Design of a Database-Driven Excavation Assist Controller Based on the Velocity of the Center-of-Mass for a Hydraulic Excavator

In recent years, the working population in the construction industry has been declining. However, the number of construction works projects is increasing because of the increase in development and infrastructure maintenance. Therefore, it is necessary to meet this increasing demand with limited resources. Productivity at construction sites is significantly improved through the extensive use of hydraulic excavators. However, productivity is affected by the skill of excavator operator. In addition, it is difficult and time-consuming to learn the operation of the machines required to achieve an efficient level of work. Therefore, novice operators need support to achieve high productivity. In this study, the behavior of the combined center-of-mass of the excavator attachment as an index that expresses the difference in operating characteristics of operators for hydraulic excavators is focused. In addition, a control system that assists the operation in excavation work based on the velocity of the combined center-of-mass of the attachment is proposed. Furthermore, the database-driven control is applied to correspond to the nonlinear characteristics of a hydraulic excavator. The proposed method is implemented on a hydraulic excavator and its effectiveness is verified.