Automated excavation machine
First Claim
Patent Images
1. An excavator, comprising:
- a boom;
a cutter head, mounted on the boom, for excavating in situ material;
a body, wherein the boom is rotatably mounted on the body;
a plurality of grippers operable to apply pressure against opposing surfaces of an excavation to hold the body in a selected position and orientation, wherein the boom axis of rotation is at least substantially parallel to a direction of movement of at least one of the grippers; and
a control system operable to effect operation of the excavator in a manual mode in which an operator controls operation of the boom and cutter head and the plurality of grippers and an automatic mode in which the control system controls operation of the boom and cutter head and the plurality of grippers.
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Abstract
The present invention is directed to an excavator that is operable in manual and automatic modes and uses state machines to effect unit operations, rotationally offset swing actuators to rotate boom and cutter head, a fail safe hydraulic system to maintain gripper pressure in the event of a malfunction of the hydraulic system, differing position and pressure control functions in the hydraulic actuators, a kinematic module to effect pitch and roll adjustments, a cutting face profile generator to generate a profile of the excavation face, and an optimization module to realize a high degree of optimization of excavator operation.
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Citations
74 Claims
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1. An excavator, comprising:
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a boom;
a cutter head, mounted on the boom, for excavating in situ material;
a body, wherein the boom is rotatably mounted on the body;
a plurality of grippers operable to apply pressure against opposing surfaces of an excavation to hold the body in a selected position and orientation, wherein the boom axis of rotation is at least substantially parallel to a direction of movement of at least one of the grippers; and
a control system operable to effect operation of the excavator in a manual mode in which an operator controls operation of the boom and cutter head and the plurality of grippers and an automatic mode in which the control system controls operation of the boom and cutter head and the plurality of grippers. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38)
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39. An excavation method, comprising:
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providing an excavator, the excavator comprising a boom;
a cutter head, mounted on the boom, for excavating in situ material; and
a body, wherein the boom is rotatably mounted on the body and includes first and second swing actuators to effect rotation of the boom;
rotating the boom in a first direction through a first angle of rotation, wherein, when the boom is at a first angle of rotation, the first swing actuator is at the first swing actuator'"'"'s minimum stroke and the second swing actuator is not at the second swing actuator'"'"'s minimum or maximum stroke and, when the boom is at a second angle of rotation different from the first angle, the second swing actuator is at the second swing actuator'"'"'s minimum stroke and the first swing actuator is not at the first swing actuator'"'"'s maximum or minimum stroke. - View Dependent Claims (40, 41, 42, 43)
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44. A method for operating an excavator, comprising:
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providing an excavator, the excavator including a plurality of hydraulic actuators, a plurality of check valves, a hydraulic fluid supply line in fluid communication with the check valves and the hydraulic actuators, a hydraulic fluid return line in fluid communication with the check valves and the hydraulic actuators, and an emergency retract line in fluid communication with the check valves;
detecting a fault in the hydraulic system;
closing the check valves in response to the detecting step to maintain at least substantially hydraulic pressure in the hydraulic actuators;
pressurizing the check valves with the emergency retract line to open the check valves and effect drainage of the hydraulic fluid from the hydraulic actuators. - View Dependent Claims (45, 46)
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47. A method for operating an excavator, comprising:
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providing an excavator, the excavator comprising a body, a cutter head, and a plurality of hydraulic actuators;
setting at least one hydraulic fluid-containing cavity in each of a first set of the hydraulic actuators to a pressure control function; and
setting at least one hydraulic fluid-containing cavity in each of a second set of the hydraulic actuators to a position control function. - View Dependent Claims (48, 49, 50, 51, 52)
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53. A method for realizing a desired pitch and roll in an excavator, comprising:
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providing an excavator, the excavator comprising a plurality of grippers operable to exert pressure on opposing surfaces of an excavation to maintain a desired position and orientation of the excavator;
receiving an attitude command containing desired settings for pitch and roll; and
converting the attitude command into separate actuator control commands for each of the plurality of grippers. - View Dependent Claims (54, 55, 56)
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57. An automated method for excavating in situ material, comprising:
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providing an excavator, the excavator comprising a body, a rotating boom, and a cutter head, wherein the excavator comprises a memory storing a profile of an excavation face;
rotating the boom while the cutter head is in contact with the excavation face to remove material from the face;
determining a revised profile of the excavation face after the rotating step; and
updating the profile of the excavation face stored in the memory. - View Dependent Claims (58, 59)
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60. An excavator, comprising:
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a boom;
a cutter head, mounted on the boom, for excavating in situ material, wherein the boom includes at least one thrust actuator operable to extend and retract the cutter head;
a body, wherein the boom is rotatably mounted on the body;
a plurality of grippers operable to apply pressure against opposing surfaces of an excavation to hold the body in a selected position and orientation; and
an optimization module operable to monitor a selected excavation parameter and effect a change in the operation of the cutter head when the monitored selected excavation parameter one of exceeds or falls below a predetermined threshold. - View Dependent Claims (61, 62, 63, 64)
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65. A method for excavating in situ material, comprising:
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providing an excavator, the excavator having a rotatable boom and a cutter head mounted on the boom for excavating the in situ material by rotating the boom back and forth across an excavation face while the cutter head is in contact with the excavation face for at least a portion of each boom rotation; and
automatically reversing a direction of rotation of the boom when a swing cycle optimization module detects that the cutter head is no longer in contact with the excavation face. - View Dependent Claims (66)
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67. A method for controlling thrust pressure, comprising:
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providing an excavator, the excavator comprising at least one thrust actuator for forcibly engaging a cutter head with an excavation face, the cutter head being mounted on a boom and comprising one or more excavating devices and the at least one thrust actuator operatively engaging at least one variable orifice valve for supplying hydraulic fluid to the at least one thrust actuator;
monitoring a parameter that is at least one of (a) a thrust force applied on the cutter head by the at least one thrust actuator, (b) a force on a cutter;
(c) a speed at which the boom is rotating, and (d) a swing torque by the boom;
when the parameter exceeds a selected threshold, opening the at least one variable orifice valve a selected amount to relieve the pressure in the at least one thrust actuator. - View Dependent Claims (68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74)
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Specification