Excavation Bucket Volume Sensing in Autonomous Earthmoving
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current excavation methods rely heavily on manual operators, leading to high costs, extended project durations, and increased risk of human error due to labor shortages and the inability to operate excavation vehicles at night.
Innovation Solution
An autonomous or semi-autonomous excavation system equipped with sensors that navigate and control excavation vehicles, allowing for the creation of digital terrain models and target tool paths to efficiently excavate earth without manual intervention.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If manual operators are used to operate excavation vehicles, then human control and decision-making are available, but labor costs increase, project duration extends, and human error risk increases
Solution Approach 1:
The excavation vehicle is equipped with sensors, processors, and control systems that enable it to autonomously perform excavation tasks without continuous human intervention. The system self-monitors its operations, self-navigates to target locations, and self-adjusts excavation parameters based on real-time sensor data, thereby reducing human error while managing complexity through integrated automation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces manual mechanical operation with an automated control system that uses sensors (optical, acoustic, electromagnetic), processors, and electronic actuators. This substitution eliminates human physical intervention while maintaining precise control over excavation operations, addressing reliability concerns without proportionally increasing operational complexity.
2Productivity
If manual operators are required for excavation vehicles, then operational flexibility and adaptability are maintained, but labor costs and project duration increase
Solution Approach 1:
The excavation vehicle autonomously performs navigation, excavation, and monitoring functions through integrated sensors and control systems. This self-service capability eliminates the need for manual operators, thereby increasing productivity through continuous operation without breaks or shifts, while the automated system manages operational complexity internally.
Solution Approach 2:
The automated excavation system enables continuous operation without the limitations of human work schedules, fatigue, or breaks. The vehicle can operate continuously to excavate earth, maintaining productive action throughout the project duration while the automated control system handles operational decisions, thus improving productivity without compromising ease of operation through integration.
3Duration of action of moving object
If excavation vehicles operate during daylight only with manual operators, then operational safety is maintained, but project duration extends
Solution Approach 1:
The automated excavation vehicle can operate continuously without interruption by daylight constraints, enabling night operations and extending productive action beyond traditional working hours. This continuity significantly reduces project duration while the automated safety systems (sensors, processors, control algorithms) maintain operational safety without human intervention, resolving the contradiction between duration and safety.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces human operators with automated control systems that use sensors and processors to monitor and control excavation operations. This substitution eliminates the need for daylight-dependent human vision and reaction, enabling safe night operations and continuous work that reduces project duration while maintaining safety through electronic monitoring and control.
4Manufacturing precision
If skilled labor is required to operate excavation vehicles, then operational quality is maintained, but labor availability becomes insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The excavation vehicle autonomously performs precise excavation tasks using integrated sensors, processors, and control systems that eliminate the need for skilled human operators. The system self-adjusts to maintain excavation quality through real-time monitoring and automated control, thereby ensuring manufacturing precision while making the operation independent of labor availability constraints.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces skilled human operators with automated control systems that use sensors and algorithms to maintain precise excavation quality. This substitution eliminates the bottleneck of skilled labor availability while the electronic control systems provide consistent, repeatable precision that matches or exceeds human capability, resolving the contradiction between quality and labor availability.
Data Source
AI summary
This description provides an autonomous or semi-autonomous excavation vehicle that is capable of navigating through a dig site and carrying out an excavation routine using a system of sensors physically mounted to the excavation vehicle. The sensors collects any one or more of spatial, imaging, measurement, and location data representing the status of the excavation vehicle and its surrounding environment. Based on the collected data, the excavation vehicle executes instructions to carry out an excavation routine. The excavation vehicle is also able to carry out numerous other tasks, such as checking the volume of excavated earth in an excavation tool, and helping prepare a digital terrain model of the site as part of a process for creating the excavation routine.