Control system having tool tracking

• US 8,548,668 B2
• Filed: 08/04/2011
• Issued: 10/01/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 11/30/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Caterpillar Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Caterpillar Incorporated
• Inventors: Everett, Bryan J., Koehrsen, Craig L., Richards, Rodney R., Cook, Steven J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Trammell, James
• Assistant Examiner(s): Malhotra, Sanjeev
• Application Number:
  US13/198,457
• Publication Number:
  US 20120136525A1
• Time in Patent Office: 789 Days
• Field of Search: 701/50, 702/22, 702/127, 700/186, 173/104, 219/130.5, 606/1, 244/136, 455/127.5, 368/28, 382/104, 345/158
• US Class Current: 701/24
• CPC Class Codes: E02F 9/2045 Guiding machines along a predetermined path for graders E02F3/841; machines for construction of roads E01C19/004
• CPC Class Codes: E02F 9/265 with follow-up actions (e.g. control signals sent to actuate the work tool)
• CPC Class Codes: E21C 47/00 Machines for obtaining or the removal of materials in open-pit mines obtaining peat E21C49/00
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0274 using mapping information stored in a memory device navigation using map-matching G01C21/30

Abstract

A control system is disclosed for use with a machine having a work tool and operating at a work site. The control system may have a sensor associated with the work tool and configured to generate a signal indicative of a position of the work tool, an offboard worksite controller, and an onboard controller in communication with the sensor and the offboard worksite controller. The onboard controller may be configured to receive from an operator an input indicative of a current task being performed by the machine, and track movement of a portion of the work tool corresponding with the operator input. The onboard controller may also be configured to communicate the tracked movement to the offboard worksite controller.

Claims

1. A control system for a machine having a work tool and operating at a work site, the control system comprising:

a sensor associated with the work tool and configured to generate a signal indicative of a position of the work tool;

an offboard worksite controller;

an onboard controller in communication with the sensor and the offboard worksite controller, the onboard controller configured to;

receive an input indicative of a current task being performed by the machine;

track movement of a portion of the work tool corresponding with the input; and

communicate the tracked movement to the offboard worksite controller;

wherein the offboard worksite controller is configured to;

update a worksite terrain map based on the tracked movement; and

communicate the updated worksite terrain map to the onboard controller.

2. The control system of claim 1, wherein

one of the onboard controller and the offboard worksite controller is configured to filter the tracked movement of the work tool based on a distance from a known boundary of the worksite;

and

the offboard worksite controller is configured to update the worksite terrain map based on tracked movements farthest from the known boundary in a particular direction.

3. The control system of claim 2, wherein:

the offboard worksite controller is configured to update the worksite terrain map based only on tracked movements farthest from the known boundary in a particular direction.

4. The control system of claim 1, wherein the onboard controller is further configured to autonomously control the machine based on the updated worksite terrain map.

5. The control system of claim 1, wherein the offboard worksite controller is further configured to:

update the worksite terrain map based on tracked movements of work tools of other machines also operating at the worksite; and

communicate the updated worksite terrain map to onboard controllers of the other machines.

6. The control system of claim 1, wherein the input is a selection of available predefined tasks.

7. The control system of claim 6, wherein the available predefined tasks include a floor cleanup task, an edge finalizing task, and a bulk material removal task.

8. The control system of claim 7, wherein, when the input is a selection of the floor cleanup task, the offboard worksite controller is configured to track movement of only a center edge portion of the work tool based on the signal.

9. The control system of claim 7, wherein, when the input is a selection of the edge finalizing task, the offboard worksite controller is configured to track movement of only a side edge of the work tool based on the signal.

10. The control system of claim 7, wherein, when the input is a selection of the bulk material removal task, the offboard worksite controller is configured to track movement of an entire volume of the work tool based on the signal.

11. The control system of claim 1, further including an onboard locating device configured to determine a location of the machine, wherein:

the signal is indicative of a position of the work tool relative to the location of the machine; and

the onboard controller is further configured to communicate the location of the machine to the offboard worksite controller.

12. The control system of claim 1, wherein the onboard controller is configured to communicate the tracked movement of the portion of the work tool to the offboard worksite controller in real time.

13. A computer readable medium having computer executable instructions for performing a method of machine control, the method comprising:

sensing a position of a work tool;

receiving an input indicative of a current machine task;

tracking movement of a portion of the work tool corresponding with the input based on the sensed position;

updating a worksite terrain map based on the tracked movement; and

communicate the updated worksite terrain map to the onboard controller.

14. The computer readable medium of claim 13, wherein:

the method further includes filtering the tracked movement of the work tool based on a distance from a known worksite boundary; and

updating the worksite terrain map includes updating the worksite terrain map based only on tracked movements farthest from the known worksite boundary in a particular direction.

15. The computer readable medium of claim 14, wherein the method further includes autonomously controlling a machine based on the updated worksite terrain map.

16. The computer readable medium of claim 13, wherein the method further includes:

updating the worksite terrain map based on tracked movements of work tools of multiple machines operating at a common worksite; and

communicating the updated worksite terrain map to each of the multiple machines.

17. The computer readable medium of claim 13, wherein the input is a selection of available predefined tasks.

18. The computer readable medium of claim 17, wherein the available predefined tasks include a floor cleanup task, an edge finalizing task, and a bulk material removal task.

19. The computer readable medium of claim 18, wherein, when the input is a selection of the floor cleanup task, tracking movement of a portion of the work tool includes tracking movement of only a center edge portion of the work tool.

20. The computer readable medium of claim 18, wherein, when the input is a selection of the edge finalizing task, tracking movement of a portion of the work tool includes tracking movement of only a side edge of the work tool.

21. The computer readable medium of claim 18, wherein, when the input is a selection of the bulk material removal task, tracking movement of a portion of the work tool includes tracking movement of only a side edge of the work tool.

22. The computer readable medium of claim 13, wherein:

the method further includes determining a machine location; and

tracking movement of a portion of the work tool includes tracking movement of the portion of the work tool relative to the machine location.

23. A computer readable medium having computer executable instructions for performing a method of machine control, the method comprising:

determining a machine location;

sensing a position of a work tool relative to the machine location;

receiving from an operator a selection of a current machine task from a list of available machine tasks;

tracking movement of a portion of the work tool corresponding with the selection based on the sensed position of the work tool;

filtering the tracked movement of the work tool based on a distance from a known worksite boundary; and

updating the worksite terrain map based on tracked movements farthest from the known worksite boundary in a particular direction.

24. The computer readable medium of claim 23, wherein the method further includes autonomously controlling a machine based on the updated worksite terrain map.