Excavator data acquisition and control system and process
First Claim
1. An information acquisition and control system for a machine having an earth penetrating member, the machine including a propulsion system for propelling the machine along a predetermined route, the system comprising:
- an information acquisition unit to acquire geological information along the predetermined route;
a machine controller to control the operation of the propulsion system; and
a main controller to receive the geological information from the information acquisition unit and operation information from the machine controller;
wherein the main controller estimates machine performance parameters in response to the geological information and operation information, and the machine controller modifies the operation of the propulsion system in response to the estimated machine performance parameters.
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Abstract
An information acquisition and control system and process acquires geological information from a subsurface and modifies the operation of an excavating machine using the acquired geological information. The system includes a data acquisition system to acquire geological information along an excavation route, a machine controller to control the operation of the excavating machine, and a main controller that produces estimated machine performance parameters for use by the machine controller using the acquired geological information and machine operation information. In another embodiment, geologic characteristics acquired for a first subsurface are associated with excavation performance information for the first subsurface to produce correlation data. Geologic characteristics acquired at a second subsurface are compared with the correlation data to produce estimated excavation performance information for the second subsurface.
149 Citations
20 Claims
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1. An information acquisition and control system for a machine having an earth penetrating member, the machine including a propulsion system for propelling the machine along a predetermined route, the system comprising:
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an information acquisition unit to acquire geological information along the predetermined route; a machine controller to control the operation of the propulsion system; and a main controller to receive the geological information from the information acquisition unit and operation information from the machine controller; wherein the main controller estimates machine performance parameters in response to the geological information and operation information, and the machine controller modifies the operation of the propulsion system in response to the estimated machine performance parameters. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A data acquisition and control system for a machine having an earth penetrating member, the machine including a propulsion system that propels the machine along a predetermined route, the system comprising:
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a data acquisition system to acquire geological information along the predetermined route, the data acquisition system including a signal processing unit to produce an earth penetrating source signal and to receive a reflected signal resulting from the source signal; a machine controller to control the operation of the propulsion system and the earth penetrating member; and a main controller to receive the geological information from the data acquisition system; wherein the main controller estimates a parameter indicative of machine performance using the received geological information, and the machine controller modifies the operation of the propulsion system and earth penetrating member using the estimated machine performance parameter.
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16. A method of excavating, comprising the steps of:
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excavating a first site; determining a geologic characteristic of the first site; measuring a parameter of excavation productivity while excavating the first site; associating the excavation productivity parameter for the first site with the geologic characteristic of the first site to produce correlation data; determining a geologic characteristic of a second site; and estimating a parameter of excavation productivity for second site using the geologic characteristic of the second site and the correlation data. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19)
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20. A method of characterizing a subsurface geology of a predetermined route and controlling an excavator along the predetermined route, including the steps of:
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transporting a geologic imaging system along the predetermined route; acquiring geological imaging data for the predetermined route; storing the geological imaging data; and modifying the operation of the excavator in response to the acquired geological imaging data as the excavator traverses along the predetermined route.
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Specification