Construction Machinery and Construction Machinery Management System

Abstract

To acquire soil information of the ground while performing excavation operation at a work site.SOLUTION: A hydraulic shove comprises a work attachment, a driving part 71, a load cell 61, a mechanical load calculation section 503, a soil pressure load calculation section 504, and a soil property estimation section 505. A mechanical load calculation section 503 calculates a mechanical load as a load from sediment received by a bucket based on posture information of the work attachment 20 and information relating to a load received by the driving part 71. The soil pressure load calculation section 504 calculates a soil pressure load as a load applied by clod on the bucket through a shape of the clod formed by the soil retained with the bucket, the posture information, a shape of the bucket, soil density, and a wall surface friction angle between the soil and the bucket. The soil property estimation section 505 estimates soil property at the work site based on the machine load and the soil pressure load.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a construction machine equipped with a bucket and a construction machine management system.

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, a hydraulic excavator (construction machine) equipped with a bucket for excavating the ground at a work site has been known. The hydraulic excavator has a lower traveling body capable of traveling on the ground, an upper body mounted on the lower traveling body, and a work attachment supported by the upper body. In the hydraulic excavator, a bucket is disposed at the tip of the work attachment. The hydraulic excavator can excavate the ground while the bucket is in contact with the ground.

[0003] Patent Document 1 discloses an excavator having a sensor attached to a work attachment and a hardness estimation unit that estimates the hardness of the ground based on a detection value of the sensor. The hardness estimation unit estimates the hardness of the ground based on the detection value of the sensor when the tip of the work attachment (bucket) makes a predetermined operation of contacting the ground at a predetermined speed and a predetermined angle, and data stored in advance.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] In the technique described in Patent Document 1, since it is necessary to bring the work attachment into contact with the ground at a predetermined speed and a predetermined angle in order to estimate the hardness of the ground, there is a problem that the work is temporarily interrupted for this operation and the work efficiency is reduced.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] An object of the present invention is to provide a construction machine and a construction machine management system capable of acquiring soil quality information of the ground while performing excavation work at a work site.

[0007] The present invention is based on the technical idea of estimating the soil quality related to the earth pressure load from the mechanical load actually received by the bucket during excavation work and the earth pressure load applied to the bucket by the soil mass formed by the bucket. What is provided by the present invention based on such a technical idea is a construction machine. The construction machine includes a machine body including a traveling unit capable of traveling on the ground, a lifting body supported by the machine body so as to be rotatable in the lifting direction with respect to the machine body, and a bucket rotatably supported at the tip of the lifting body. A working attachment having, a drive unit capable of driving the working attachment so that the bucket excavates the ground, a posture information acquisition unit that acquires posture information that is information regarding the relative posture of the working attachment with respect to the ground, and the bucket excavates the ground. A drive load information acquisition unit that acquires drive load information that is information regarding the load received by the drive unit, and the mechanical load that is the load received by the bucket from the earth and sand is calculated from the posture information acquired by the posture information acquisition unit and the drive load information acquired by the drive load information acquisition unit as the bucket excavates the ground. A mechanical load calculation unit, and the shape of the soil mass composed of the soil dammed by the bucket, the posture information acquired by the posture information acquisition unit, the shape of the bucket, the density of the soil, and the wall friction angle between the soil and the bucket as the bucket excavates the ground. An earth pressure load calculation unit that calculates, based on the earth pressure theory, the earth pressure load that is the load applied to the bucket by the soil mass, and based on the mechanical load calculated by the mechanical load calculation unit and the earth pressure load calculated by the earth pressure load calculation unit, A soil quality estimation unit for estimating the soil quality at the work site is provided.

[0008] According to this configuration, while the mechanical load calculation unit calculates the mechanical load received by the bucket during excavation by the bucket, when the earth pressure load calculation unit calculates the earth pressure load acting on the bucket by the soil mass during the excavation, the soil quality estimation unit can estimate the soil quality of the soil at the work site based on the mechanical load and the earth pressure load. Therefore, it becomes possible to acquire soil quality information while performing excavation work at the work site.

[0009] In the above configuration, the soil quality estimation unit may estimate the internal friction angle of the soil and the adhesion of the soil at the work site as the soil quality, respectively, on the assumption that the mechanical load and the earth pressure load acting on the bucket match each other.

[0010] According to this configuration, based on the technical idea that the mechanical load and the earth pressure load acting on the bucket match, the internal friction angle and the adhesion of the soil as the soil quality can be estimated.

[0011] In the above configuration, the drive unit includes a hydraulic boom cylinder that expands and contracts to rotate the boom body, and a hydraulic bucket cylinder that expands and contracts to rotate the bucket, and further includes a cylinder length detection unit capable of detecting the length of the boom cylinder and the length of the bucket cylinder respectively. The attitude information acquisition unit may acquire the attitude information by calculating the attitude of the work attachment based on the lengths of the boom cylinder and the bucket cylinder detected by the cylinder length detection unit.

[0012] According to this configuration, the attitude of the work attachment can be calculated based on the length of each cylinder, and the mechanical load and the earth pressure load can be calculated.

[0013] In the above configuration, an angle detection unit capable of detecting the relative angle of the undulating body with respect to the machine body and the relative angle of the bucket with respect to the undulating body is further provided, and the posture information acquisition unit acquires the posture information by calculating the posture of the work attachment based on at least the relative angle of the undulating body and the relative angle of the bucket detected by the angle detection unit.

[0014] According to this configuration, the posture of the work attachment can be calculated based on the angles of the undulating body and the bucket, and the machine load and the earth pressure load can be accurately calculated.

[0015] In the above configuration, a machine body inclination detection unit capable of detecting the inclination of the machine body with respect to the horizontal plane is further provided, and the posture information acquisition unit acquires the posture information by calculating the posture of the work attachment based on the relative angle of the undulating body detected by the angle detection unit, the relative angle of the bucket, and the inclination of the machine body detected by the machine body inclination detection unit.

[0016] According to this configuration, even when the machine body is inclined with respect to the horizontal plane, the posture of the work attachment can be accurately calculated and acquired.

[0017] In the above configuration, the drive unit includes a hydraulic undulating body cylinder that expands and contracts to rotate the undulating body, and a hydraulic bucket cylinder that expands and contracts to rotate the bucket, and further includes a cylinder pressure detection unit capable of detecting the pressure of the bucket cylinder, and the drive load information acquisition unit acquires the drive load information by calculating the load received by the drive unit based on the pressure of the bucket cylinder detected by the cylinder pressure detection unit.

[0018] According to this configuration, the drive load information can be easily acquired by detecting the pressure of each cylinder.

[0019] In the above configuration, a load sensor may be further provided which is arranged at the tip of the undulating body and is capable of detecting the load acting on the bucket, and the driving load information acquisition unit may acquire the driving load information by calculating the load received by the driving unit based on the load acting on the bucket detected by the load sensor.

[0020] According to this configuration, the driving load information can be easily acquired by detecting the load acting on the bucket by the load sensor arranged at the tip of the undulating body.

[0021] In the above configuration, a display unit may be further provided which receives a predetermined display command signal and displays information for notifying an operator according to the display command signal, and the soil quality estimation unit may input the display command signal corresponding to the estimated soil quality to the display unit.

[0022] According to this configuration, by transmitting information such as the strength of the ground to the operator through the display unit, the operator can use the information as a reference for setting the output characteristics of the construction machine.

[0023] In the above configuration, the display unit may be capable of displaying the latest soil quality estimated by the soil quality estimation unit and the past soil quality.

[0024] According to this configuration, the operator can easily grasp the change in soil quality at the work site.

[0025] In the above configuration, a position information acquisition unit for acquiring the position information of the machine body at the work site may be further provided, and the soil quality estimation unit may input the display command signal in which the estimated soil quality and the position information acquired by the position information acquisition unit are associated with each other to the display unit.

[0026] According to this configuration, by combining the position information of the machine body and the soil quality information, the operator can grasp the portion with low ground strength. As a result, the risk of the machine tipping over due to insufficient ground strength can be predicted.

[0027] In the above configuration, the display unit may be further capable of displaying map information at the work site, and may display the soil quality estimated by the soil quality estimation unit and the position information acquired by the position information acquisition unit in association with each other on the map information.

[0028] According to this configuration, an operator can easily visually grasp the strength of the ground based on the map information displayed on the display unit.

[0029] In the above configuration, the drive unit may be capable of receiving a predetermined command signal and driving the work attachment based on an output characteristic corresponding to the command signal, and may further include an output characteristic setting unit that inputs a command signal to the drive unit so as to adjust the output characteristic according to the soil quality acquired by the soil quality estimation unit.

[0030] According to this configuration, since the output of the construction machine can be adjusted according to information on the soil quality such as the strength of the surrounding ground, the workability of the excavation work felt by the operator can be improved, and the work efficiency can be improved. In addition, since the output characteristics of the construction machine can be appropriately set according to the softness and hardness of the ground, wasteful fuel consumption can be suppressed.

[0031] In the above configuration, the soil quality estimation unit may determine whether or not the soil quality can be estimated based on a characteristic value related to the magnitude of the earth pressure load.

[0032] According to this configuration, the estimation accuracy can be improved by executing the earth pressure estimation process only when the obtained earth pressure load is large to a certain extent.

[0033] In the above configuration, the characteristic value may be the amount of soil in the bucket.

[0034] According to this configuration, the estimation accuracy can be improved by executing the earth pressure estimation process only when there is a certain amount of soil in the bucket.

[0035] In the above configuration, the soil property estimation unit may calculate the soil volume based on the shape of the soil mass and the shape of the bucket.

[0036] According to this configuration, the soil volume can be easily estimated based on the shape of the soil mass and the shape of the bucket.

[0037] In the above configuration, the soil property estimation unit may determine the soil property on the condition that the angle of the bucket is included in a preset estimation angle.

[0038] According to this configuration, the estimation accuracy can be improved by setting the angle of the bucket to a predetermined estimation angle and then executing the soil property estimation process.

[0039] In the above configuration, the soil property estimation unit may refer to a plurality of pre-prepared soil property candidates, and based on the machine load calculated by the machine load calculation unit and the soil pressure load calculated by the soil pressure load calculation unit, determine one of the plurality of soil property candidates as the soil property at the work site.

[0040] According to this configuration, the calculation load can be reduced by limiting the soil property that is the solution to a plurality of soil property candidates.

[0041] In the above configuration, the soil pressure load calculation unit calculates a plurality of the soil pressure loads using the plurality of soil property candidates respectively, and the soil property estimation unit determines, as the soil property at the work site, the soil property candidate corresponding to the soil pressure load that is closest to the machine load calculated by the machine load calculation unit among the plurality of the soil pressure loads.

[0042] According to this configuration, the optimal soil property can be accurately determined from among a plurality of soil property candidates.

[0043] In the above configuration, it may further include an input unit that receives a command for switching between an active state and an inactive state, where the active state is a state in which the estimation of the soil quality by the soil quality estimation unit is permitted, and the inactive state is a state in which the estimation of the soil quality by the soil quality estimation unit is prohibited.

[0044] According to this configuration, it is possible to execute the soil quality estimation process only when necessary, and it is possible to prevent unnecessary arithmetic processing.

[0045] In the above configuration, when the active state and the inactive state are switched by the command input to the input unit, it may further include a soil quality storage unit that stores information regarding the previously estimated soil quality.

[0046] According to this configuration, it is possible to reliably save the information of the necessary soil quality.

[0047] In the above configuration, it may further include a state display unit capable of displaying the active state and the inactive state.

[0048] According to this configuration, it is possible to notify the operator of the current estimable state of the soil quality.

[0049] In the above configuration, it may further include a state switching unit that inputs a command corresponding to the active state to the input unit on the condition that the angle of the bucket is included in a preset estimation angle.

[0050] According to this configuration, by setting the angle of the bucket to a predetermined estimation angle and then executing the soil quality estimation process, the estimation accuracy can be improved.

[0051] In the above configuration, it may further include an angle requirement unit that requires that the angle of the bucket be included in the estimation angle as a condition for the soil quality estimation unit to execute the estimation of the soil quality.

[0052] According to this configuration, by the angle requirement unit requesting the angle adjustment of the bucket, highly accurate soil estimation processing can be surely executed.

[0053] In the above configuration, it may further include a bucket angle display unit capable of displaying the estimation angle and the current angle of the bucket.

[0054] According to this configuration, the operator can easily adjust the angle of the bucket while looking at the bucket angle display unit.

[0055] In the above configuration, the soil estimation unit receives a predetermined estimation start signal, repeatedly estimates the soil at a predetermined time interval to obtain a plurality of soils, and estimates the final soil based on the plurality of soils. If the number of the plurality of soils is less than a preset threshold after the input of the estimation start signal, the estimation of the final soil may not be executed.

[0056] According to this configuration, it is possible to prevent an incorrect estimation result from being output when the number of data necessary for estimation has not been obtained.

[0057] In the above configuration, it may further include a completion display unit that displays information regarding whether the soil estimation by the soil estimation unit has been completed.

[0058] According to this configuration, the operator can easily confirm whether the soil estimation process is completed or not by checking the completion display unit.

[0059] What is provided by the present invention is a construction machine management system. The construction machine management system includes the construction machine according to any one of the above, and a server disposed at a position away from the construction machine and capable of transmitting and receiving the soil information to and from the construction machine.

[0060] According to this configuration, the server manages the soil information acquired by the construction machine, so that the soil information can be shared with other construction machines. At this time, even if other construction machines do not have a soil estimation unit, efficient work can be performed using the soil information.

[0061] In the above configuration, the construction machine may further include a position information acquisition unit that acquires the position information of the machine body at the work site, and an on-board transmission unit that can transmit the position information and the soil information to the server. The server may include a server-side reception unit that can receive the position information and the soil information transmitted by the on-board transmission unit, and a server-side storage unit that stores the position information and the soil information in association with each other.

[0062] According to this configuration, the server manages the soil information and the position information acquired by the construction machine in association with each other, so that other construction machines can share the soil information and the position information.

[0063] In the above configuration, the drive unit can receive a predetermined command signal and drive the work attachment based on the output characteristics corresponding to the command signal. The construction machine may further include a position information acquisition unit that acquires the position information of the machine body at the work site, an on-board transmission unit that can transmit the position information to the server, and an on-board reception unit that can receive the information transmitted from the server. The server may include a server-side storage unit that stores the position information, the soil information, and the output characteristic information in association with each other, a server-side reception unit that can receive the position information transmitted by the on-board transmission unit, a server-side output characteristic setting unit that sets a predetermined output characteristic from the server-side storage unit according to the received position information, and a server-side transmission unit that transmits the command signal corresponding to the set output characteristic to the construction machine.

[0064] According to this configuration, when the construction machine acquires the position information and soil information during operation, the server can set suitable output characteristics according to the information and transmit a command signal to the construction machine. Therefore, the construction machine can be adjusted to appropriate output characteristics according to the surrounding soil information while performing work at the work site.

[0065] In the above configuration, the drive unit can receive a predetermined command signal and drive the work attachment based on the output characteristics corresponding to the command signal. The construction machine further includes a machine body side transmitter capable of transmitting the soil information to the server and a machine body side receiver capable of receiving the information transmitted from the server. The server includes a server side storage unit for storing the soil information and the output characteristic information in association with each other, a server side receiver capable of receiving the soil information transmitted by the machine body side transmitter, a server side output characteristic setting unit for setting a predetermined output characteristic from the server side storage unit according to the soil information received by the server side receiver, and a server side transmitter for transmitting the command signal corresponding to the set output characteristic to the construction machine.

[0066] According to this configuration, when the construction machine acquires soil information during operation, the server can set suitable output characteristics according to the information and transmit a command signal to the construction machine. Therefore, the construction machine can be adjusted to appropriate output characteristics according to the surrounding soil information while performing work at the work site.

Effect of the Invention

[0067] According to the present invention, there are provided a construction machine and a construction machine management system capable of acquiring soil information of the ground while performing excavation work at a work site.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0068]

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Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0069] Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0070] FIG. 1 shows a side view of a hydraulic excavator 1 (construction machine) according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0071] The hydraulic excavator 1 includes a lower traveling body 10 that can travel on the ground G (traveling surface) and an upper revolving body 12 (upper main body) that is rotatably supported by the lower traveling body 10, and a work attachment 20 mounted on the upper revolving body 12. The lower traveling body 10 and the upper revolving body 12 constitute the machine body of the present invention.

[0072] The lower traveling body 10 can travel on the ground G. The lower traveling body 10 includes a crawler-type traveling unit.

[0073] The upper revolving body 12 includes a slewing frame 121 supported by the lower traveling body 10 and a cab 13 mounted on the slewing frame 121. The cab 13 allows an operator to board and is equipped with various devices for operating the hydraulic excavator 1.

[0074] The work attachment 20 is attached to the upper revolving body 12 so as to be relatively movable with respect to the upper revolving body 12 and performs a predetermined work on the ground. The work attachment 20 includes a boom 21 pivotally connected to the front end of the slewing frame 121 so as to be pivotable in the up-and-down direction about a horizontal rotation center axis, an arm 22 pivotally connected to the tip of the boom 21 so as to be pivotable about a horizontal rotation center axis, and a bucket 23 pivotally connected to the tip of the arm 22 so as to be pivotable about a horizontal rotation center axis. In the present embodiment, the rotation center axes of the boom 21, the arm 22, and the bucket 23 are set parallel to each other. The boom 21 and the arm 22 constitute the undulating body of the present invention. Further, the work attachment 20 further includes a boom cylinder 21S (undulating body cylinder) that expands and contracts to raise and lower (pivot) the boom 21, an arm cylinder 22S (undulating body cylinder) that expands and contracts to rotate the arm 22, and a bucket cylinder 23S that expands and contracts to rotate the bucket 23. Each of these cylinders is composed of a hydraulic cylinder.

[0075] The cab 13 is mounted at the front of the slewing frame 121 in a portion adjacent to the boom 21 in the width direction of the slewing frame 121 (the left side of the boom 21 in the example shown in FIGS. 1 and 2), and constitutes a driver's cab for operating the hydraulic excavator 1. That is, inside the cab 13, the operator performs operations for traveling the lower traveling body 10, slewing the upper revolving body 12, and operating the work attachment 20.

[0076] Figure 2 is a block diagram of the hydraulic excavator 1 according to the present embodiment. The hydraulic excavator 1 further includes an operation unit 51, an input unit 52, a load cell 61 (drive load information acquisition unit), a cylinder stroke sensor 62 (cylinder length detection unit), a body position information acquisition unit 63 (position information acquisition unit), a ground surface information acquisition unit 64, an IMU (inertial measurement unit) 65 (aircraft tilt detection unit), a drive unit 71, a display unit 72, and a transmission unit 73.

[0077] The operation unit 51 is disposed in the cab 13 and is operated by an operator. That is, the operation unit 51 receives operations for operating the hydraulic excavator 1. The operations include traveling of the lower traveling body 10, turning of the upper swing body 12, driving of the work attachment 20 (boom 21, arm 22, bucket 23), and the like.

[0078] The input unit 52 is disposed in the cab 13 and receives input of various types of information. As an example, the input unit 52 has various input buttons, switches, and a touch panel included in the display unit 72 described later. In particular, the input unit 52 is capable of receiving input of information referred to in the soil quality information acquisition operation described later.

[0079] The load cell 61 includes two load cells provided on the bucket 23 and detects the load applied to the base end portion of the bucket 23. The load detected by the load cell 61 is referred to by the mechanical load calculation unit 503 described later and used for calculation of the mechanical load (see FIG. 3). In other words, the load cell 61 acquires drive load information, which is information regarding the load received by the drive unit 71 as the bucket 23 excavates the ground. The drive load information is acquired by calculating the load received by the drive unit 71 based on the detection result of the load cell 61.

[0080] The cylinder stroke sensor 62 includes three sensors respectively attached to the aforementioned boom cylinder 21S, arm cylinder 22S, and bucket cylinder 23S, and detects the stroke (extension amount, length) of each cylinder. The stroke of each cylinder detected by the cylinder stroke sensor 62 is used by the bucket position calculation unit 502, machine load calculation unit 503, and earth pressure load calculation unit 504 described later to calculate the position and attitude of the bucket 23.

[0081] The body position information acquisition unit 63 acquires the position information of the hydraulic excavator 1 (machine body) at the work site. As an example, the body position information acquisition unit 63 can acquire body coordinate information, which is information regarding the absolute coordinates of a body reference point provided in advance on the upper swing body 12, at the work site. The body position information acquisition unit 63 that constitutes the body reference point is arranged on the upper surface of the cab 13 and functions as a GNSS mobile station. On the other hand, a GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System / Global Positioning Satellite System) reference station is provided (not shown) to acquire the above body coordinate information. The GNSS reference station is a reference station arranged at the work site or at the position closest to the work site. In addition to the well-known GPS (Global Positioning System), satellite positioning systems such as GLONASS (Global Navigation Satellite System), Galileo, and Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS) may be adopted as the GNSS.

[0082] The ground surface information acquisition unit 64 is disposed at the front end of the upper surface portion of the cab 13. As an example, the ground surface information acquisition unit 64 is composed of a LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging) sensor. The ground surface information acquisition unit 64 acquires information (ground surface information) regarding the shape of the ground surface in front of the cab 13. In the present embodiment, the shape of the ground surface is detected based on the three-dimensional distance data detected by the LiDAR. The ground surface information acquisition unit 64 may be a TOF (Time Of Flight) sensor, a stereo camera, or the like. Further, in other embodiments, the ground surface around the hydraulic excavator 1 may be regarded as horizontal.

[0083] The IMU 65 detects the angle (aircraft angle) of the aircraft (upper swing body 12) of the hydraulic excavator 1 with respect to the horizontal plane. Note that the detection of the angle of the aircraft with respect to the horizontal plane may be performed not only by the IMU but also by an inclination sensor. As the inclination sensor, those using MEMS (Micro Electro Mechanical Systems) technology or those using various methods such as a liquid-encapsulated type can be adopted.

[0084] The drive unit 71 drives various structures of the hydraulic excavator 1, and drives the lower traveling body 10, the upper swing body 12, the work attachment 20, etc. that are operated by the operation unit 51. In particular, the drive unit 71 can drive the work attachment 20 so that the bucket 23 excavates the ground. At this time, the drive unit 71 can receive a predetermined command signal and drive the work attachment 20 based on the output characteristics corresponding to the command signal. The drive unit 71 includes a hydraulic circuit such as a hydraulic pump and a hydraulic motor.

[0085] The display unit 72 is disposed within the cab 13, receives a predetermined display command signal, and displays various types of information for notifying an operator in accordance with the display command signal. The information includes the soil information, the position information of the hydraulic excavator 1, etc., which will be described later. Specifically, the display unit 72 can display map information at the work site, and associates and displays the soil estimated by the soil estimation unit 505 and the position information of the hydraulic excavator 1 acquired by the main body position information acquisition unit 63 on the map information with each other.

[0086] The transmission unit 73 transmits the position information of the hydraulic excavator 1 acquired by the main body position information acquisition unit 63 and the soil information of the work site estimated by the soil estimation unit 505 to a data center, a remote management center, etc., disposed at a location away from the work site.

[0087] The control unit 50 is composed of a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory) that stores a control program, a RAM (Random Access Memory) used as a work area for the CPU, etc. As shown in FIG. 2, an operation unit 51, an input unit 52, a load cell 61, a cylinder stroke sensor 62, a main body position information acquisition unit 63, a soil surface information acquisition unit 64, an IMU 65, a drive unit 71, a display unit 72, and a transmission unit 73 are respectively connected to the control unit 50.

[0088] The control unit 50 functions to include a drive control unit 501, a bucket position calculation unit 502 (posture information acquisition unit), a machine load calculation unit 503, a soil pressure load calculation unit 504, a soil quality estimation unit 505, an output characteristic setting unit 506, and a storage unit 507 by the CPU executing the control program stored in the ROM. These functional units do not have a physical entity and correspond to units of functions executed by the program. That is, it can be said that the control executed by these functional units is substantially executed in an overall manner by the control unit 50. Note that each functional unit may be divided and arranged in a plurality of control units.

[0089] The drive control unit 501 inputs a drive command signal to the drive unit 71 according to the content of the operation received by the operation unit 51. As a result, the operations of the lower traveling body 10, the upper slewing body 12, the work attachment 20, etc. are controlled.

[0090] Based on the stroke amount (cylinder length) of each cylinder detected by the cylinder stroke sensor 62, the body angle detected by the IMU 65, the mechanical specifications of the hydraulic excavator 1, etc., the bucket position calculation unit 502 calculates the current posture of the work attachment 20, particularly the position (coordinates) and posture of the bucket 23, and acquires it as posture information. In other words, the bucket position calculation unit 502 acquires posture information, which is information regarding the relative posture of the work attachment 20 with respect to the ground.

[0091] As the bucket 23 excavates the ground, based on the load detected by the load cell 61 (drive load information), the position and posture of the bucket 23 (posture information) calculated by the bucket position calculation unit 502, etc., the mechanical load calculation unit 503 calculates the excavation resistance value P A (mechanical load).

[0092] Based on the stroke amount of each cylinder detected by the cylinder stroke sensor 62, the body angle detected by the IMU 65, the soil surface information detected by the soil surface information acquisition unit 64, the shape of the bucket 23 stored in the storage unit 507, the mechanical specifications of the hydraulic excavator 1, etc., the earth pressure load calculation unit 504 calculates the excavation resistance value P B to be described later. More specifically, as the bucket 23 excavates the ground, based on the shape of the soil mass formed by the soil dammed by the bucket 23, the above-mentioned posture information acquired by the bucket position calculation unit 502, the shape of the bucket 23, the soil density (γ t ), and the wall friction angle δ between the soil and the bucket 23, the earth pressure load, which is the load applied to the bucket 23 by the soil mass, is calculated based on earth pressure theory.

[0093] The soil quality estimation unit 505 uses the excavation resistance value P calculated by the mechanical load calculation unit 503 A(Mechanical load) and the excavation resistance value P calculated by the earth pressure load calculation unit 504 B (Based on the earth pressure load), estimate the soil quality information (the soil quality of the soil at the work site) around the hydraulic excavator 1. Then, the soil quality estimation unit 505 inputs a display command signal corresponding to the estimated soil quality to the display unit 72 to display information corresponding to the soil quality. Further, the soil quality estimation unit 505 inputs a display command signal in which the estimated soil quality and the position information acquired by the main body position information acquisition unit 63 are associated with each other to the display unit 72.

[0094] In particular, in the present embodiment, the soil quality estimation unit 505 estimates the internal friction angle φ of the soil and the adhesion c of the soil at the work site as the soil quality on the assumption that the mechanical load applied to the bucket 23 and the earth pressure load match each other. When the adhesion c is zero, as shown in FIG. 8, the internal friction angle φ corresponds to the angle between the direction of the sliding surface load acting on the sliding surface when the bucket 23 presses the soil mass and the normal line of the sliding surface when the soil mass moves along a predetermined sliding surface.

[0095] The output characteristic setting unit 506 sets (adjusts) the output characteristics of the drive unit 71 based on the soil quality information estimated by the soil quality estimation unit 505, and inputs a command signal corresponding to the characteristics to the drive unit 71.

[0096] The storage unit 507 stores (stores) in advance the operation of the hydraulic excavator 1, various threshold values, parameters, etc. referred to in the soil quality information acquisition process.

[0097] Next, the details of the soil quality information acquisition process executed by the hydraulic excavator 1 according to the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram for explaining the soil quality information acquisition process executed in the hydraulic excavator 1 according to the present embodiment. The hydraulic excavator 1 can estimate while calculating soil quality information, which is information about the soil quality of the surrounding ground, during any excavation work at the work site. At this time, the mechanical load calculation unit 503 calculates the load (mechanical load, excavation resistance value P) that the bucket 23 mechanically receives APerform the calculation (Calculation 1 in FIG. 3). On the other hand, the earth pressure load calculation unit 504 calculates the load acting on the bucket 23 (earth pressure load, excavation resistance value P B ) due to the soil excavated by the bucket 23 based on earth pressure theory (Calculation 2 in FIG. 3). Then, the soil property estimation unit 505 assumes that the above two loads are equal to each other, and calculates the soil property information included in the excavation resistance value P B . (Calculation 3 in FIG. 3).

[0098] As shown in FIG. 3, for Calculation 1, the load detected by the load cell 61, the cylinder stroke detected by the cylinder stroke sensor 62, and the aircraft angle detected by the IMU 65 are used. Also, for Calculation 2, the cylinder stroke detected by the cylinder stroke sensor 62, the aircraft angle detected by the IMU 65, the soil surface information detected by the soil surface information acquisition unit 64, the shape of the bucket 23 (bucket shape) stored in the storage unit 507 in advance, and various machine specifications (link lengths, etc.) are mainly used.

[0099] Also, in Calculation 3, as the output information of the soil property information acquisition process according to the present invention, the adhesion c and the internal friction angle φ are respectively calculated and estimated. Note that the adhesion c and the internal friction angle φ obtained by Calculation 3 are fed back and used as the search adhesion c and the search internal friction angle φ in Calculation 2.

[0100] The flow of the above soil property information acquisition process and the detailed calculation method will be further described below. FIG. 4 is a flowchart of the soil property information acquisition process executed in the hydraulic excavator 1 according to the present embodiment.

[0101] When an operator presses a predetermined start switch through the input unit 52 arranged in the cab 13 of the hydraulic excavator 1, the soil property information acquisition process is started. Note that the operator can perform the ground excavation work in parallel by operating the operation unit 51 thereafter.

[0102] When the soil property information acquisition process starts, the load cell 61, the cylinder stroke sensor 62, the soil surface information acquisition unit 64, and the IMU 65 acquire the load received by the base ends of the 23 buckets, the cylinder stroke, the soil surface information, and the aircraft angle, respectively (step S1). Next, in calculation 1, the excavation resistance value P A is calculated (step S2).

[0103] FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing the mechanical load on the bucket 23 of the hydraulic excavator 1 according to the present embodiment. In calculation 1, first, the bucket position calculation unit 502 calculates the position and orientation of the bucket 23. By the cylinder stroke sensor 62 acquiring the cylinder strokes (the extension amounts of the cylinders) of the boom cylinder 21S, the arm cylinder 22S, and the bucket cylinder 23S, the bucket position calculation unit 502 can calculate what posture the work attachment 20 is in in FIG. 1. As a result, the bucket position calculation unit 502 can acquire information regarding the position and orientation of the bucket 23 in FIG. 5. Note that the lengths, shapes, etc. of the boom 21, the arm 22, and the bucket 23 are stored in the storage unit 507 in advance. Also, for the calculation of the position and orientation of the bucket 23, the angles of the undulating body (the boom 21 and the arm 22) and the bucket 23 are calculated based on the aircraft angle detected by the IMU 65, respectively.

[0104] The load cell 61 has a first load cell 611 and a second load cell 612 (both are load sensors) shown in FIG. 5. The first load cell 611 is disposed at the connection portion CB1 between the arm 22 and the bucket 23, which is the rotation center axis of the bucket 23. On the other hand, the second load cell 612 is disposed at the connection portion CB2 between the link disposed at the tip of the bucket cylinder 23S and the bucket 23. As shown in FIG. 5, the mechanical load calculation unit 503 calculates the excavation resistance value P as the resultant force of the load F2 detected by the first load cell 611 and the load F1 detected by the second load cell 612 A(Resultant force F in FIG. 5) can be calculated. At this time, based on the posture of the bucket 23 calculated by the bucket position calculation unit 502, the directions (vectors) in which the loads F1 and F2 act are calculated. Thus, in calculation 1, based on the loads detected by the load cells 61 (first load cell 611 and second load cell 612), the excavation resistance value P received by the bucket 23 during excavation A can be calculated.

[0105] In step S2 of FIG. 4, the excavation resistance value P A When is calculated in this way, the earth pressure load calculation unit 504 assumes the adhesion c and the internal friction angle φ to predetermined values (step S3). At this time, the earth pressure load calculation unit 504 may assume the above values from the result of the previous calculation 2, or may assume the above values from the initial values for calculation stored in the storage unit 507 in advance.

[0106] Next, the earth pressure load calculation unit 504 executes calculation 2 to calculate the excavation resistance value P B (step S4). FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram for explaining the outline of calculation 2 (earth pressure load calculation process) executed in the hydraulic excavator 1 according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 6, for the calculation of the excavation resistance value P B in calculation 2, the machine specifications (link lengths, etc.) stored in the storage unit 507 in advance, the strokes of the respective cylinders detected by the cylinder stroke sensor 62, the ground surface information detected by the ground surface information acquisition unit 64, the body angle detected by the IMU 65, the shape of the bucket 23 stored in the storage unit 507 in advance, the soil density γ t , the wall friction angle δ, the internal friction angle φ and the adhesion c assumed in step S3 are used respectively.

[0107] Also, in calculation 2, using the above parameters, the position and posture (wall surface angle α) of the bucket 23 are calculated at any time (bucket posture calculation in FIG. 6), and further, based on this result, the ground height H is calculated (ground height calculation in FIG. 6). Then, using the wall surface angle α and the ground height H derived from these calculations, the excavation resistance value P Bis calculated (step S4 in FIG. 4). Also in this case, for the calculation of the position and orientation of the bucket 23, based on the body angles detected by the IMU 65, the angles of the undulating body (boom 21 and arm 22) and the bucket 23 are calculated respectively.

[0108] Referring to FIG. 4, next, the soil property estimation unit 505 inputs the excavation resistance value P calculated in step S1 A and the excavation resistance value P calculated in step S4 B into operation 3 respectively, and prepares to estimate the soil property (step S5). Further, the soil property estimation unit 505 calculates the residual Δ between the two excavation resistance values P A , P B . Then, when the residual Δ calculated in step S6 is smaller than a preset threshold value ε (YES in step S7), the obtained adhesion force c and internal friction angle φ are output (step S8), and the soil property information acquisition process ends. The soil property information output in step S8 is displayed on the display unit 72 together with the current position of the hydraulic excavator 1 acquired by the body position information acquisition unit 63. Also, the said information may be transmitted to the said center through the transmission unit 73.

[0109] On the other hand, according to the soil property information calculated by the soil property estimation unit 505, the output characteristic setting unit 506 (FIG. 2) may input a predetermined characteristic command signal to the drive unit 71. For example, when the adhesion force c is large or the internal friction angle φ is large, the output of the drive unit 71 may be increased by increasing the rotation speed of the hydraulic pump included in the drive unit 71.

[0110] Also, the soil property information (adhesion force c and internal friction angle φ) calculated by the soil property estimation unit 505 is fed back as search parameters to the subsequent operation 2 as shown in FIG. 3, and it is desirable to improve the accuracy of operation 2. In step S7, when the residual Δ is greater than or equal to the preset threshold value ε (NO in step S7), steps S3 and subsequent steps are repeated.

[0111] Note that in the flow shown in FIG. 4, a single P AAlthough the above has been described in terms of exploring the adhesion force c and the internal friction angle φ that can be reproduced, the present invention is not limited thereto. Since there are variations in soil quality at the actual work site, it is also possible to explore the adhesion force c and the internal friction angle φ such that the residual (for example, the sum of the squares of the residuals) with respect to a plurality of already obtained P A is minimized.

[0112] Next, the operation 2 in step S4 above will be described in more detail. FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing how a soil mass plastically collapses due to the movement of a retaining wall. FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram for explaining the passive earth pressure based on soil mechanics. Generally, in soil mechanics, the pressure received by a structure in contact with soil or the pressure generated in the soil is called earth pressure. In particular, when there is movement or inclination in a structure in contact with soil, the force received by the structure from the soil, specifically, the earth pressure generated when the structure (the retaining wall in FIG. 7) moves towards the soil is called passive earth pressure. At this time, the force received by the structure is calculated from the balance of the forces generated when the soil mass moves along the slip surface (plastic collapse surface). As the plastic collapse condition of the above slip surface, the Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion shown in FIG. 8 and Equation 1 is used.

[0113]

Equation

[0114] The inventor of the present invention applies the above-mentioned concept of soil mechanics (soil theory) to the bucket 23 of the hydraulic excavator 1. FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram for explaining the excavation resistance value P B acting on the bucket 23. In FIG. 9, the reaction force of the force P received by the soil mass is the force received by the bucket 23 from the soil mass, that is, the excavation resistance value P B . Also, in FIG. 9, W is the soil mass weight, T is the shear force on the slip surface, and N is the vertical resistance on the slip surface. The square of the slip surface load R is equal to the sum of the square of the shear force T and the square of the vertical resistance N. Also, similar to before, H is the ground height, and θ is the slip surface angle. FIG. 10 is a schematic graph showing the relationship between the slip surface angle θ and the excavation resistance value P (P B ). In the present embodiment, θ is obtained so that dQp / dθ (the result of differentiating the passive earth pressure Qp(P) with respect to the slip surface angle θ) = 0. Also, δ is the wall friction angle (the friction coefficient between the bucket 23 and the soil), and α is the wall angle (the angle of the bottom plate surface of the bucket 23 with respect to the vertical plane).

[0115] Here, considering the force balance for the soil mass that plastically collapses per unit width in the depth direction (the width direction of the bucket 23) of FIG. 9, the following equations 2 and 3 hold.

[0116]

Equation

[0117]

Equation

[0118]

Equation

[0119]

Equation

[0120]

Equation

[0121] Next, the operation 3 in step S7 of FIG. 4 will be described in more detail.

[0122] The excavation resistance value P calculated in step S2 A is obtained as a numerical value, while the excavation resistance value P calculated in step S6 B includes the adhesion c and the internal friction angle φ as variables, as in equations (5) and (6). Note that equation (6) may include a correction term related to the adhesion c. Therefore, the soil property estimation unit 505 compares the values of the input excavation resistance values P A and P B and calculates the internal friction angle φ and the adhesion c such that the difference therebetween is minimized using a method such as a known mathematical programming method. As described above, it is desirable that the initial values of the internal friction angle φ and the adhesion c are stored in the storage unit 507 in advance at the start of the estimation. Also, since the excavation resistance values P A and P B change during the excavation operation of the hydraulic excavator 1, it is desirable to perform the calculation considering the change over the time axis.

[0123] Here, as a method for searching for the internal friction angle φ and the cohesion c, the following methods can be given as examples. Note that the internal friction angle φ and the cohesion c each have a range such that 0 ≤ φ < φ _UPPER (the upper limit value of φ), 0 ≤ c < c _UPPER (the upper limit value of c), respectively.

[0124] As the first search method, the enumeration method can be used. In this method, the soil property estimation unit 505 enumerates all combinations of solutions for the internal friction angle φ and the cohesion c, and selects the combination that optimizes a predetermined objective function from among them.

[0125] Also, as the second search method, the branch-and-bound method can be used. FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram for explaining the branch-and-bound method executed by the soil property estimation unit 505 according to the present embodiment. In this method, the soil property estimation unit 505 decomposes the entire solution into several sub-problems, and equivalently solves the original problem by solving all of these sub-problems. When solving a sub-problem, it is possible to avoid solving all sub-problems by performing a test in advance as to whether the sub-problem has an optimal solution and whether the optimal solution can be the optimal solution of the original problem. For example, when the excavation resistance value when substituting the internal friction angle φ as in the case of φ = 50 in FIG. 11 exceeds the excavation force of the machine specifications, or when the difference between two input values becomes equal to or greater than a certain value, the combination of solutions can be made not to be calculated.

[0126] Furthermore, as the third search method, a known Newton-Raphson method using the internal friction angle φ and the cohesion c as variables may be used.

[0127] As described above, this embodiment is based on the technical idea of estimating the soil quality related to the earth pressure load from the mechanical load actually received by the bucket 23 during the excavation work and the earth pressure load applied to the bucket 23 by the soil mass formed by the bucket 23. While the mechanical load calculation unit 503 calculates the mechanical load during excavation by the bucket 23, the earth pressure load calculation unit 504 calculates the earth pressure load during the excavation, and the soil quality estimation unit 505 estimates the soil quality of the soil at the work site based on the mechanical load and the earth pressure load. Therefore, it becomes possible to acquire the soil quality information of the ground while performing the excavation work at the work site.

[0128] In particular, in this embodiment, based on the technical idea that the mechanical load and the earth pressure load acting on the bucket 23 coincide, the internal friction angle φ as the soil quality and the cohesive force c of the soil can be estimated. At this time, even for the shapes of various buckets 23, since the information is stored in the storage unit 507 in advance, the soil quality can be stably estimated regardless of the amount and distribution (shape) of the soil mass blocked by the bucket 23. Note that the present invention is not limited to assuming that the mechanical load and the earth pressure load acting on the bucket 23 necessarily coincide in order to acquire the soil quality information. Depending on the strength of the bucket 23 and the work site environment, it may be assumed that the product (or sum) of multiplying the mechanical load acting on the bucket 23 by a predetermined constant and the earth pressure load coincide.

[0129] Also, in this embodiment, based on the length of each cylinder detected by the cylinder stroke sensor 62, the posture of the work attachment 20 (bucket 23) is calculated, and the mechanical load and the earth pressure load can be calculated accurately.

[0130] Also, in this embodiment, by detecting the load at the base end of the bucket 23 by the load cell 61, the drive load information can be easily acquired.

[0131] In particular, in the present embodiment, the driving load information can be easily obtained by detecting the load acting on the bucket 23 by the first load cell 611 and the second load cell 612 (load sensor) disposed at the tip of the arm 22.

[0132] Further, in the present embodiment, by transmitting information such as the strength of the ground to the operator through the display unit 72, the operator can use the information as a guide for setting the output characteristics of the hydraulic excavator 1 (setting of engine speed, output mode, etc.). Also, even when an unskilled person operates or when operating remotely, the adjustment amount of the output characteristics can be quantitatively adjusted.

[0133] Further, in the present embodiment, by combining the position information of the machine body and the soil quality information, the operator can grasp the portion where the ground strength is low. As a result, the risk of the hydraulic excavator 1 tipping over due to insufficient ground strength can be predicted.

[0134] Further, in the present embodiment, the operator can easily visually grasp the ground strength based on the map information displayed on the display unit 72.

[0135] Further, in the present embodiment, since the output characteristic setting unit 506 can adjust the output of the hydraulic excavator 1 according to the strength of the surrounding ground and the like, the workability of the excavation work felt by the operator can be improved. In particular, compared with the case where the operator sets the output characteristics of the hydraulic excavator 1 according to the site environment, even when an unskilled person operates or when operating remotely, the output characteristics can be automatically adjusted.

[0136] The hydraulic excavator 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention has been described above. Note that the present invention is not limited to these forms. The present invention can take, for example, the following modified embodiments.

[0137] In the above-described embodiment, the position and orientation of the work attachment 20 (bucket 23) have been described in a manner where they are calculated according to the length of each cylinder detected by the cylinder stroke sensor 62. However, the present invention is not limited to this. It may further include an angle detection unit (angle sensor) capable of detecting the relative angle between the boom 21 and the arm 22 (lifting body) with respect to the upper swing body 12 and the relative angle of the bucket 23 with respect to the lifting body. In this case, the bucket position calculation unit 502 (posture information acquisition unit) may acquire the posture information of the work attachment 20 (bucket 23) by calculating the posture of the work attachment 20 based on the relative angle of the lifting body and the relative angle of the bucket 23 detected by the angle detection unit. At this time, the relative angle between the boom 21 and the arm 22 (lifting body) with respect to the upper swing body 12 and the relative angle of the bucket 23 with respect to the lifting body may be calculated based on the body angle detected by the IMU 65.

[0138] According to such a configuration, the posture of the work attachment 20 can be calculated based on the angles of the lifting body and the bucket 23, and the mechanical load and the earth pressure load can be calculated accurately. In particular, by using the detection result of the IMU 65, even when the body is tilted with respect to the horizontal plane, the posture of the work attachment 20 can be calculated and acquired accurately.

[0139] Also, in the above-described embodiment, the load at the base end of the bucket 23 is detected using the load cell 61, and based on the result, the excavation resistance value P AAlthough the description has been given in terms of the mode in which it is calculated, the present invention is not limited thereto. In FIG. 2, a cylinder pressure sensor (cylinder pressure detection unit), not shown, may be provided to change the load cell 61. The cylinder pressure sensor can detect the head pressure and rod pressure of each of the boom cylinder 21S, arm cylinder 22S, and bucket cylinder 23S. On the other hand, the mechanical load calculation unit 503 obtains the thrust (drive load information) of each actuator from the above pressure detection results, and from the results and the dimensional specifications and posture of the attachment, the excavation reaction force (excavation resistance value P A ) received by the bucket 23 can be calculated.

[0140] <First Modified Embodiment> As described above, in the above embodiment, the output characteristic setting unit 506 (FIG. 2) sets (adjusts) the output characteristics of the drive unit 71 based on the soil quality information estimated by the soil quality estimation unit 505, and can input a command signal corresponding to the characteristics to the drive unit 71. Hereinafter, a plurality of modified embodiments of the output control process executed by the output characteristic setting unit 506 will be shown. FIG. 12 is a flowchart of the output control process executed in the hydraulic excavator 1 according to the first modified embodiment of the present invention. In each of the following modified embodiments, the description will focus on the differences from the previous embodiment, and the description of the common points will be omitted.

[0141] In this modified embodiment, in the hydraulic excavator 1, when the above output control process is executed, the output characteristic setting unit 506 determines whether the soil quality information estimated by the soil quality estimation unit 505 is input to the storage unit 507 (step S11). Here, when the soil quality information estimated by the soil quality estimation unit 505 is input to the storage unit 507 (YES in step S11), the output characteristic setting unit 506 acquires the latest soil quality information I from the storage unit 507 (step S12). For example, the soil quality information I includes the above-mentioned adhesion c and internal friction angle φ.

[0142] Next, the output characteristic setting unit 506 determines whether or not the soil quality information I0 referred to when adjusting the previous output characteristics matches the soil quality information I acquired this time (step S13). Here, when I≠I0 (NO in step S13), the output characteristic setting unit 506 changes the output characteristics of the hydraulic excavator 1 by acquiring from the storage unit 507 the output characteristics corresponding to the latest soil quality information I (step S14). Then, an output characteristic signal (command signal) corresponding to the changed output characteristics is input to the drive unit 71 (step S15).

[0143] When there is no input of soil quality information in step S11 (NO in step S11), or when I = I0 in step S13 (YES in step S13), the output characteristic setting unit 506 uses the previous output characteristics (step S16), and may input an output characteristic signal corresponding to the output characteristics to the drive unit 71 in step S15.

[0144] In general, for dry gravel and sand, the adhesion c≒0, and the internal friction angle φ is dominant. Also, it is said that for clay, the adhesion c is dominant in terms of strength. Therefore, in the present embodiment, as an example, a threshold value ca preset for the adhesion c and a threshold value φa preset for the internal friction angle φ are stored in the storage unit 507.

[0145] Using the above threshold values, four ranges, a first range (φ < φa, c < ca), a second range (φ≧φa, c < ca), a third range (φ < φa, c≧ca), and a fourth range (φ≧φa, c≧ca), are set, and the output characteristic setting unit 506 determines in step S14 of FIG. 16 which of the above four ranges the soil quality information I (φ, c) is included in. Then, the output characteristic setting unit 506 acquires from the storage unit 507 the output characteristics set in advance corresponding to each range and stored in the storage unit 507. For example, the output characteristic setting unit 506 sets a larger output as φ is larger. Also, the output characteristic setting unit 506 sets a larger output as c is larger.

[0146] Note that the shear strength τ may be calculated from the above formula (1) based on the soil property information I. In this case, three ranges, i.e., the first range (τ ≤ τa), the second range (τa < τ ≤ τb), and the third range (τb < τ), are set with reference to preset threshold values τa and τb, and output characteristics may be determined for each range. In this case, the output characteristic setting unit 506 sets a larger output as τ is larger.

[0147] As described above, according to this modified embodiment, since the output characteristics of the hydraulic excavator 1 can be changed according to the work location while considering the soil property information, the workability of the operator can be improved and the work efficiency can be enhanced. In addition, since the output characteristics of the hydraulic excavator 1 are appropriately set according to the softness and hardness of the ground, unnecessary fuel consumption can be suppressed.

[0148] In the above description, in step S14 of FIG. 12, the output characteristics are set according to the soil property information I acquired in advance. However, the soil property information I may be classified into preset soil ranks, and the output characteristics may be set according to the soil ranks.

[0149] <Second Modified Embodiment> FIG. 13 is a flowchart of output control processing executed in the hydraulic excavator 1 according to the second modified embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram of the hydraulic excavator 1 and the server 90 according to this modified embodiment. The server 90 is arranged in a data center or a remote management center installed at a location away from the work site.

[0150] Referring to FIG. 14, the server 90 includes a server-side receiving unit 901, a server-side output characteristic setting unit 902, a server-side storage unit 903, and a server-side transmitting unit 904.

[0151] Referring to FIG. 13, in this modified embodiment, the processes from step S21 to step S25 (including step S24A) are the same as the processes from step S11 to step S15 (including step S16) in FIG. 12. On the other hand, in step S25, when the output characteristic setting unit 506 inputs an output characteristic signal to the drive unit 71, the main body position information acquisition unit 63 (FIG. 2) acquires the position information of the latest hydraulic excavator 1 (step S26). Note that the acquisition timing of this position information is not limited to the timing of step S26.

[0152] Next, the transmission unit 73 (FIG. 2) transmits the position information of the hydraulic excavator 1 and the soil quality information estimated by the soil quality estimation unit 505 to the server 90 in association with each other (step S27). When the server-side reception unit 901 of the server 90 receives the information (step S28), the server-side storage unit 903 stores these information in association with each other (step S29).

[0153] In this way, in this embodiment, the server 90 can acquire and store the position information and soil quality information at the work site acquired by the hydraulic excavator 1. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 14, the information acquired by the hydraulic excavator 1A (one construction machine) is received by the reception unit 74 of the hydraulic excavator 1B (another construction machine) via the server 90, and the output characteristics can be changed according to the received soil quality information I.

[0154] Also, by using the server-side storage unit 903 of the server 90 in this way, information on a plurality of work sites and ground can be stored in a storage unit with a larger capacity than the storage unit 507 of the hydraulic excavator 1.

[0155] FIG. 15 is a flowchart of other output control processes executed in the hydraulic excavator 1 according to this modified embodiment. In the above first modified embodiment, the output characteristic setting unit 506 of the hydraulic excavator 1 has been described in the mode of setting the output characteristics. However, in this modified embodiment, the server-side output characteristic setting unit 902 in the server 90 sets the output characteristics of the hydraulic excavator 1.

[0156] That is, in step S31 of FIG. 15, when the soil quality information acquired by the soil quality estimation unit 505 is input to the storage unit 507 (YES in step S31), the main body position information acquisition unit 63 acquires the position information of the hydraulic excavator 1 (step S32). Next, the transmission unit 73 transmits the position information of the hydraulic excavator 1 and the soil quality information estimated by the soil quality estimation unit 505 to the server 90 (step S33). Next, the server-side output characteristic setting unit 902 refers to the information pre-stored in the server-side storage unit 903 based on the position information and the soil quality information received in step S34, and selects the output characteristic information of the hydraulic excavator 1 (step S35). Then, the server-side transmission unit 904 transmits the selected output characteristic information to the hydraulic excavator 1 (step S36).

[0157] In the hydraulic excavator 1, while receiving the above output characteristic information, the change content of the output characteristics is displayed on the display unit 72 (FIG. 2) in the cab 13, and the approval of the operator is requested (step S37). When the operator approves the change of the output characteristics through an approval button (not shown) (YES in step S37), the output characteristic setting unit 506 inputs an output characteristic signal (command signal) corresponding to the output characteristic to be changed to the drive unit 71 (step S39).

[0158] On the other hand, when there is no input of soil quality information in step S31 (NO in step S31), or when the approval of the operator cannot be obtained in step S37 (NO in step S37), the output characteristic setting unit 506 uses the previous output characteristics (step S38A), and may input an output characteristic signal corresponding to the output characteristics to the drive unit 71 in step S39.

[0159] In addition, in this modified embodiment, although the mode in which the soil quality information and the position information are transmitted to the server 90 in step S33 of FIG. 15 has been described, only the position information of the hydraulic excavator 1 may be transmitted to the server 90. In this case, as described with reference to FIG. 13, based on the soil quality information and the position information previously stored in the server 90, the soil quality information I around the current hydraulic excavator 1 is acquired, and the server-side output characteristic setting unit 902 may set the output characteristics according to the soil quality information.

[0160] Also, in step S31 of FIG. 15, when the soil quality information estimated in advance by the soil quality estimation unit 505 is not input to the storage unit 507, the position information of the hydraulic excavator 1 may be transmitted to the server 90 without using the previous output characteristics in step S38A, and the output characteristic information may be received from the server 90.

[0161] <Third Modified Embodiment> FIG. 16 is a flowchart of the soil quality information acquisition process executed in the construction machine according to the third modified embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 17 is a diagram showing the state of the display unit in the soil quality information acquisition process executed in the construction machine according to this modified embodiment.

[0162] This modified embodiment is characterized by the conditions for executing the soil quality information acquisition process during the work at the work site. Referring to FIG. 16, the operator lays down the work attachment 20 from the state shown in FIG. 1 and adjusts the posture of the bucket 23 in the vicinity of the ground G (step S41). At this time, for the purpose of the bucket 23 to stably excavate the soil on the ground G, the soil quality estimation unit 505 requests the operator to adjust the angle of the bucket 23 so that the angle of the bucket 23 is included in a preset estimation angle (angle range).

[0163] FIG. 17 shows an example of a screen displayed on the display unit 72 (FIG. 2) in the cab 13 (FIG. 1). In the frame of the bucket angle on the left side of the figure, Under (30 degrees in FIG. 17) means the lower limit of the estimated angle, and Over (120 degrees in FIG. 17) means the upper limit. Also, the angle shown between the two (80 degrees in FIG. 17) indicates the current bucket angle ψ. The bucket angle ψ is the angle formed by the straight line connecting the connection portion CB1 (fulcrum) between the arm 22 and the bucket 23 in FIG. 5 and the tip of the bucket 23 with respect to the horizontal plane. Also, as shown in FIG. 17, in the "Bucket Angle" column, the current angle (posture) of the bucket 23 is visually illustrated. Further, a "scale" is arranged so that the relative position of the current bucket angle ψ with respect to Over and Under can be visually confirmed. The white triangle in the scale means the value of the current bucket angle ψ. Also, the maximum value in the scale (180 degrees in FIG. 17) is set to a value larger than the above Over (120 degrees in FIG. 17), and the minimum value (0 degrees in FIG. 17) is set to a value smaller than Under (30 degrees in FIG. 17). As a result, when the operator adjusts the bucket angle ψ to fall within an appropriate range, it becomes possible to recognize the current bucket angle ψ from a range wider than the upper limit (Over) and the lower limit (Under), and it becomes possible to easily perform the angle adjustment operation.

[0164] In this modified embodiment, since the display unit 72 (bucket angle display unit) can display the estimated angle and the current angle ψ of the bucket 23 in this way, the operator can easily adjust the angle of the bucket 23 while looking at the display unit 72.

[0165] When the operator confirms that the angle ψ of the bucket 23 is included between the lower limit value and the upper limit value (YES in step S42 of FIG. 16), the operator slightly lowers the work attachment 20 to ground the tip of the bucket 23 to the ground G (step S43).

[0166] Next, the operator presses an option button (not shown) disposed on a grip portion of an arm pulling lever (not shown) inside the cab 13. This option button functions as an activation switch for the bucket angle maintenance control. When the bucket angle maintenance control is operating, when an arm pulling operation is performed by the operator's operation, the drive control unit 501 (FIG. 2) automatically adjusts the angles of the boom 21 and the arm 22, thereby maintaining the angle ψ of the bucket 23 constant. Therefore, excavation work can be performed while the relative angle of the bucket 23 with respect to the ground G is kept constant. Then, when the operator presses the above option button, the soil quality estimation unit 505 starts the soil quality estimation process (step S45). At this time, each data stored in the storage unit 507 (FIG. 2) in the previous soil quality information acquisition process is reset.

[0167] When the operator excavates the ground G while the bucket 23 approaches the upper swing body 12 by the operator's operation, eventually, the operator presses the option button again. As a result, the bucket angle maintenance control is turned off, and the soil quality estimation process (calculation) by the soil quality estimation unit 505 ends (step S46). Note that while the soil quality estimation unit 505 is estimating the soil quality, a "estimating" lamp lights up in the soil quality estimation area on the right side of the screen display in FIG. 17.

[0168] Here, in this modified embodiment, the soil quality estimation unit 505 determines whether the accuracy of the above soil quality information acquisition process can be expected (step S47). Specifically, the soil quality estimation unit 505 calculates the soil volume V (m 3It is determined whether it is equal to or greater than a preset soil quantity threshold value Vmin. The soil quantity V is the quantity of soil contained in the bucket 23 in the above-described excavation work. In the present modified embodiment, the earth pressure load calculation unit 504 calculates the soil quantity V based on the shape of the bucket 23 and the shape of the soil mass. The shape of the bucket 23 is known and stored in the storage unit 507. Also, the shape of the soil mass is acquired by the soil surface information acquisition unit 64 (FIG. 1). When the soil quantity V is smaller than the soil quantity threshold value Vmin, since a sufficient magnitude of earth pressure load does not act on the bucket 23 from the soil mass, the accuracy of the estimated soil quality may decrease. In the present modified embodiment, from such a viewpoint, the magnitude of the soil quantity V is determined.

[0169] Furthermore, in step S47 of FIG. 16, the soil quality estimation unit 505 determines whether the number of data M acquired between step S44 and step S46 is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value Mmin. In the present modified embodiment, the soil quality estimation unit 505 sequentially estimates the soil quality at a predetermined time interval (for example, 10 times per 1 sec) using each parameter that changes moment by moment during the excavation of the bucket 23. The number of data M corresponds to the number of soil quality data acquired in this process. The threshold value Mmin is set to 50, for example. When the number of data M is smaller than the threshold value Mmin, as in the case where the operator presses the option button at short time intervals, the accuracy of the estimated soil quality may decrease. In the present modified embodiment, from such a viewpoint, the number of data M is determined. Note that the number of data M may be the number of other parameters used for the soil quality information acquisition process.

[0170] In step S47 of FIG. 16, when the above conditions are satisfied (YES in step S47), in the soil quality estimation area on the right side of the screen display in FIG. 17, a "success" lamp lights up. The soil quality estimation unit 505 displays the finally estimated soil quality information on the display unit 72 (FIG. 2). Specifically, in the soil quality estimation area of FIG. 17, information regarding the estimated soil quality is displayed in the part indicated by "current value". This information may be a numerical value, a characteristic, or a message. In this modified embodiment, the previously estimated soil quality information (past soil quality) is displayed as "previous value" below the "current value" (latest soil quality). Therefore, the operator can easily grasp the change in soil quality at the work site. Note that the display of "current value" and "previous value" may be historical information such as a graph.

[0171] Also, in step S47 of FIG. 16, when the above conditions are not satisfied (NO in step S47), in the soil quality estimation area on the right side of the screen display in FIG. 17, a "failure" lamp lights up. The operator recognizes the necessity of remeasurement based on this display (step S49). In this case, the operator may repeat the steps from step S41 and subsequent steps in FIG. 16 in the next excavation work.

[0172] As described above, in this modified embodiment, the soil quality estimation unit 505 determines the feasibility of soil quality estimation based on the soil volume V in the bucket 23. According to such a configuration, the estimation accuracy can be improved by displaying the final soil quality only when a certain amount of soil is in the bucket 23. Note that the above soil pressure estimation means estimating the final soil quality for display on the display unit 72. When it is determined that the soil quality estimation is impossible, any of the processes until the soil quality is displayed may be aborted.

[0173] Also, in this modified embodiment, since the soil quality estimation unit 505 calculates the soil volume based on the shape of the soil mass and the shape of the bucket 23, the soil volume V in the bucket 23 can be easily estimated.

[0174] In other embodiments, the soil property estimation unit 505 may determine whether soil property estimation is possible based on other characteristic values related to the magnitude of the earth pressure load. As an example, the characteristic value may be the ground height H in FIG. 9. Even in such a case, the estimation accuracy can be improved by executing the earth pressure estimation process only when the obtained earth pressure load is large to a certain extent. These features focus on the fact that the magnitude of the earth pressure load is related to the depth of the tip of the bucket 23 with respect to the ground G.

[0175] Also, in this modified embodiment, the soil property estimation unit 505 determines the soil property on the condition that the angle ψ of the bucket 23 is included in a preset estimation angle. According to such a configuration, the estimation accuracy can be improved by executing the soil property estimation process after setting the angle of the bucket 23 to a predetermined estimation angle.

[0176] When the flow shown in FIG. 16 is executed, the input unit 52 in FIG. 2 may receive a command for switching between the valid state and the invalid state. In this case, the valid state is a state in which the soil property estimation by the soil property estimation unit 505 is permitted, and the invalid state is a state in which the soil property estimation by the soil property estimation unit 505 is prohibited. The above command may be input by an operator or may be automatically input by the control unit 50 including the soil property estimation unit 505 based on a predetermined condition. According to such a configuration, it becomes possible to execute the soil property estimation process only when necessary, and unnecessary arithmetic processing can be prevented.

[0177] Also, the display unit 72 (FIG. 2) (status display unit) may be able to display the valid state and the invalid state. According to such a configuration, the operator can be notified of the current state in which soil property estimation is possible.

[0178] Furthermore, when the valid state and the invalid state are switched by the command input to the input unit 52, the storage unit 507 (soil storage unit) may store information regarding the previously estimated soil quality. According to such a configuration, it is possible to reliably save the necessary soil information when the state is switched. The functions of the input unit 52, the display unit 72, and the storage unit 507 as described above are also applicable to other embodiments.

[0179] In this modified embodiment, although the description has been given in the mode where the soil estimation process is executed after the operator adjusts the posture of the bucket 23 in steps S41 and S42 of FIG. 16, the soil estimation process may not be permitted unless the angle condition in step S42 is satisfied. As an example, the soil estimation unit 505 (state switching unit) may input a command corresponding to the valid state to the input unit 52 on the condition that the angle of the bucket 23 is included in a preset estimation angle. According to such a configuration, by setting the angle of the bucket 23 to a predetermined estimation angle and then executing the soil estimation process, the estimation accuracy can be improved. Also, when it is desired to estimate the soil quality with high accuracy, it is possible to avoid a situation where the operator starts the soil estimation process outside the estimation angle and cannot obtain the soil quality with the desired accuracy.

[0180] Also, as a condition for executing the soil estimation, the soil estimation unit 505 (angle request unit) may be provided with a function of positively requesting the operator for an angle setting as shown on the left side of FIG. 17. According to such a configuration, by the soil estimation unit 505 requesting the angle adjustment of the bucket 23, it is possible to reliably execute a highly accurate soil estimation process.

[0181] Also, in this modified embodiment, the soil property estimation unit 505 receives a predetermined estimation start signal (pressing of the option button), repeatedly estimates the soil property at a predetermined time interval to obtain a plurality of soil properties, and estimates the final soil property based on the plurality of soil properties. On the other hand, if the number (M) of the plurality of soil properties is less than a preset threshold value (Mmin) after the input of the estimation start signal, the soil property estimation unit 505 does not execute the estimation of the final soil property (step S47 in FIG. 16). According to such a configuration, it is possible to prevent an incorrect estimation result from being output when the number of data required for estimation has not been obtained.

[0182] Also, in this modified embodiment, as shown on the right side of FIG. 17, the display unit 72 (completion display unit) displays information regarding whether the estimation of the soil property by the soil property estimation unit 505 has been completed (success lamp, failure lamp). According to such a configuration, the operator can easily confirm the completion or non-completion of the soil property estimation process by checking the display unit 72.

[0183] <Fourth Modified Embodiment> FIG. 18 is a schematic diagram of the arithmetic processing executed by the soil property estimation unit in the construction machine according to the fourth modified embodiment of the present invention. In the previous embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, the machine load calculation unit 503 calculates the load (machine load, excavation resistance value PA) that the bucket 23 mechanically receives (calculation 1 in FIG. 3). On the other hand, the earth pressure load calculation unit 504 calculates the load (earth pressure load, excavation resistance value PB) acting on the bucket 23 by the soil excavated by the bucket 23 based on the earth pressure theory (calculation 2 in FIG. 3), and the soil property estimation unit 505 calculates the soil property information included in the excavation resistance value PB by assuming that the above two loads are equal to each other (calculation 3 in FIG. 3). And as the method of the calculation 3, three search methods were described in detail. In this modified embodiment, similarly to the above, the machine load calculation unit 503 calculates the load (machine load, excavation resistance value PA) that the bucket 23 mechanically receives (calculation 1 in FIGS. 3 and 18).

[0184] On the other hand, when the earth pressure load calculation unit 504 calculates the load (earth pressure load, excavation resistance value PB) acting on the bucket 23 by the soil excavated by the bucket 23 based on the earth pressure theory, calculation 2 is executed using three previously prepared soil type candidates (soil type 1, soil type 2, soil type 3). The calculations with reference to each soil type candidate are referred to as calculations 2-1, 2-2, and 2-3, and the obtained excavation resistance values are referred to as PB1, PB2, and PB3. As described in calculation 2 in the previous embodiment, as an example, the soil property information includes the internal friction angle φ and the cohesion c. Therefore, different values of the internal friction angle φ and the cohesion c are prepared for the information of each of soil type 1, soil type 2, and soil type 3. Here, the soil type estimation unit 505 obtains the absolute value of the deviation between PA calculated in calculation 1 and each PB, and selects, from among soil type 1, soil type 2, and soil type 3, the soil type that outputs the PB with the smallest value, in other words, the PB closest to PA, and determines it as the final estimated soil type X.

[0185] In addition, when data is acquired at predetermined time intervals while the bucket 23 is performing excavation as in the previous third modified embodiment, a plurality of calculation results can also be obtained for each of PB1, PB2, and PB3 in FIG. 18. In this case, the soil type estimation unit 505 may select, from among the integrated values of a plurality of |PA - PB1|, the integrated values of a plurality of |PA - PB2|, and the integrated values of a plurality of |PA - PB3|, the soil type with the minimum value from among soil type 1, soil type 2, and soil type 3, and determine it as the final estimated soil type X. At this time, the temporal integration range (integration interval) may be set corresponding to the time during which the bucket angle maintenance control in FIG. 16 is executed, or may be set based on the magnitude relationship between the detection result of each sensor (detection unit) and the threshold value set corresponding thereto.

[0186] As described above, in this modified embodiment, the soil property estimation unit 505 refers to a plurality of pre-prepared soil property candidates (soil property 1, soil property 2, soil property 3), and based on the machine load calculated by the machine load calculation unit 503 and the soil pressure load calculated by the soil pressure load calculation unit 504, determines one of the plurality of soil property candidates as the soil property at the work site. With such a configuration, the calculation load can be reduced by limiting the soil property that is the solution to a plurality of soil property candidates.

[0187] In particular, in this modified embodiment, the soil pressure load calculation unit 504 calculates a plurality of the soil pressure loads using the plurality of soil property candidates respectively, and the soil property estimation unit 505 determines the soil property candidate corresponding to the soil pressure load that is closest to the machine load calculated by the machine load calculation unit 503 from among the plurality of soil pressure loads as the soil property at the work site. With such a configuration, the optimal soil property can be accurately determined from among a plurality of soil property candidates.

[0188] <Fifth Modified Embodiment> FIG. 19 is a schematic diagram of the calculation process executed by the soil pressure load calculation unit in the construction machine according to the fifth modified embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 20 is a partial flowchart of the soil property information acquisition process executed in the construction machine according to this modified embodiment. FIG. 21 is a side view of the construction machine according to this modified embodiment when executing the soil property information acquisition process. FIG. 22 is a schematic diagram for explaining the ground height in the soil property information acquisition process executed in the construction machine according to this modified embodiment.

[0189] This modified embodiment is characterized by the method for calculating the ground height H (the distance in the vertical direction between the tip of the bucket 23 and the soil surface: see FIG. 9) referred to in calculation 2. Specifically, even when the body of the hydraulic excavator 1 is inclined with respect to the horizontal plane as shown in FIG. 21, the ground height H can be accurately calculated.

[0190] In performing Calculation 2, the earth pressure load calculation unit 504 acquires each cylinder stroke, the machine body angle, the ground surface information, etc. in the same manner as in step S1 of FIG. 4 (step S51 in FIG. 20). At this time, the acquired ground surface information is based on the ground surface and does not depend on the machine body angle. In FIG. 22, the information on the ground surface acquired by the ground surface information acquisition unit 64 (FIG. 1) composed of LIDAR is illustrated at a plurality of measurement points Dg.

[0191] Next, the bucket position calculation unit 502 calculates the tip position of the bucket 23 (bucket tip position) and the tip position of the arm 22 (arm tip position: connection portion CB1 in FIG. 22) respectively (step S52). Further, the bucket position calculation unit 502 draws an arc RC passing through the tip of the bucket 23 with the tip position of the arm 22 as the center (calculates the formula of the arc) (step S53). Then, the bucket position calculation unit 502 calculates the position of the intersection point Pi between the arc RC and the ground surface (a plurality of Dg) (step S54). Further, the bucket position calculation unit 502 calculates the distance between the horizontal line passing through the tip of the bucket 23 and the intersection point Pi as the ground height H (step S55).

[0192] As described above, in this modified embodiment, even when the machine body of the hydraulic excavator 1 is inclined with respect to the horizontal plane, the ground height H can be accurately obtained by associating the relative positional relationship between the ground surface information and the bucket 23 by the arc RC.

[0193] <Other Modified Embodiments> In addition, in each of the above embodiments, when the soil quality estimation unit 505 cannot temporarily estimate and acquire the soil quality information due to some reasons, the output characteristics of the hydraulic excavator 1 may be set using the information on the ground hardness measured in advance at the work site with a penetration tester or the like. In this case, the above information on the ground hardness is stored in the storage unit 507, and the output characteristic setting unit 506 may refer to this information. According to such a configuration, the output characteristics of the hydraulic excavator 1 can be appropriately set by utilizing the results of the ground inspection performed in advance at the work site.

[0194] Furthermore, the storage unit 507 stores a plurality of ground materials in advance, information regarding the plurality of ground materials is displayed on the display unit 72, and when the operator selects the ground material corresponding to the current work site, the output characteristic setting unit 506 may select and set the output characteristics of the hydraulic excavator 1 associated with the selected ground material. According to such a configuration, in a site where excavation work is started without performing a ground investigation, such as at a raw material excavation site, the output characteristics can be easily set. Examples of the ground material include sand, sandy soil, gravel, cohesive soil, and the like.

[0195] Also, when the ground surface information acquisition unit 64 (Fig. 2) includes a camera, based on an image captured by the camera or the like, the output characteristic setting unit 506 may recognize the surrounding ground material and select and set the output characteristics of the hydraulic excavator 1 associated with the ground material. In this case, the ground material and soil quality may be estimated according to, for example, the size of soil particles included in the image and the moisture content estimated from the color of the soil, or the ground material and soil quality may be estimated from the similarity with a comparison image stored in the storage unit 507 in advance. According to such a configuration, the labor of the operator selecting the ground material can be saved, and incorrect setting of the output characteristics due to incorrect selection can be prevented. Also, the output characteristics of the hydraulic excavator 1 can be appropriately set even at a work site where the operator is absent, such as in the automatic operation of the hydraulic excavator 1.

[0196] Note that when soil quality information is stored in the storage unit 507 of the hydraulic excavator 1 or the server-side storage unit 903 of the server 90 as in each of the above embodiments, the output characteristics of the hydraulic excavator 1 may be set using the information. When the soil quality information is old information, the soil quality estimation unit 505 may estimate the latest soil quality information. Also, when working at a position not included in the relationship (map information) between the position information and the soil quality information stored in each storage unit, appropriate output characteristics can be set by acquiring the latest soil quality information (adding map information).

[0197] Further, the server-side storage unit 903 of the server 90 may store different output characteristic information according to the model and characteristics of the hydraulic excavator 1 even for the same soil information. In this case, when the soil information acquired by the hydraulic excavator 1A in FIG. 14 is transmitted to the server 90, the server 90 can select output characteristics suitable for the hydraulic excavator 1B while corresponding to the soil information and transmit them to the hydraulic excavator 1B. Therefore, even when a plurality of hydraulic excavators 1 of different models perform work at the same work site, it is possible to set appropriate output characteristics for each hydraulic excavator 1 while sharing the soil information.

[0198] Note that the hydraulic excavator 1 and the server 90 as described above constitute the construction machine management system of the present invention. Here, the construction machine management system can have the following aspects.

[0199] First, the construction machine management system includes the hydraulic excavator 1 described above and a server 90 disposed at a position away from the hydraulic excavator 1 and capable of transmitting and receiving information on the soil between the server 90 and the hydraulic excavator 1.

[0200] According to such a configuration, by the server 90 managing the soil information acquired by the hydraulic excavator 1, the soil information can be shared with other hydraulic excavators. At this time, even when other hydraulic excavators do not have a soil estimation unit 505 like the hydraulic excavator 1, efficient work can be performed using the soil information.

[0201] Second, in the above construction machine management system, the hydraulic excavator 1 further includes a main body position information acquisition unit 63 that acquires position information of the machine body at the work site, and a transmission unit 73 (machine body side transmission unit) capable of transmitting the position information and the soil information to the server 90. The server 90 has a server-side reception unit 901 capable of receiving the position information and the soil information transmitted by the transmission unit 73, and a server-side storage unit 903 that stores the position information and the soil information in association with each other.

[0202] According to such a configuration, by the server 90 managing the soil information and the position information acquired by the hydraulic excavator 1 in association with each other, other hydraulic excavators can share the soil information and the position information.

[0203] Thirdly, in the above construction machine management system, the drive unit 71 can receive a predetermined command signal and drive the work attachment 20 based on the output characteristics corresponding to the command signal. Further, the hydraulic excavator 1 further includes a main body position information acquisition unit 63 that acquires the position information of the machine body at the work site, a transmission unit 73 that can transmit the position information to the server 90, and a reception unit 74 (machine body side reception unit) that can receive the information transmitted from the server 90. Further, the server 90 includes a server side storage unit 903 that stores the position information, the soil information, and the output characteristic information in association with each other, a server side reception unit 901 that can receive the position information transmitted by the transmission unit 73, a server side output characteristic setting unit 902 that sets a predetermined output characteristic from the server side storage unit 903 according to the position information received by the server side reception unit 901, and a server side transmission unit 904 that transmits the command signal corresponding to the set output characteristic to the hydraulic excavator 1.

[0204] According to such a configuration, when the hydraulic excavator 1 acquires the position information and the soil information during work, the server 90 can set suitable output characteristics according to the information and transmit a command signal to the hydraulic excavator 1. Therefore, the hydraulic excavator 1 is adjusted to appropriate output characteristics according to the surrounding soil information while performing work at the work site.

[0205] Fourthly, in the above construction machine management system, the drive unit 71 can receive a predetermined command signal and drive the work attachment 20 based on the output characteristics corresponding to the command signal. Further, the hydraulic excavator 1 further includes a transmission unit 73 capable of transmitting the soil information to the server 90 and a reception unit 74 capable of receiving the information transmitted from the server 90. Further, the server 90 includes a server-side storage unit 903 that stores the soil information and the output characteristic information in association with each other, a server-side reception unit 901 capable of receiving the soil information transmitted by the transmission unit 73, and a server-side output characteristic setting unit 902 that sets a predetermined output characteristic from the server-side storage unit 903 according to the soil information received by the server-side reception unit 901, and a server-side transmission unit 904 that transmits the command signal corresponding to the set output characteristic to the hydraulic excavator 1.

[0206] According to such a configuration, when the hydraulic excavator 1 acquires the soil information during work, the server 90 can set suitable output characteristics according to the information and transmit a command signal to the hydraulic excavator 1. For this reason, the hydraulic excavator 1 is adjusted to appropriate output characteristics according to the information of the surrounding soil while performing work at the work site.

[0207] In the description of each of the above embodiments, the structures and functions shown in one embodiment are also applicable to other embodiments.

Explanation of reference numerals

[0208] 1 Hydraulic excavator 10 Lower traveling body 12 Upper slewing body 121 Slew frame 13 Cab 20 Work attachment 21 Boom (lifting body) 21S Boom cylinder (lifting body cylinder) 22 Arm (lifting body) 22S Arm cylinder (lifting body cylinder) 23 Bucket 23S Bucket Cylinder 50 Control Unit 501 Drive Control Unit 502 Bucket Position Calculation Unit (Attitude Information Acquisition Unit) 503 Machine Load Calculation Unit 504 Earth Pressure Load Calculation Unit 505 Soil Property Estimation Unit (Angle Requirement Unit, State Switching Unit) 506 Output Characteristic Setting Unit 507 Memory Unit (Soil Property Memory Unit) 51 Operation Unit 52 Input Unit 61 Cylinder Pressure Sensor (Drive Load Information Acquisition Unit) 611 First Load Cell (Load Sensor) 612 Second Load Cell (Load Sensor) 62 Cylinder Stroke Sensor (Cylinder Length Detection Unit) 63 Body Position Information Acquisition Unit (Position Information Acquisition Unit) 64 Soil Surface Information Acquisition Unit 65 IMU (Aircraft Tilt Detection Unit) 71 Drive Unit 72 Display Unit (Status Display Unit, Bucket Angle Display Unit, Completion Display Unit) 73 Transmission Unit (Aircraft Side Transmission Unit) 74 Reception Unit (Aircraft Side Reception Unit) 90 Server 901 Server Side Reception Unit 902 Server Side Output Characteristic Setting Unit 903 Server Side Memory Unit 904 Server Side Transmission Unit G Ground

Claims

1. An aircraft including a traveling unit capable of traveling on the ground, a working attachment having a undulating body supported by the aircraft so as to be rotatable in the undulating direction with respect to the aircraft, and a bucket rotatably supported at the tip of the undulating body, a drive unit capable of driving the working attachment so that the bucket excavates the ground, an attitude information acquisition unit that acquires attitude information which is information regarding the relative attitude of the working attachment with respect to the ground, a drive load information acquisition unit that acquires drive load information which is information regarding the load received by the drive unit as the bucket excavates the ground, a mechanical load calculation unit that calculates a mechanical load, which is the load received by the bucket from the earth and sand, from the attitude information acquired by the attitude information acquisition unit and the drive load information acquired by the drive load information acquisition unit as the bucket excavates the ground, an earth pressure load calculation unit that calculates, based on the earth pressure theory, an earth pressure load, which is the load applied to the bucket by an earth mass composed of earth dammed up by the bucket, from the shape of the earth mass, the attitude information acquired by the attitude information acquisition unit, the shape of the bucket, the density of the earth, and the wall friction angle between the earth and the bucket as the bucket excavates the ground, a soil quality estimation unit that estimates the soil quality of the soil at the work site based on the mechanical load calculated by the mechanical load calculation unit and the earth pressure load calculated by the earth pressure load calculation unit, A construction machine comprising the above.

2. The construction machine according to claim 1, wherein the soil quality estimation unit estimates the internal friction angle and the cohesion of the soil at the work site as the soil quality, assuming that the mechanical load and the earth pressure load acting on the bucket match each other.

3. The drive unit includes a hydraulic undulating body cylinder that expands and contracts to rotate the undulating body, a hydraulic bucket cylinder that expands and contracts to rotate the bucket, and further includes a cylinder length detection unit capable of detecting the length of the undulating body cylinder and the length of the bucket cylinder respectively, The construction machine according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the attitude information acquisition unit acquires the attitude information by calculating the attitude of the working attachment based on the lengths of the undulating body cylinder and the bucket cylinder detected by the cylinder length detection unit.

4. ​ An angle detection unit is further provided which is capable of detecting a relative angle of the undulating body with respect to the aircraft body and a relative angle of the bucket with respect to the undulating body, 3. The construction machine according to claim 1, wherein the posture information acquisition unit acquires the posture information by calculating the posture of the work attachment based on at least the relative angle of the undulating body and the relative angle of the bucket detected by the angle detection unit.

5. further comprising an aircraft tilt detection unit capable of detecting the tilt of the aircraft relative to a horizontal plane; 5. The construction machine according to claim 4, wherein the attitude information acquisition unit acquires the attitude information by calculating the attitude of the work attachment based on the relative angle of the undulating body detected by the angle detection unit, the relative angle of the bucket, and the inclination of the machine body detected by the machine body inclination detection unit.

6. The drive unit is a hydraulic elevation body cylinder that expands and contracts to rotate the elevation body; a hydraulic bucket cylinder that extends and retracts to rotate the bucket; Including, The bucket cylinder pressure detecting unit may further include a cylinder pressure detecting unit capable of detecting the pressure of the bucket cylinder.

6. The construction machine according to claim 1, wherein the driving load information acquisition unit acquires the driving load information by calculating a load applied to the drive unit based on the pressure of the bucket cylinder detected by the cylinder pressure detection unit.

7. a load sensor disposed at a tip of the elevation body and capable of detecting a load acting on the bucket; 6. The construction machine according to claim 1, wherein the drive load information acquisition unit acquires the drive load information by calculating the load received by the drive unit based on the load acting on the bucket detected by the load sensor.

8. a display unit that receives a predetermined display command signal and displays information to be notified to an operator in response to the display command signal; The construction machine according to claim 1 , wherein the soil type estimation unit inputs the display command signal corresponding to the estimated soil type to the display unit.

9. The construction machine according to claim 8 , wherein the display unit is capable of displaying the latest soil type estimated by the soil type estimation unit and past soil types.

10. Further, a position information acquisition unit is provided to acquire position information of the machine at a work site, The construction machine according to claim 8 or 9, wherein the soil property estimation unit inputs the display command signal in which the estimated soil property and the position information acquired by the position information acquisition unit are associated with each other to the display unit.

11. The construction machine according to claim 10, wherein the display unit is further capable of displaying map information at a work site, and the soil property estimated by the soil property estimation unit and the position information acquired by the position information acquisition unit are displayed in association with each other on the map information.

12. The drive unit can receive a predetermined command signal and drive the work attachment based on an output characteristic corresponding to the command signal, The construction machine according to any one of claims 1 to 11, further comprising an output characteristic setting unit that inputs a command signal to the drive unit so as to adjust the output characteristic according to the soil property acquired by the soil property estimation unit.

13. The construction machine according to any one of claims 1 to 12, wherein the soil property estimation unit determines whether the soil property can be estimated based on a characteristic value related to the magnitude of the earth pressure load.

14. The construction machine according to claim 13, wherein the characteristic value is the amount of soil in the bucket.

15. The construction machine according to claim 14, wherein the soil property estimation unit calculates the amount of soil based on the shape of the soil mass and the shape of the bucket.

16. The construction machine according to any one of claims 1 to 15, wherein the soil property estimation unit determines the soil property on the condition that the angle of the bucket is included in a preset estimation angle.

17. The construction machine according to any one of claims 1 to 16, wherein the soil property estimation unit refers to a plurality of prepared soil property candidates, and based on the machine load calculated by the machine load calculation unit and the earth pressure load calculated by the earth pressure load calculation unit, determines one of the plurality of soil property candidates as the soil property at the work site.

18. The earth pressure load calculation unit calculates a plurality of the earth pressure loads using the plurality of soil property candidates respectively, The construction machine according to claim 17, wherein the soil property estimation unit determines, as the soil property at the work site, the soil property candidate corresponding to the earth pressure load closest to the machine load calculated by the machine load calculation unit among the plurality of the earth pressure loads.

19. The construction machine further comprises an input unit that receives a command for switching between an effective state and an ineffective state. The effective state is a state in which the estimation of the soil quality by the soil quality estimation unit is permitted, and the invalid state is a state in which the estimation of the soil quality by the soil quality estimation unit is prohibited. The construction machine according to any one of claims 1 to 18.

20. When the effective state and the invalid state are switched by the command input to the input unit, the construction machine according to claim 19, further comprising a soil quality storage unit that stores information regarding the previously estimated soil quality.

21. The construction machine according to claim 19 or 20, further comprising a state display unit capable of displaying the effective state and the invalid state.

22. The construction machine according to any one of claims 19 to 21, further comprising a state switching unit that inputs a command corresponding to the effective state to the input unit on the condition that the angle of the bucket is included in a preset estimation angle.

23. The construction machine according to claim 22, further comprising an angle requirement unit that requires that the angle of the bucket be included in the estimation angle as a condition for the soil quality estimation unit to execute the estimation of the soil quality.

24. The construction machine according to claim 22 or 23, further comprising a bucket angle display unit capable of displaying the estimation angle and the current angle of the bucket.

25. The soil quality estimation unit receives a predetermined estimation start signal and repeatedly estimates the soil quality at predetermined time intervals to obtain a plurality of soil qualities, and estimates the final soil quality based on the plurality of soil qualities. After the input of the estimation start signal, if the number of the plurality of soil qualities is less than a preset threshold value, the estimation of the final soil quality is not executed. The construction machine according to any one of claims 1 to 24.

26. The construction machine according to any one of claims 1 to 25, further comprising a completion display unit that displays information regarding whether the estimation of the soil quality by the soil quality estimation unit has been completed.

27. The construction machine according to any one of claims 1 to 26, A server disposed at a position away from the construction machine and capable of transmitting and receiving soil quality information to and from the construction machine, A construction machine management system comprising:

28. The construction machine is A position information acquisition unit that acquires position information of the machine body at a work site, An aircraft-side transmission unit capable of transmitting the position information and the soil quality information to the server, Further comprising, The server is a server-side receiving unit capable of receiving the location information and the soil type information transmitted by the aircraft-side transmitting unit; a server-side storage unit that stores the location information and the soil type information in association with each other; The construction machine management system according to claim 27, comprising:

29. the drive unit is capable of receiving a predetermined command signal and driving the work attachment based on an output characteristic corresponding to the command signal, The construction machine is a position information acquisition unit that acquires position information of the machine at a work site; an aircraft-side transmitter capable of transmitting the location information to the server; an aircraft side receiving unit capable of receiving information transmitted from the server; Further provided with The server a server-side storage unit that stores the location information, the soil type information, and the output characteristic information in association with each other; a server-side receiving unit capable of receiving the location information transmitted by the aircraft-side transmitting unit; a server-side output characteristic setting unit that sets predetermined output characteristics from the server-side storage unit in accordance with the location information received by the server-side receiving unit; a server-side transmitting unit that transmits the command signal corresponding to the set output characteristics to the construction machine; The construction machine management system according to claim 27, comprising:

30. the drive unit is capable of receiving a predetermined command signal and driving the work attachment based on an output characteristic corresponding to the command signal, The construction machine is an aircraft-side transmitter capable of transmitting the soil type information to the server; an aircraft side receiving unit capable of receiving information transmitted from the server; Further provided with The server a server-side storage unit that stores the soil information and the output characteristic information in association with each other; a server-side receiving unit capable of receiving the soil type information transmitted by the aircraft-side transmitting unit; a server-side output characteristic setting unit that sets predetermined output characteristics from the server-side storage unit in accordance with the soil type information received by the server-side receiving unit; a server-side transmitting unit that transmits the command signal corresponding to the set output characteristics to the construction machine; The construction machine management system according to claim 27, comprising:

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