Skip to main content

Iterative Autonomous Excavation

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Field and Service Robotics

Part of the book series: Springer Tracts in Advanced Robotics ((STAR,volume 92))

Abstract

This paper introduces a Cartesian impedance control framework in which reaction forces exceeding control authority directly reshape bucket motion during successive excavation passes. This novel approach to excavation results in an iterative process that does not require explicit prediction of terrain forces. This is in contrast to most excavation control approaches that are based on the generation, tracking and re-planning of single-pass tasks where the performance is limited by the accuracy of the prediction. In this view, a final trench profile is achieved iteratively, provided that the forces generated by the excavator are capable of removing some minimum amount of soil, maintaining convergence towards the goal. Field experiments show that a disturbance compensated controller is able to maintain convergence, and that a 2-DOF feedforward controller based on free motion inverse dynamics may not converge due to limited feedback gains.

S. P. N. Singh is now at the The University of Queensland.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    Forward simulation is used in [16] to pre-cache feedforward commands because it allows the inclusion of soil-tool interaction models in the simulator. Since this work does not make use of a soil-tool model, computation of the inverse dynamics of the arm only is more efficient for obtaining the same required free motion actions.

References

  1. A. Albu-Schaffer, O. Eiberger, M. Grebenstein, S. Haddadin, C. Ott, T. Wimbock, S. Wolf, G. Hirzinger, Soft robotics. IEEE Robot. Autom. Mag. 15(3), 20–30 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. S. Blouin, A. Hemami, M. Lipsett, Review of resistive force models for earthmoving processes. J. Aerosp. Eng. 14, 102 (2001)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. D. Bradley, D. Seward, The development, control and operation of an autonomous robotic excavator. J. Intell. Rob. Syst. 21(1), 73–97 (1998)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. H. Cannon, S. Singh, Models for automated earthmoving. in Lecture Notes in Control and Information Sciences—International Symposium Experimental Robotics (ISER), (Springer, 2000), pp. 163–172

    Google Scholar 

  5. M. Dunbabin, P. Corke, Autonomous excavation using a rope shovel. J. Field Robot. 23(6–7), 379–394 (2006)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. J. Fielke, T. Riley, The universal earthmoving equation applied to chisel plough wings. J. Terrramech. 28(1), 11–19 (1991)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. C. Gallo, R. Wilkinson, R. Mueller, J. Schuler, A. Nick, Comparison of ISRU excavation system model blade force methodology and experimental results. in American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), (Aerospace Sciences Meetings, 2009)

    Google Scholar 

  8. Q. Ha, A. Bonchis, D. Rye, H. Durrant-Whyte, Variable structure systems approach to friction estimation and compensation. in Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), vol. 4 (2000), pp. 3543–3548

    Google Scholar 

  9. Q. Ha, M. Santos, Q. Nguyen, D. Rye, H. Durrant-Whyte, Robotic excavation in construction automation. IEEE Robot. Autom. Mag. 9(1), 20–28 (2002)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. A. Hemami, Study of bucket trajectory in automatic scooping with load-haul-dump loaders. Trans. Inst. Min. Metall., Sect. A 102, 37–42 (1993)

    Google Scholar 

  11. N. Hogan, Impedance control: an approach to manipulation. in American Control Conference, (IEEE, 1984), pp. 304–313

    Google Scholar 

  12. M. Kalakrishnan, J. Buchli, P. Pastor, M. Mistry, S. Schaal, Learning, planning, and control for quadruped locomotion over challenging terrain. Int. J. Robot. Res. 30(2), 236 (2011)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. O. Khatib, A unified approach for motion and force control of robot manipulators: the operational space formulation. IEEE J. Robot. Autom. 3(1), 43–53 (1987)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. J. Kuśmierczyk, J. Szlagowski, Automated excavation process analysis for given trajectory and soil parameters. in International Symposium on Automation and Robotics in Construction (ISARC), (2008), pp. 95–99

    Google Scholar 

  15. O. Luengo, S. Singh, H. Cannon, Modeling and identification of soil-tool interaction in automated excavation. in Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), vol. 3 (IEEE, 1998), pp. 1900–1906

    Google Scholar 

  16. G. Maeda, S. Singh, D. Rye, Improving operational space control of heavy manipulators via open-loop compensation. in Proceedings of the IEEE/RSJ International Conferencen on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), (2011), pp. 725–731

    Google Scholar 

  17. J. Marshall, P. Murphy, L. Daneshmend, Toward autonomous excavation of fragmented rock: full-scale experiments. IEEE Trans. Autom. Sci. Eng. 5(3), 562–566 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. F. Petit, A. Albu-Schaffer, Cartesian impedance control for a variable stiffness robot arm. in Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), (2011), pp. 4180–4186

    Google Scholar 

  19. A. Reece, The fundamental equation of earth-moving mechanics. Proc. Inst. Mech. Eng. 179, 16–22 (1964)

    Google Scholar 

  20. W. Richardson-Little, C. Damaren, Position accommodation and compliance control for robotic excavation. J. Aerosp. Eng. 21, 27 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. S. Salcudean, S. Tafazoli, P. Lawrence, I. Chau, Impedance control of a teleoperated mini excavator. in Proceedings of the 8th IEEE International Conference on Advanced Robotics, (Citeseer, 1997)

    Google Scholar 

  22. X. Shi, P. Lever, F. Wang, Experimental robotic excavation with fuzzy logic and neuralnetworks. in Proceedings of IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, vol. 1 (1996)

    Google Scholar 

  23. S. Singh, Learning to predict resistive forces during robotic excavation. in Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, vol. 2 (1995), pp. 2102–2107

    Google Scholar 

  24. S. Vahed, K. Althoefer, L. Seneviratne, X. Song, J. Dai, H. Lam, Soil estimation based on dissipation energy during autonomous excavation. in Proceedings of the 17th International Federation of Automatic Control (IFAC), (World Congress, 2008)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Pak Hung (Victor) Chan for his support with the experimental platform and Javier Martinez and Seong Ho Lee for their assistance during experiments. This work was supported by the Rio Tinto Centre for Mine Automation and the Australian Centre for Field Robotics funded in part by the New South Wales State Government.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Guilherme J. Maeda .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Maeda, G.J., Rye, D.C., Singh, S.P.N. (2014). Iterative Autonomous Excavation. In: Yoshida, K., Tadokoro, S. (eds) Field and Service Robotics. Springer Tracts in Advanced Robotics, vol 92. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-40686-7_25

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-40686-7_25

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-40685-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-40686-7

  • eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics