Design of a Database-Driven Assist Control for a Hydraulic Excavator Considering Human Operation

Abstract

In recent years, there has been strong focus on sustainable development goals (SDGs). In Japan, Society 5.0, which is proposed as a future vision to be achieved towards the realization of SDGs, is being promoted by various organizations. In particular, “i-Construction” is being promoted in the construction industry. As a result, hydraulic excavators are becoming increasingly automated and semi-automated. Furthermore, if operators achieve high productivity, it helps them maintain a sense of accomplishment and motivation to work. In this study, a control system that results in the desired output is proposed for a hydraulic excavator; in this system, the degree of interference depends on the human input and controller input. Attachments on hydraulic excavators cause interference owing to the characteristics of the hydraulic system. Therefore, a control system that can adaptively adjust the controller input to the human operation, considering the interference with information caused by human operation stored in the database, was constructed. The proposed method was implemented on a hydraulic excavator and its effectiveness was verified.