Site Traversability Sensing for Soft Ground Equipment Routing
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Large machinery used in farming and construction often faces issues with traversability due to site conditions such as soft soil, which can lead to equipment getting stuck and site damage, impacting operations and profitability.
Innovation Solution
A system that uses real-time and historical data on site conditions, including soil properties, weather, and equipment specifications to generate traversability maps, allowing operators to identify safe paths and schedule appropriate equipment for tasks, thereby preventing equipment damage and optimizing site use.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If machine size and weight are increased to improve productivity, then productivity is improved, but the risk of getting stuck in soft ground increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary assessment of site conditions using soil data, weather data, and terrain data before equipment arrives. Traversability maps are generated in advance to identify suitable paths and areas, allowing operators to plan routes that avoid soft or problematic ground conditions before the heavy equipment needs to traverse them.
Solution Approach 2:
The traversability determination system acts as an intermediary between the heavy equipment and the site conditions. It processes multiple data sources (soil properties, weather forecasts, terrain information) and translates them into actionable traversability assessments and path recommendations, mediating the interaction between the equipment and potentially harmful site conditions.
2Measurement precision
If real-time site condition monitoring is implemented to improve traversability assessment, then traversability assessment accuracy is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system integrates multiple data collection and processing functions into a single traversability determination platform. It handles soil data acquisition, weather data integration, terrain analysis, and traversability map generation through one unified system, reducing the need for separate specialized devices while maintaining comprehensive monitoring capabilities.
Solution Approach 2:
The system creates digital representations (traversability maps) of the physical site conditions based on collected data. These digital models copy the essential traversability characteristics of the terrain, allowing operators to assess conditions and plan routes without physically exploring or disturbing the site, thereby improving assessment accuracy without proportional increases in physical device complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
One or more techniques and/or systems are disclosed for identifying traversability of a site. Site conditions of a target site affecting traversability can be identified using real-time or historical data. Soil conditions, weather conditions, moisture levels, and other factors may be used to determine whether a target site is traversable by a target piece of equipment. The traversability information can be identified for a target area, that comprises a target site, and a traversability map can be generated for the site. Target equipment specifications can be used to determine whether the target equipment may effectively traverse the target site based on the traversability map. Further, a traversability path may be generated for a piece of target equipment based on the traversability map, site conditions, and the equipment specifications. Additionally, site management may be enhanced using the site condition data to plan traversability of target equipment at the target site.