Work support system

Abstract

We provide a work support system that can accurately calculate the blade height of a dozer blade. [Solution] The system comprises a laser projector 11 that projects a laser beam LB in a rotating manner, a pole 12 integrally attached to the dozer blade 3 of the work machine and extending upward from the dozer blade 3, a laser receiver 13 attached to the pole 12 for detecting the height at which the laser beam LB is received, a posture detection sensor 14 attached to the pole 12 for detecting the posture of the pole 12, a communication unit 15 attached to the pole 12 for transmitting detection information from the laser receiver 13 and the posture detection sensor 14, and a portable terminal 16 for receiving the information transmitted by the communication unit 15. The portable terminal 16 includes a blade edge height calculation means that calculates the blade edge height, which is the vertical distance from the laser beam LB to the blade edge 3a of the dozer blade 3, based on the detection information from the laser receiver 13 and the posture detection sensor 14 and calibration data acquired in advance.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a work support system.

Background Art

[0002] In recent years, work support systems that assist work by a working machine using a machine guidance function or the like have been developed. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a working machine (hydraulic excavator) that receives laser light emitted by a laser projector with a laser receiver provided on the working machine and calculates the cutting edge height of an earthmoving blade based on the laser reception position of the laser receiver.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] However, in the working machine of Patent Document 1, since the laser receiver is attached to the upper swing body, the height relationship between the laser reception position of the laser receiver and the cutting edge position of the earthmoving blade changes due to the attitude change of the upper swing body and the earthmoving blade with respect to the lower traveling body. Therefore, in Patent Document 1, the cutting edge height of the earthmoving blade with respect to the laser light is calculated based on the laser reception position of the laser receiver and the detected attitudes of the upper swing body and the earthmoving blade with respect to the lower traveling body, but error accumulation is likely to occur, and it is difficult to accurately calculate the cutting edge height of the earthmoving blade.

[0005] Therefore, an object of the present disclosure is to provide a work support system capable of accurately calculating the cutting edge height of an earthmoving blade.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] On one aspect, the following solution means is provided. A work support system that assists work performed by work machines, The aforementioned work machine is The vehicle and The vehicle is equipped with a dozer blade that is connected to the vehicle so as to be vertically rotatable, The aforementioned work support system is A laser projector that projects a laser beam in a rotating manner, A pole integrally attached to the aforementioned dozer blade and extending upward from the aforementioned dozer blade, A laser receiver attached to the pole for detecting the height at which the laser beam is received, A posture detection sensor attached to the pole for detecting the posture of the pole, A communication unit attached to the pole transmits detection information from the laser receiver and the attitude detection sensor, The system comprises a mobile terminal that receives information transmitted by the aforementioned communication unit, The mobile terminal includes a blade edge height calculation means that calculates the blade edge height, which is the vertical distance from the laser beam to the blade edge of the dozer blade, based on the detection information from the laser receiver and the attitude detection sensor and calibration data acquired in advance. [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] This disclosure makes it possible to provide a work support system that can accurately calculate the blade height of a dozer blade. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0008] [Figure 1] This is a side view of a hydraulic excavator equipped with a dozer blade. [Figure 2] This diagram shows the schematic configuration of the work support system. [Figure 3] This is a block diagram showing the configuration of the work support system. [Figure 4] This is a flowchart showing the setup procedure for the work support system. [Figure 5]This is an explanatory diagram of the first calibration, where (a) shows the positional relationship between the upper and lower ends of the laser receiving range and the cutting edge of the dozer blade, (b) shows a figure that extracts the positional relationship, and (c) shows a figure that has been distorted for clarity. [Figure 6] This is an explanatory diagram for the first calibration, where (a) is a diagram showing the relationship between length d, distance f, distance e, and angle θ, and (b) is a diagram showing the relationship between distance d1, distance f, distance L, and angle θ. [Figure 7] This is an explanatory diagram for the second calibration, where (a) shows the positional relationship between the laser beam, the laser receiving point, and the cutting edge of the dozer blade, and (b) shows the relationship between angle α1, distance L1, and height h1. [Figure 8] This diagram illustrates an example of calculating the blade height when the dozer blade is raised. (a) shows the positional relationship between the laser beam, the laser receiving point, and the blade edge of the dozer blade, and (b) shows the relationship between angle α2, distance L2, and height h2. [Figure 9] This diagram illustrates an example of calculating the blade height when the dozer blade is lowered. (a) shows the positional relationship between the laser beam, the laser receiving point, and the blade edge of the dozer blade, and (b) shows the relationship between angle α3, distance L3, and height h3. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0009] The following describes the embodiments in detail with reference to the attached drawings.

[0010] (Work machinery) The hydraulic excavator 2 shown in Figure 1 is an example of a work machine equipped with a dozer blade 3. The work support system 1 shown in Figures 2 and 3 supports the operation of the hydraulic excavator 2 using the dozer blade 3 (operator operation) through functions such as machine guidance.

[0011] The hydraulic excavator 2 includes a self - propelled lower traveling body 4, an upper revolving body 5 rotatably provided on the upper part of the lower traveling body 4, a boom 6 connected to the upper revolving body 5 so as to be able to perform a lifting operation, an arm 7 rotatably connected to the tip of the boom 6, a bucket 8 rotatably connected to the tip of the arm 7, and the above - mentioned discharge plate 3 connected to the lower traveling body 4 so as to be able to perform an up - and - down rotation operation.

[0012] The discharge plate 3 has a cutting edge 3a along the lower end on the surface side. On the back side of the discharge plate 3, left and right arms 3b extending toward the lower traveling body 4 are integrally provided. The tip ends of the left and right arms 3b are connected to the lower traveling body 4 so as to be able to perform an up - and - down rotation. Also, a hydraulic cylinder 9 is provided between the lower traveling body 4 and the discharge plate 3 (or the arm 3b). Thereby, the discharge plate 3 can be operated to rotate up and down by the expansion and contraction of the hydraulic cylinder 9. The discharge plate 3 is mainly used for leveling operations such as excavating, transporting, and leveling earth and sand, and these operations are performed based on the cutting edge 3a of the discharge plate 3. Note that the work support system 1 is applicable not only to the hydraulic excavator 2 but also to work machines such as bulldozers equipped with a discharge plate.

[0013] (Work support system) As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the work support system 1 includes a laser projector 11, a pole 12, a laser receiver 13, an attitude detection sensor 14, a communication unit 15, and a mobile terminal 16.

[0014] (Laser projector) The laser projector 11 is a device installed at the site and rotatingly projecting a laser beam LB serving as a reference for work. The laser projector 11 includes, for example, a projector main body 111, a tripod 112 supporting the projector main body 111 at an arbitrary height, a light projecting part 113 for projecting the laser beam LB, and a rotation mechanism (not shown) for rotating the light projecting part 113 in the horizontal direction.

[0015] (Pole) The pole 12 is integrally attached to either the left or right end of the dozer blade 3 and extends upward from the dozer blade 3. The pole 12 may be a single pipe with a fixed length, or it may have an adjustable telescopic structure. For example, an adjustable structure like the legs of a tripod can be used.

[0016] (Laser receiver) The laser receiver 13 is mounted on the upper side of the pole 12 and detects the reception height of the laser beam LB emitted by the laser projector 11. For example, the laser receiver 13 has a laser reception range of a predetermined length d (see Figure 6) in the vertical direction, and when it receives the laser beam LB within that range, it outputs a detection signal corresponding to the laser reception height (laser reception point).

[0017] (Posture detection sensor) The attitude detection sensor 14 is mounted on the middle or lower part of the pole 12 and detects the attitude of the pole 12 (particularly the front-to-back tilt angle). In this embodiment, the attitude detection sensor 14 has a built-in communication unit 15, but the communication unit 15 may be a separate unit.

[0018] As shown in Figure 3, the attitude detection sensor 14 comprises a detection unit 141 for detecting the attitude of the pole 12, a communication unit 15 for transmitting detection information from the laser receiver 13 and the attitude detection sensor 14, and a battery (not shown) for supplying power to each unit. For example, an IMU (INERTIAL MEASUREMENT UNIT) sensor is used for the detection unit 141, and Bluetooth® is used for wireless communication in the communication unit 15.

[0019] (Mobile device) The mobile terminal 16 is a so-called smartphone or tablet device, and it receives detection information transmitted from the communication unit 15 and calculates information to support the operator's operations based on this detection information.

[0020] More specifically, as shown in Figure 3, the mobile terminal 16 comprises a display unit 161, an operation unit 162, a calculation unit 163, and a communication unit 164. The display unit 161 is formed by an image display panel such as a liquid crystal display panel and displays various image information related to the mobile terminal 16. The operation unit 162 is formed by a touch panel or the like located on the display unit 161 and detects various operations of the operator. The calculation unit 163 is an arithmetic processing circuit that executes application software related to the work support system 1. The communication unit 164 receives detection information transmitted from the communication unit 15.

[0021] The mobile terminal 16 includes a first calibration means, a second calibration means, and a blade tip height calculation means, as a functional configuration realized through the cooperation of hardware and software. The first and second calibration means are executed during the setup of the work support system 1 to acquire the calibration data required by the blade tip height calculation means. The blade tip height calculation means is executed during the dozer blade guidance after the setup is complete.

[0022] For example, the work support system 1 of this embodiment can start dozer blade guidance by performing a setup operation consisting of four steps S1 to S4, as shown in Figure 4. In step S1, the pole 12, laser receiver 13, attitude detection sensor 14, and communication unit 15 are attached to the dozer blade 3. In step S2, communication between the communication unit 15 and the mobile terminal 16 is started. In step S3, the first calibration is performed by the first calibration means. In step S4, the second calibration is performed by the second calibration means. With this, the setup is completed and dozer blade guidance using the blade height calculation means can be performed. The first calibration, second calibration, and dozer blade guidance will be described below with reference to Figures 5 to 9.

[0023] (First calibration) Figure 5 is an explanatory diagram of the first calibration. Figure 5(a) shows the positional relationship between the upper end 13a and lower end 13b of the laser receiving range and the cutting edge 3a of the dozer blade 3, Figure 5(b) shows a figure that extracts the positional relationship, and Figure 5(c) shows a figure that has been distorted for clarity. The first calibration will be explained below using the diagram shown in Figure 5(c).

[0024] Figure 6 is an explanatory diagram of the first calibration. Figure 6(a) shows the relationship between length d, distance f, distance e, and angle θ, and Figure 6(b) shows the relationship between distance d1, distance f, distance L, and angle θ. In the first calibration, the vertical length d of the laser receiving range of the laser receiver 13, the distance f from the upper end 13a of the laser receiving range to the blade tip 3a, and the distance e from the lower end 13b of the laser receiving range to the blade tip 3a are first obtained. For example, the user measures distances f and e and inputs them into the mobile terminal 16. The length d is known data published in the catalog of the laser receiver 13, etc.

[0025] Next, in the first calibration, the length d, distance f, and distance e are substituted into the following formula to calculate cosθ.

[0026]

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[0027] Furthermore, in the first calibration, based on this acquired information, the following first calculation formula is generated which can calculate the distance L from the laser receiving point 13c of the laser receiving range to the blade tip 3a. Here, d1 is the length from the upper end 13a of the laser receiving range to the laser receiving point 13c, and can be calculated based on the fluctuation range of the detected value listed in the catalog of the laser receiver 13, etc.

[0028]

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[0029] (Second calibration) Figure 7 is an explanatory diagram of the second calibration. Figure 7(a) shows the positional relationship between the laser beam LB, the laser receiving point 13c, and the cutting edge 3a of the dozer blade 3, and Figure 7(b) shows the relationship between the angle α1, distance L1, and height h1. In the second calibration, the distance L1 at the time of the second calibration, calculated using the first calculation formula, and the vertical distance h1 from the laser beam LB to the blade tip 3a at the time of the second calibration are obtained. Distance h1 is measured by the user and input into the mobile terminal 16, for example.

[0030] Next, in the second calibration, these acquired information are substituted into the following formula to calculate the angle α1 between the laser beam LB and the straight line connecting the laser receiving point 13c and the blade tip 3a within the laser receiving range. In addition, the second calibration stores the forward and backward tilt angle β1 of the attitude detection sensor 14 at a predetermined timing.

[0031]

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[0032] (Dozer blade guidance) Figure 8 illustrates an example of calculating the blade height when the dozer blade 3 is raised. Figure 8(a) shows the positional relationship between the laser beam LB, the laser receiving point 13c, and the blade 3a of the dozer blade 3, and Figure 8(b) shows the relationship between the angle α2, the distance L2, and the height h2.

[0033] Figure 9 illustrates an example of calculating the blade height when the dozer blade 3 is lowered. Figure 9(a) shows the positional relationship between the laser beam LB, the laser receiving point 13c, and the blade 3a of the dozer blade 3, while Figure 9(b) shows the relationship between the angle α3, distance L3, and height h3.

[0034] In the dozer blade guidance, first, based on the change in the current front-to-back tilt angle β2 (or β3) relative to the front-to-back tilt angle β1 during the second calibration, and the angle α1, the current angle α2 (or α3) between the line connecting the laser receiving point 13c and the blade tip 3a within the laser receiving range and the laser beam LB is calculated. The formula for calculating angle α2 when the dozer blade 3 is raised higher than during the second calibration is as follows:

[0035]

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[0036] Furthermore, the formula for calculating the angle α3 when the dozer blade 3 is lower than during the second calibration is as follows.

[0037]

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[0038] Next, the dozer blade guidance calculates the blade height h2 (or h3), which is the vertical distance from the current laser beam LB to the blade tip 3a of the dozer blade 3, based on the current distance L2 (or L3) and angle α2 (or α3) calculated using the first calculation formula. The formula for calculating the blade height h2 when the dozer blade 3 is raised higher than during the second calibration is as follows:

[0039]

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[0040] Furthermore, the formula for calculating the blade height h3 when the dozer blade 3 is lower than during the second calibration is as follows.

[0041]

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[0042] Although each embodiment has been described in detail above, the invention is not limited to any particular embodiment, and various modifications and changes are possible within the scope described in the claims. Furthermore, it is possible to combine all or more of the components of the embodiments described above. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0043] 1. Work support system 2 Hydraulic Excavator 3 Earth removal plate 3a Cutting edge 3b Arm 4 Lower running body 5. Upper rotating body 6 Boom 7 Arms 8 buckets 9 Hydraulic Cylinder 11. Laser Floodlight 111 Floodlight body 112 Tripod 113 Lighting Unit 12 poles 13. Laser Receiver 13a top end 13b Bottom edge 13c Laser receiving point 14. Attitude detection sensor 141 Detection Unit 15 Communications Department 16 Mobile devices 161 Display section 162 Operation section 163 Arithmetic section 164 Communications Department

Claims

1. A work support system that assists work performed by work machines, The aforementioned work machine is The vehicle and The vehicle is equipped with a dozer blade that is connected to the vehicle so as to be vertically rotatable, The aforementioned work support system is A laser projector that projects a laser beam in a rotating manner, A pole integrally attached to the aforementioned dozer blade and extending upward from the aforementioned dozer blade, A laser receiver attached to the pole for detecting the height at which the laser beam is received, A posture detection sensor attached to the pole for detecting the posture of the pole, A communication unit attached to the pole transmits detection information from the laser receiver and the attitude detection sensor, The system comprises a mobile terminal that receives information transmitted by the aforementioned communication unit, The aforementioned mobile terminal is a work support system comprising a blade edge height calculation means that calculates the blade edge height, which is the vertical distance from the laser beam to the blade edge of the dozer blade, based on the detection information of the laser receiver and the attitude detection sensor and calibration data acquired in advance.

2. The mobile terminal comprises a first calibration means and a second calibration means for acquiring the calibration data. The first calibration means is The vertical length d of the laser receiving range of the laser receiver, the distance f from the upper end of the laser receiving range to the cutting edge, and the distance e from the lower end of the laser receiving range to the cutting edge are obtained, and a first calculation formula is generated that can calculate the distance L from the laser receiving point of the laser receiving range to the cutting edge based on this obtained information. The second calibration means is The distance L1 calculated using the first calculation formula during the second calibration and the vertical distance h1 from the laser beam to the cutting edge during the second calibration are obtained, and based on this obtained information, the angle α1 made between the line connecting the laser receiving point in the laser receiving range and the cutting edge and the laser beam is calculated, and the front-to-back tilt angle β1 of the attitude detection sensor during the second calibration is stored. The cutting edge height calculation means is The work support system according to claim 1, wherein the current angle α2 is calculated between the laser beam and the straight line connecting the laser receiving point in the laser receiving range and the cutting edge, based on the amount of change in the current front-to-back tilt angle β2 with respect to the front-to-back tilt angle β1 during the execution of the second calibration and the angle α1, and the current vertical distance h2 from the laser beam to the cutting edge of the dozer blade is calculated based on the current distance L2 calculated using the first calculation formula and the angle α2.

3. The work support system according to claim 2, wherein the calibration means requests the user to measure the distance f, the distance e, and the distance h1, and acquires this measurement information based on user input.

4. The work support system according to claim 1, wherein the pole has a length-adjustable telescopic structure, and the relative height of the laser receiver with respect to the dozer blade is changed based on the length adjustment.

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