example, it shows the coordinate values ​​of each vertex of the polygon corresponding to the shape of each area. Height information 603 is information representing the excavation depth of each area, and for example, it shows the difference in height from the reference plane (ground surface) of the work site. Information linking these data items together is stored in ROM 2053 together with the drawing data 400 as work data 600 corresponding to the drawing data 400.

[0044] Returning to the explanation of Figure 3, the area determination unit 304 determines the area corresponding to the position of the bucket 106 within the work site based on the toe position of the bucket 106 determined by the vehicle body position / attitude calculation unit 302 and the work data 600 generated by the drawing data processing unit 305. Here, for example, based on the area information 602 included in the work data 600, it determines which of the multiple areas represented in the drawing data 400 corresponds to the current toe position of the bucket 106. Then, it obtains the height information 603 of that area from the work data 600 and transmits it to the design surface creation unit 308.

[0045] The design surface creation unit 308 creates a design surface for the area where the hydraulic excavator 100 is performing work, based on the height information 603 transmitted from the area determination unit 304. The design surface created here represents the excavation depth of the area corresponding to the current position of the bucket 106 and corresponds to the work target for the work currently being performed. If the operator has not requested area fixing as described later, and the area corresponding to the current position of the bucket 106 changes due to a change in the position of the bucket 106 within the work site, the height information 603 of the changed area is transmitted from the area determination unit 304 to the design surface creation unit 308 accordingly. The design surface creation unit 308 can update the design surface based on this changed area height information 603.

[0046] The distance calculation unit 303 calculates the distance between the tip position of the bucket 106, determined by the vehicle position / attitude calculation unit 302, and the design surface created by the design surface creation unit 308. Based on this, it calculates the distance from the tip of the bucket 106 to the work target, according to the current tip position of the bucket 106.

[0047] The display control unit 306 generates information to be presented to the operator as a machine guidance screen based on the position and orientation of the vehicle body calculated by the vehicle body position and attitude calculation unit 302, the design surface created by the design surface creation unit 308, the distance from the tip position of the bucket 106 to the design surface calculated by the distance calculation unit 303, and the drawing data 400 acquired by the drawing data processing unit 305. This information is useful to assist the operator when they operate the hydraulic excavator 100 to perform excavation work. The generated information is then output to the monitor 114 and displayed, presenting the operator with a machine guidance screen regarding the operation of the hydraulic excavator 100 during excavation work, thereby assisting the operator. A specific example of the machine guidance screen displayed on the monitor 114 will be described later.

[0048] The monitor operation processing unit 307 detects the operator's touch panel operations on the monitor 114 and transmits the detection results to the display control unit 306, the area determination unit 304, and the drawing data processing unit 305. This allows the display control unit 306, the area determination unit 304, and the drawing data processing unit 305 to perform processing according to the content of the operator's touch panel operations.

[0049] Figure 7 shows the processing flow of a work assistance device in the first embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the information controller 205 shown in Figure 3 executes the processing flow shown in Figure 7 at predetermined intervals, thereby providing information to the operator.

[0050] In step S10, the vehicle position and attitude calculation unit 302 calculates the tip position of the bucket 106 in a predetermined coordinate system (site coordinate system) relative to the work site. As mentioned above, the vehicle position and attitude calculation unit 302 determines the attitude of each part of the hydraulic excavator 100 body and front work implement 103, as well as the position and orientation of the hydraulic excavator 100 body, based on the sensor information transmitted from attitude sensors 117 to 120 and the sensor information transmitted from position sensors 115 and 116. Then, based on these calculation results and the machine dimensions transmitted from the machine dimension storage unit 301, it determines the coordinate value J(x,y,z) representing the tip position of the bucket 106 in the site coordinate system.

[0051] In step S20, the area determination unit 304 extracts the x and y components from the coordinate value J(x,y,z) of the bucket tip position obtained in step S10, excluding the z component which represents height, to obtain the horizontal coordinate value J'(x,y). In the following step S30, the area determination unit 304 performs an area determination to determine which area within the work site the bucket tip position is located in, based on the coordinate value J'(x,y) obtained in step S20 and the work data 600 that has been previously generated by the drawing data processing unit 305. In the following step S40, the area determination unit 304 extracts height information from the work data 600 that is associated with the area where the bucket tip position of the bucket 106 was determined to exist in step S30, and sets it as the height of the design surface corresponding to the current bucket tip position of the bucket 106. As a result, the area determination unit 304 can determine which of the multiple areas represented by the work site drawing data 400 the bucket 106 is located within, and obtain height information corresponding to that area from the work data 600.

[0052] Here, using Figure 8, an example of the determination method used in the area determination performed by the area determination unit 304 in step S30 will be explained. Figure 8 shows a method for determining whether or not the bucket 106 is located within the area 802 enclosed by points P1, P2, P3, and P4. Note that the coordinate axis 801 in Figure 8 represents the field coordinate system. The coordinate values ​​of points P1 to P4 represent the positions of points P1 to P4 on this coordinate axis 801, and are assumed to be obtained from the area information 602 of the work data 600.

[0053] In the area determination in step S30, the area determination unit 304 compares the horizontal coordinate value J'(x,y) obtained in step S20 with the tip position of the bucket 106 and points P1 to P4 in area 802 to determine whether the tip position of the bucket 106 is inside or outside area 802. Various well-known determination methods can be used for this determination, but here, as an example, a determination method using the cross product of vectors will be described below.

[0054] The area determination unit 304 first calculates a vector from point P1 to the position J'(x,y) and a vector from point P1 to point P2 from their respective coordinate values. The vectors thus calculated will be represented below as P1J'(x1,y1) and P1P2(x2,y2), respectively. Here, x1 and y1 represent the x and y components of the difference between the coordinate value J'(x,y) and the coordinate value of point P1, respectively. Also, x2 and y2 represent the x and y components of the difference between the coordinate values ​​of point P2 and point P1, respectively.

[0055] Next, the cross product Q1 of the above vectors P1P2 and P1J' is calculated using the following formula (1). Q1=P1P2×P1J'=x1×y2-x2×y1 (1)

[0056] From the sign of the value of the cross product Q1 calculated above, the positional relationship between the vector P1P2 and the vector P1J’ can be determined. Specifically, when Q1 > 0, as shown in FIG. 8, it can be determined that the vector P1J’ is positioned clockwise in the right-handed direction of the Z-axis with respect to the vector P1P2. Conversely, when Q1 < 0, it can be determined that the vector P1J’ is positioned counterclockwise in the right-handed direction of the Z-axis with respect to the vector P1P2.

[0057] Similar to above, the area determination unit 304 defines vectors P2J’, P3J’, P4J’ from the positions of points P2 to P4 toward the position of the coordinate value J’(x, y), and vectors P2P3, P3P4, P4P1 from that point to the next point, respectively, and calculates the cross products Q2 = P2P3 × P2J’, Q3 = P3P4 × P3J’, Q4 = P4P1 × P4J’ between these vectors. As a result, when all the calculation results are positive, it can be seen that the coordinate value J’(x, y) is located on the right side of each vector P1P2, P2P3, P3P4, P4P1 surrounding the area 802. Therefore, it can be determined that the tip position of the bucket 106 is inside the area 802.

[0058] Note that if the same determination is performed for all areas, the calculation load increases as the number of areas increases. Therefore, it is preferable to limit the areas to be determined to within a predetermined range, for example, areas within the range of -10m < x < 10m and -10m < y < 10m, based on the coordinate value J’(x, y), in order to suppress the calculation load.

[0059] Returning to the description of FIG. 7, in step S50, the design surface creation unit 308 creates design surface data based on the height of the design surface set in step S40. Here, the design surface data is created using the height information 603 of the area corresponding to the tip position of the bucket 106, which is transmitted from the area determination unit 304.

[0060] In step S60, the distance calculation unit 303 calculates the distance between the tip position of the bucket 106 and the design surface based on the tip position of the bucket 106 calculated in step S10 and the design surface data created in step S50. Here, the distance between the tip position of the bucket 106 and the design surface is determined by calculating the difference between the z component value representing height in the coordinate value J(x,y,z) representing the tip position of the bucket 106 and the height of the design surface represented by the design surface data, i.e., the height of the work target corresponding to the current position of the bucket 106.

[0061] In step S70, the display control unit 306 creates display data for the monitor 114 based on the design surface data created in step S50, the distance between the tip position of the bucket 106 and the design surface calculated in step S60, and the position and orientation of the hydraulic excavator 100 body calculated in step S10. The created display data is then output to the monitor 114 and displayed, presenting a machine guidance screen to the operator and assisting the operator in operating the hydraulic excavator 100.

[0062] Figure 9 shows an example of a machine guidance screen in the first embodiment of the present invention. Figure 9 shows an example of a machine guidance screen displayed on the monitor 114 when the excavation depth of the area corresponding to the horizontal position of the bucket 106 is 1100 mm. This machine guidance screen includes an overhead view area 901, a longitudinal view area 902, a light bar 903, a design surface height display area 904, a judgment area hold button 905, and an automatic inclined surface creation button 906.

[0063] In the overhead view area 901, the excavation work diagram 9011 represented by the drawing data 400 is displayed, and a vehicle model 9012 showing the hydraulic excavator 100 as seen from above is drawn over this excavation work diagram 9011. By checking the image in the overhead view area 901, the operator can easily understand the position and direction of the hydraulic excavator 100 and the position of the bucket 106 in relation to the area currently under construction. In the excavation work diagram 9011, the area 9013 corresponding to the position of the tip of the bucket 106 is highlighted with a different representation from other areas for easier identification by the operator.

[0064] The longitudinal view area 902 displays a design surface model 9021 representing the design surface, a bucket model 9022 showing the bucket 106 from a side view, and a distance indicator 9023 showing the distance between the tip of the bucket 106 and the design surface. By checking the image in the longitudinal view area 902, the operator can visually understand the distance from the tip of the bucket 106 to the target excavation depth.

[0065] The light bar 903 displays an icon 9031 indicating the position of the bucket 106's tip in the height direction, and a line 9032 indicating the position of the design plane. The light bar 903 uses these images to clearly show the distance from the tip of the bucket 106 to the target excavation depth, which is the most important information for an operator when performing excavation work using the hydraulic excavator 100. The design plane height display area 904 shows "-1100mm", which is the excavation depth of area 9013, as the height of the design plane, the current target of work.

[0066] The determination area hold button 905 is an operation button for fixing the area to be determined by the area determination unit 304. The inclined surface automatic creation button 906 is an operation button for creating an inclined surface as a design surface by the design surface creation unit 308. When the operator selects one of these operation buttons on the monitor 114, the information controller 205 executes the corresponding process. The specific details of this process will be explained in the second and third embodiments below.

[0067] In this embodiment, the judgment area hold button 905 and the automatic inclined surface creation button 906 are disabled, and the operator cannot select these operation buttons. Therefore, the display of these operation buttons may be omitted on the monitor 114.

[0068] Figure 10 shows another example of the machine guidance screen in the first embodiment of the present invention. Figure 10 shows an example of the machine guidance screen displayed on the monitor 114 when the bucket 106 moves from the state in Figure 9, and the excavation depth of the area corresponding to the horizontal position after the move is 1200 mm. It is assumed that the height of the tip of the bucket 106 at this time is the same as the height in the state in Figure 9.

[0069] In Figure 10, in the overhead view area 901, area 9014, which corresponds to the tip position of bucket 106, is highlighted instead of area 9013 in Figure 9. Also, in the longitudinal view area 902, compared to Figure 9, the design surface model 9021 is drawn 100 mm lower than the tip position of bucket 106. Furthermore, the height of the design surface shown in the design surface height display area 904 has also changed to "-1200 mm" to match the excavation depth of area 9014.

[0070] In this embodiment, the design surface creation unit 308 creates design surface data based on the height information 603 output by the area determination unit 304, and the distance calculation unit 303 uses this design surface data to calculate the distance between the tip position of the bucket 106 and the work target. However, the distance calculation unit 303 can also calculate the distance between the tip position of the bucket 106 and the work target by adding or subtracting the height information 603 output by the area determination unit 304 to the height component z value included in the coordinate value J(x,y,z) of the tip position of the bucket 106. Therefore, the design surface creation unit 308 may be omitted in this embodiment. However, if an inclined surface is used as the design surface, as in the third embodiment described later, the design surface creation unit 308 is necessary to create design surface data representing this inclined surface.

[0071] According to the first embodiment of the present invention described above, the following effects are achieved.

[0072] (1) The hydraulic excavator 100 comprises a vehicle body consisting of a lower traveling body 102 and an upper rotating body 101 provided on the upper part of the lower traveling body 102; a work device (front work implement 103) attached to the upper rotating body 101, which includes a bucket 106 that is a work tool according to the application of the hydraulic excavator 100; position sensors 115 and 116 installed on the vehicle body to acquire position information according to its own position; attitude sensors 117 to 120 installed on the front work implement 103 and the vehicle body respectively to detect attitude information according to its own attitude; a monitor 114 capable of displaying information to be presented to the operator; and an information controller 205 that controls the information to be displayed on the monitor 114 based on the position information detected by the position sensors 115 and 116 and the attitude information detected by the attitude sensors 117 to 120. The information controller 205 includes a vehicle position / attitude calculation unit 302 that calculates the position of the bucket 106 at the work site where the hydraulic excavator 100 is working, based on position information from position sensors 115 and 116 and attitude information from attitude sensors 117 to 120; a drawing data processing unit 305 that acquires two-dimensional drawing data 400 of the work site; a distance calculation unit 303 that calculates the distance from the tip (toe) of the bucket 106 to the work target; a display control unit 306 that generates information to be displayed on the monitor 114 based on the distance calculation result from the distance calculation unit 303 and the two-dimensional drawing data 400 acquired by the drawing data processing unit 305; and an area determination unit 304 that performs area determination to determine the area corresponding to the position of the bucket 106 within the work site. The drawing data processing unit 305 generates work data 600 for multiple areas of the work site represented by the acquired two-dimensional drawing data 400, including area information 602 representing the range of each area and preset height information 603 representing the height of each area. The area determination unit 304 determines which of the multiple areas the bucket 106 is located in by area determination (step S30), and obtains height information 603 corresponding to that area from the work data (step S40). The distance calculation unit 303 calculates the distance based on the height information 603 obtained by the area determination unit 304 (step S60).In this way, the burden of setting operations during operation can be reduced in the machine guidance of the hydraulic excavator 100 using the two-dimensional drawing data 400.

[0073] (2) The information controller 205 further includes a design surface creation unit 308 that creates a design surface corresponding to the position of the bucket 106 based on the height information 603 acquired by the area determination unit 304. In step S60, the distance calculation unit 303 calculates the distance to the tip (toe) of the bucket 106, using the height of the design surface created by the design surface creation unit 308 as the work target. In this way, it is possible to set an arbitrary design surface for the work site and to calculate the distance to the tip (toe) of the bucket 106, which is a work tool, with respect to this design surface in detail.

[0074] (3) The display control unit 306 displays an input screen (Figure 5) on the monitor 114 for setting height information 603 for any area selected by the operator from among multiple areas of the work site. In this way, the operator can easily set the height information 603 for each area via the input screen.

[0075] (Second embodiment) A second embodiment of the present invention will be described below. In this embodiment, the processing performed by the information controller 205 when the determination area hold button 905 is selected in the machine guidance screen shown in Figure 9 or Figure 10 described in the first embodiment will be explained.

[0076] The information controller 205 according to this embodiment has the same functional configuration as the functional block diagram in Figure 3 described in the first embodiment. Therefore, the processing content of this embodiment will be explained below using each functional block in Figure 3.

[0077] Figure 11 illustrates a use case for the determination area hold button 905. As shown in Figure 11, for example, in a hydraulic excavator 100 working in area B, the tip of the bucket 106 may temporarily enter the area A range due to the extension of the front work implement 103. In such cases, the operator often wants to continue using the height information for area B rather than the height information for area A. However, in the area determination method described in the first embodiment, the height information used for area determination switches each time the tip position of the bucket 106 deviates from area B, which is cumbersome for the operator and carries the risk of misjudging the excavation depth and over-excavating.

[0078] Therefore, in this embodiment, by pressing the determination area hold button 905, the area determination result by the area determination unit 304 is fixed even if the tip of the bucket 106 temporarily enters another area, so that the height of the work target does not change. This setting can be changed at the operator's discretion.

[0079] Figure 12 shows the processing flow of a work assistance device in a second embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the information controller 205 shown in Figure 3 executes the processing flow shown in Figure 12 at predetermined intervals, thereby providing information to the operator.

[0080] In Figure 12, processing steps that perform the same processing as those described in Figure 7 in the first embodiment are given the same step numbers as in Figure 7. Below, the processing flow of Figure 12 will be described, focusing on the differences from Figure 7.

[0081] After the processing in step S10 is completed, step S11 determines whether the judgment area hold button 905 is ON or OFF. If the judgment area hold button 905 is ON because the operator has selected it, the process proceeds to step S31; otherwise, the process proceeds to step S20.

[0082] If the process proceeds from step S11 to step S20, in steps S20 and S30, the area determination unit 304 performs the same processing as shown in the processing flow of Figure 7.

[0083] If the process proceeds from step S11 to step S31, in step S31, the area determination unit 304 maintains the previous determination result without performing a new area determination. This ensures that the same area determination result as the previous one is output from the area determination unit 304, regardless of the tip position of the bucket 106.

[0084] After executing the process in step S30 or S31, the process from step S40 onward will be the same as the process flow shown in Figure 7.

[0085] Figure 13 shows an example of a machine guidance screen in a second embodiment of the present invention. Figure 13(a) shows an example of a machine guidance screen displayed on the monitor 114 when the determination area hold button 905 is switched ON when the tip of the bucket 106 is located in area 9013, and then the tip of the bucket 106 moves to area 9014.

[0086] In the machine guidance screen of Figure 13(a), the display mode of the judgment area hold button 905 is switched to indicate that the judgment area hold button 905 is ON. Furthermore, even though the tip of the bucket 106 is located in area 9014, the design surface height display area 904 shows the tip position of the bucket 106 when the judgment area hold button 905 was switched ON, i.e., the root cutting depth of area 9013, which is "-1100mm".

[0087] Figure 13(b) shows the state changes of the judgment area hold button 905. The judgment area hold button 905 changes its display by changing the color and intensity of the displayed color depending on whether it is ON or OFF, as shown in Figure 13. This allows the operator to be informed whether the function of the judgment area hold button 905 is currently enabled or disabled.

[0088] According to the second embodiment of the present invention described above, when the operator requests area fixing by selecting the determination area hold button 905, the area determination unit 304 does not change the area determination result even if the area in which the bucket 106 is located changes among multiple areas. In this way, even if the tip of the bucket 106 temporarily enters another area during work using the hydraulic excavator 100, the area determination result by the area determination unit 304 can be fixed, and the height of the design surface, which is the work target, can not be changed.

[0089] (Third embodiment) A third embodiment of the present invention will be described below. In this embodiment, the processing performed by the information controller 205 when the automatic inclined surface creation button 906 is selected on the machine guidance screen shown in Figure 9 or 10, as described in the first embodiment, will be explained.

[0090] The information controller 205 according to this embodiment has the same functional configuration as the functional block diagram in Figure 3 described in the first embodiment. Therefore, the processing content of this embodiment will be explained below using each functional block in Figure 3.

[0091] Figure 14 shows an overview of the design surface data creation process of this embodiment, which is performed when the automatic inclined surface creation button 906 is pressed. In excavation work, in order to prevent the sides of the trench excavated to a predetermined excavation depth from collapsing, the stepped surface after excavation is sometimes made into an inclined surface with a certain degree of slope rather than being vertical. Generally, the operation of forming such an inclined surface using a hydraulic excavator 100 is often done by the operator by eye. Therefore, although a skilled operator can perform the work without any problems, it is a difficult task for an inexperienced operator as there is no guide to follow.

[0092] Therefore, in this embodiment, when the operator presses the automatic inclined surface creation button 906, the design surface creation unit 308 automatically creates a design surface including an inclined surface as shown in Figure 14(a). Specifically, for example, the design surface creation unit 308 uses the boundary between the area corresponding to the tip position of the bucket 106 when the automatic inclined surface creation button 906 is pressed (Area A in the example of Figure 14(a)) and the area adjacent to this area in the excavation direction of the hydraulic excavator 100 (Area B in the example of Figure 14(a)) as the starting position of the inclined surface, and creates design surface data for an inclined surface with an inclination angle set by the operator. Then, it merges the existing design surface data that existed before the automatic inclined surface creation button 906 was pressed with the design data for the inclined surface created by pressing the automatic inclined surface creation button 906 to generate new design surface data 1301 including an inclined surface, which represents the design surfaces of Area A and Area B.

[0093] In the machine guidance screen displayed on the monitor 114 using the design surface data 1301 described above (see Figures 9 and 10), an image like that shown in Figure 14(b) is displayed in the longitudinal view area 902. In this image, the design surface model 9021 is displayed at an angle, indicating that the design surface is an inclined surface.

[0094] Figure 15 shows the processing flow of a work assistance device in a third embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the information controller 205 shown in Figure 3 executes the processing flow shown in Figure 15 at predetermined intervals, thereby providing information to the operator.

[0095] In Figure 15, processing steps that perform the same processing as those described in Figure 7 in the first embodiment are given the same step numbers as in Figure 7. Below, the processing flow of Figure 15 will be explained, focusing on the differences from Figure 7.

[0096] After the process in step S40 is executed, step S41 determines whether the automatic inclined surface creation button 906 is ON or OFF. If the automatic inclined surface creation button 906 is ON because the operator has selected it, the process proceeds to step S51; otherwise, the process proceeds to step S50.

[0097] If the process proceeds from step S41 to step S50, in step S50, the design surface creation unit 308 performs the same processing as shown in the processing flow of Figure 7.

[0098] If the process proceeds from step S41 to step S51, in step S51, the design surface creation unit 308 sets the starting point of the inclined surface based on the area where the tip position of the bucket 106 was determined to exist in step S30, the excavation direction corresponding to the current orientation of the hydraulic excavator 100, and the forward / backward direction setting information set for the operator. In the following step S52, the design surface creation unit 308 creates the inclined surface based on the starting point of the inclined surface set in step S51 and the inclined surface angle setting information set for the operator. In the following step S53, for the area where the tip position of the bucket 106 was determined to exist in step S30, a design surface is created based on the height of the design surface set in step S40, and this design surface is combined with the inclined surface created in step S52 to create design surface data. This makes it possible to create design surface data that includes an inclined surface extending in the excavation direction from the area corresponding to the current tip position of the bucket 106.

[0099] After executing the process in step S50 or S53, the process from step S60 onward will be the same as the process flow shown in Figure 7.

[0100] Figure 16 shows an example of the inclined surface setting screen in a third embodiment of the present invention. In the machine guidance screen of Figure 9 or Figure 10, when the operator presses the automatic inclined surface creation button 906, an inclined surface setting screen, such as the one shown in Figure 16, is displayed on the monitor 114 as a screen for the operator to input inclined surface setting information.

[0101] The inclination surface setting screen 1401 in Figure 16 includes an inclination surface preview 1402 that shows an overview of the design surface data created with the current settings, an excavation direction setting button 1403 for setting the excavation direction (front or rear) relative to the orientation of the hydraulic excavator 100, an inclination angle display area 1404 that displays a number representing the current inclination surface angle, and an inclination surface angle input area 1405 for inputting the inclination surface angle. The operator can input any inclination surface angle in the inclination surface angle input area 1405 by operating the touch panel of the monitor 114. The angle value entered here is displayed in the inclination angle display area 1404 and reflected in the inclination surface preview 1402. In addition, the excavation direction setting button 1403 allows the operator to select whether to set the front or rear side as the excavation direction relative to the orientation of the vehicle.

[0102] Once the operator has finished inputting the angle of the inclination surface and the excavation direction on the inclination surface setting screen 1401, they press the OK button in the inclination surface angle input area 1405. In response to this OK button selection, the display screen of the monitor 114 returns to the machine guidance screen shown in Figure 9 or Figure 10. At this time, the display of the automatic inclination surface creation button 906 may be changed to inform the operator that the function of the automatic inclination surface creation button 906 has been activated.

[0103] Figure 17 shows an example of a design surface created in a third embodiment of the present invention. In Figure 17, the design surface created by the operator pressing the automatic inclined surface creation button 906 to set the angle of the inclined surface and the excavation direction when the tip of the bucket 106 is in area 1701 is shown in a perspective view together with the hydraulic excavator 100.

[0104] In the example shown in Figure 17, area 1701 has a polygonal (quadrilateral) shape. Of the multiple sides of area 1701, the side 1703 corresponding to the excavation direction 1702 specified by the operator is set to the starting position of the inclined surface by changing its height according to the excavation depth of area 1701, i.e., the height information 603 of area 1701 output from the area determination unit 304. Then, the inclined surface 1705 extending from this starting position toward the excavation direction 1702 at an inclination angle 1704 specified by the operator, and the design surface set according to the excavation depth of area 1701 are combined to create design surface data.

[0105] Although Figure 17 shows an example where area 1701 is a rectangle, it is possible to set the starting position of the inclined surface and create design surface data including the inclined surface extending from that starting position using the same method, even if the polygon is not a rectangle.

[0106] According to the third embodiment of the present invention described above, the design surface creation unit 308 can create a design surface that includes an inclined surface. Specifically, the multiple areas set for the work site each have a polygonal shape consisting of multiple sides. The design surface creation unit 308 creates a design surface by setting the starting position of the inclined surface at a position where the height of one side corresponding to the excavation direction specified by the operator in the area where the bucket 106 is located is changed according to the height information 603 corresponding to that area, and setting the angle specified by the operator as the inclination angle of the inclined surface. In this way, machine guidance useful for assisting the operator's operation can be realized when performing the work of creating an inclined slope on the stepped surface after excavation during root excavation work.

[0107] In each of the embodiments described above, the setting of the names and heights of each area, which is done using the input screen described in Figure 5, may be done on an information terminal (PC, smartphone, tablet, etc.) separate from the information controller 205 mounted on the hydraulic excavator 100. These information terminals may also be used as monitors 114.

[0108] Furthermore, while the embodiments described above described examples in which the present invention is applied to an information controller 205 mounted on a hydraulic excavator 100 equipped with a bucket 106 and which provides machine guidance for the hydraulic excavator 100, the present invention is also applicable to machine guidance for work machines other than hydraulic excavators. In other words, the present invention can be applied in the same manner as in the embodiments described above to any device that is mounted on a work machine equipped with various work tools other than a bucket according to the work application and provides machine guidance to assist the operator operating the work machine.

[0109] Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and various design modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention as described in the claims. For example, the embodiments described above are described in detail in order to explain the present invention in an easy-to-understand manner, and are not necessarily limited to those having all the configurations described. Furthermore, it is possible to replace a part of the configuration of one embodiment with the configuration of another embodiment, and it is also possible to add a configuration of another embodiment to the configuration of one embodiment. Moreover, it is possible to add, delete, or replace a part of the configuration of each embodiment with a configuration of another embodiment. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0110] 100 Hydraulic Excavators 101 Upper rotating body 102 Lower running body 103 Front work machine 104 Boom 105 Arm 106 buckets 107 Swivel axis 108 Boom Cylinder 109 Arm Cylinder 110 Bucket Cylinder 111 Swivel motor 112 Travel motor 113 Driver's cab 114 monitors 115,116 Position Sensors 117 Swivel Body Attitude Sensor 118 Boom attitude sensor 119 Arm posture sensor 120 Bucket attitude sensor 201 Engine 202 Hydraulic pump 203 Control Valve 204 Main Controller 205 Information Controller 206 Operating device 207 External storage medium 208 Communication terminals 301 Machine Dimensions Storage Unit 302 Vehicle position and attitude calculation unit 303 Distance calculation section 304 Area determination unit 305 Drawing Data Processing Unit 306 Display Control Unit 307 Monitor Operation Processing Unit 308 Design Surface Creation Department

Claims

1. A vehicle body consisting of a lower traveling body and an upper rotating body provided on the upper part of the lower traveling body, A work device attached to the upper rotating body, which includes work tools according to the application of the work machine, A position sensor installed on the vehicle body that acquires positional information corresponding to its own position, The aforementioned work device and the vehicle body are respectively installed to detect posture information corresponding to their own posture, A monitor capable of displaying information to be presented to the operator, The system includes a control device that controls the information to be displayed on the monitor based on the position information detected by the position sensor and the attitude information detected by the attitude sensor, The control device is A vehicle body position and posture calculation unit calculates the position of the work tool at the work site where the work machine is performed, based on the position information and posture information. A drawing data processing unit that acquires two-dimensional drawing data of the aforementioned work site, A distance calculation unit that calculates the distance from the tip of the work tool to the work target, A display control unit generates the information displayed on the monitor based on the distance calculation result by the distance calculation unit and the two-dimensional drawing data acquired by the drawing data processing unit, The system includes an area determination unit that performs area determination to determine the area corresponding to the location of the work tool within the work site, The drawing data processing unit generates work data for each of the multiple areas of the work site represented by the acquired two-dimensional drawing data, including area information representing the extent of each area and pre-set height information representing the height of each area. The area determination unit determines, based on the area determination, which of the plurality of areas the work tool is located in, and obtains the height information corresponding to that area from the work data. The distance calculation unit performs the distance calculation based on the height information obtained by the area determination unit. A work machine characterized by the following features.

2. In the work machine described in claim 1, If the operator requests area fixing, the area determination unit will not change the result of the area determination even if the area where the work tool is located changes within the multiple areas. A work machine characterized by the following features.

3. In the work machine described in claim 1, The control device is The system further includes a design surface creation unit that creates a design surface corresponding to the position of the work tool based on the height information acquired by the area determination unit, The distance calculation unit calculates the distance using the height of the design surface created by the design surface creation unit as the work target. A work machine characterized by the following features.

4. In the work machine described in claim 3, The design surface creation unit is capable of creating the design surface including an inclined surface. A work machine characterized by the following features.

5. In the work machine described in claim 4, Each of the aforementioned areas has the shape of a polygon consisting of multiple sides, The design surface creation unit creates the design surface by setting the starting position of the inclined surface to a position where the height of one side corresponding to the excavation direction specified by the operator in the area where the work tool is located among the plurality of areas is changed according to the height information corresponding to that area, and setting the angle specified by the operator as the inclination angle of the inclined surface. A work machine characterized by the following features.

6. In the work machine described in claim 1, The display control unit causes the monitor to display an input screen for setting the height information for any area selected by the operator from among the multiple areas. A work machine characterized by the following features.

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