Method of autonomous operation of a compression apparatus

• US 10,599,153 B2
• Filed: 05/27/2018
• Issued: 03/24/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 12/17/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ammann Schweiz AG (Ammann Family)
• Original Assignee: Ammann Schweiz AG (Ammann Family)
• Inventors: Hoerster, Jochen, Malaschewski, Armin, Pinkert, Mirko
• Primary Examiner(s): Ingram, Thomas
• Application Number:
  US15/990,649
• Publication Number:
  US 20180348773A1
• Time in Patent Office: 667 Days
• CPC Class Codes: E01C 19/006 by laser or ultrasound
• CPC Class Codes: E01C 19/266 fitted to vehicles, road-construction or earth-moving machinery, e.g. auxiliary roll readily movable to operative position E01C19/268, E01C19/4806, E01C19/488, E01C19/52, E01C21/00, E01C23/065 take precedence; provided with means for facilitating transport; Means for transporting rollers; Arrangements or attachments for converting vehicles into rollers, e.g. rolling sleeves for wheels
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0219 ensuring the processing of the whole working surface
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0221 involving a learning process
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0278 using satellite positioning signals, e.g. GPS

Abstract

A method for autonomous operation of a compression apparatus for compressing a ground, the method comprising the steps: choosing a surface to be processed of the ground; preparing the compression apparatus or at least a portion of the surface to be processed so that the compression apparatus automatically processes the surface to be processed in an autonomous operation so that substantially each spot of the surface to be processed is processed at least once; moving a position-determination device along a path which represents at least a portion of an outer boundary of the surface to be processed and capturing position data by the position determination device at least in an intermittent manner while moving the position determination device along the path; generating electronic information regarding a position of the outer boundary of the surface to be processed based on captured position data of the path.

Claims

1. A method for autonomous operation of a compression apparatus for compressing a ground, the method comprising the steps:

choosing a surface to be processed of the ground;

preparing the compression apparatus or at least a portion of the surface to be processed so that the compression apparatus automatically processes the surface to be processed in an autonomous operation so that substantially each spot of the surface to be processed is processed at least once;

moving a position-determination device along a path which represents at least a portion of an outer boundary of the surface to be processed and capturing position data by the position determination device at least in an intermittent manner while moving the position determination device along the path;

generating electronic information regarding a position of the outer boundary of the surface to be processed based on captured position data of the path;

providing the compression apparatus with the electronic information to enable the compression apparatus during autonomous operation to automatically adjust a driving direction of the compression apparatus after colliding with the outer boundary so that the compression apparatus substantially remains within the surface to be processed; and

a person walking the position determination device along the path,

wherein the compression apparatus automatically captures at least one compression parameter of the ground during autonomous operations,

wherein the compression apparatus automatically runs over each spot of the surface to be processed a second time in which spot the compression parameter does not reach a predetermined threshold value, or

wherein the compression apparatus automatically runs over each spot of the surface to be processed so many times until the compression parameter has reached the threshold value at all spots of the surface to be processed.