Dual-Sensor Heading Control for Material Moving Machines
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Solution Overview
Problem
Material moving machines, such as excavators, face challenges in determining accurate position and heading, especially when sensors fail, leading to disruptions in operation and reduced precision during tramming and working positions.
Innovation Solution
A dual-sensor position sensor system with a master and slave position sensor, integrated with a control architecture that includes a drive sensor, navigation system, and architecture controller, which determines the center of rotation and prioritizes headings to generate machine headings, ensuring seamless operation even when one sensor is operational.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a single position sensor is used to determine machine position and heading, then the system is simple, but the operation is disrupted when the sensor fails
Solution Approach 1:
The system divides the position sensing function into two independent sensors (master and slave), each capable of independently determining machine position and heading. This segmentation allows the system to maintain operation by switching to the slave sensor when the master sensor fails, thereby improving reliability without requiring a completely redundant system.
Solution Approach 2:
The system prepares for sensor failure by having the slave sensor continuously ready to take over from the master sensor. The control architecture is designed in advance to handle sensor failures, allowing seamless transition without disrupting machine operation. This beforehand preparation ensures that sensor failure does not halt production.
2Reliability
If dual sensors are used to ensure continuous operation, then reliability improves, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The master and slave position sensors are integrated into a unified control architecture that manages both sensors through a single heading generation process. The system merges the functionality of two sensors into one coherent system that automatically selects and uses the operational sensor, reducing the effective complexity compared to having two completely independent systems.
Solution Approach 2:
Both the master and slave sensors serve the same universal function of determining machine position and heading. The control architecture is designed to accept input from either sensor and generate machine heading accordingly, making the system multi-functional in terms of sensor input sources while maintaining a single operational workflow.
3Productivity
If the system switches between master and slave sensors, then operational continuity is maintained, but the control architecture complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements dynamic sensor selection where the control architecture can switch between master and slave sensors based on operational status. This dynamic capability allows the system to adapt to sensor failures in real-time, maintaining operational continuity. The switching logic is integrated into the existing heading generation process, minimizing additional complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
A material moving machine includes a chassis, a dual-sensor position sensor system including a master and a slave, and a controller. The master and the slave are each configured to generate independent position signals representing a machine position. The controller is programmed to determine whether the machine is tramming, determine whether the master and the slave are operational, determine a center of rotation (COR) of the chassis when the machine is not tramming, and determine heading(s) based on a pair selected from the COR, an operational master, and an operational slave. The controller is further programmed to determine a prioritized heading based on at least one of the operational master and the operational slave and based on an order of priority that ranks the heading(s), use the prioritized heading to generate the machine heading when the machine is not tramming, and operate the machine based on the machine heading.