Motion Planning Based Coordinated Control for Hydraulic Excavators

Hydraulic excavator is one type of the most widely applied construction equipment for various applications mainly because of its versatility and mobility. Among the tasks performed by a hydraulic excavator, repeatable level digging or flat surface finishing may take a large percentage. Using automated functions to perform such repeatable and tedious jobs will not only greatly increase the overall productivity but more importantly also improve the operation safety. For the purpose of investigating the technology without loss of generality, this research is conducted to create a coordinate control method for the boom, arm and bucket cylinders on a hydraulic excavator to perform accurate and effective works. On the basis of the kinematic analysis of the excavator linkage system, the tip trajectory of the end-effector can be determined in terms of three hydraulic cylinders coordinated motion with a visualized method. The coordination of those hydraulic cylinders is realized by controlling three electro-hydraulic proportional valves coordinately. Therefore, the complex control algorithm of a hydraulic excavator can be simplified into coordinated motion control of three individual systems. This coordinate control algorithm was validated on a wheeled hydraulic excavator, and the validation results indicated that this developed control method could satisfactorily accomplish the auto-digging function for level digging or flat surface finishing.

2D Part-Based Visual Tracking of Hydraulic Excavators

Visual tracking has been widely applied in construction industry and attracted signifi-cant interests recently. Lots of research studies have adopted visual tracking techniques on the surveillance of construction workforce, project productivity and construction safety. Until now, visual tracking algorithms have gained promising performance when tracking un-articulated equipment in construction sites. However, state-of-art tracking algorithms have unguaranteed performance in tracking articulated equipment, such as backhoes and excavators. The stretching buckets and booms are the main obstacles of successfully tracking articulated equipment. In order to fill this knowledge gap, the part-based tracking algorithms are introduced in this paper for tracking articulated equipment in construction sites. The part-based tracking is able to track different parts of target equipment while using multiple tracking algorithms at the same sequence. Some existing tracking methods have been chosen according to their outstanding performance in the computer vision community. Then, the part-based algorithms were created on the basis of selected visual tracking methods and tested by real construction sequences. In this way, the tracking performance was evaluated from effectiveness and robustness aspects. Throughout the quantification analysis, the tracking performance of articulated equipment was much more improved by using the part-based tracking algorithms.

Power Matching and Energy Efficiency Improvement of Hydraulic Excavator Driven with Speed and Displacement Variable Power Source

Mobile machinery energy efficiency and emission pollution are the national and worldwide issues. This paper contributes in solving these problems by applying a speed variable power source. Unfortunately, almost all of the speed variable systems have the dynamic response problem when the motor starts with full load or heavy load. To address this problem, a hydraulic accumulator is used to balance the load of the power source for assisting starting of the motor and a matching method combined with speed and displacement control of the pump is proposed to improve the energy efficiency and dynamic performance simultaneously under different working conditions. Also, the power source/valve combined control strategy of an independent metering system is designed to realize flow matching of the whole system. Firstly, a test system is established to study the dynamic performance and energy efficiency of the speed variable power source with an auxiliary accumulator. Working performance and energy consumption of the power source under different rotating speeds and different loads are studied. And then, the hydraulic excavator test rig with the proposed system is constructed. Furthermore, the working performance of the excavator with the speed-fixed and speed-variable strategy are studied comparatively. Results show that, compared with fixed-speed strategy, the electric power consumption during the idle period and partial load condition can be reduced about 2.05 kW and 1.37 kW. The energy efficiency of speed variable power source is about 40%-71%, which is higher than that of the fixed-speed power source by 3%–10%.

Modelling of an hydraulic excavator using simplifiedrefined instrumental variable(SRIV)algorithm

Instead of establishing mathematical hydraulic system models from physical laws usually done with the problems of complex modelling processes, low reliability and practicality caused by large uncertainties, a novel modelling method for a highly nonlinear system of a hydraulic excavator is presented. Based on the data collected in the excavator＇s arms driving experiments, a data-based excavator dynamic model using Simplified Refined Instrumental Variable （SRIV） identification and estimation algorithms is established. The validity of the proposed data-based model is indirectly demonstrated by the performance of computer simulation and the.real machine motion control exoeriments.

CONSTANT WORK-POINT CONTROL FOR PARALLEL HYBRID SYSTEM WITH CAPACITOR ACCUMULATOR IN HYDRAULIC EXCAVATOR

Limitations of various accumulators in hybrid hydraulic excavator are analyzed. A program using capacitor as the accumulator based on constant work-point control is put forward. A simulating experimental system of hybrid construction machinery is established, and experimental study on constant work-point control for parallel hybrid system with capacitor accumulator is carried out using the pressure and flow rate derived from boom cylinder of hydraulic excavator in actual work as the simulating loads. A program of double work-point control is proposed and proved by further experiments.

Development of dynamic-mathematical model of hydraulic excavator

This work deals with analysis of dynamic behaviour of hydraulic excavator on the basis of developed dynamic-mathematical model.The mathematical model with maximum five degrees of freedom is extended by new generalized coordinate which represents rotation around transversal main central axis of inertia of undercarriage.The excavator is described by a system of six nonlinear,nonhomogenous differential equations of the second kind.Numerical analysis of the differential equations has been done for BTH-600 hydraulic excavator with moving mechanism with pneumatic wheels.

Dynamic simulation and optimal control strategy for a parallel hybrid hydraulic excavator

The primary focus of this study is to investigate the control strategies of a hybrid system used in hydraulic excavators. First, the structure and evaluation target of hybrid hydraulic excavators are analyzed. Then the dynamic system model including batteries, motor and engine is built as the simulation environment to obtain control results. A so-called multi-work-point dynamic control strategy, which has both closed-loop speed PI (proportion integral) control and direct torque control, is proposed and studied in the simulation model. Simulation results indicate that the hybrid system with this strategy can meet the power demand and achieve better system stability and higher fuel efficiency.

Modeling and control of hydraulic excavator's arm

In order to find a feasible way to control excavator’s arm and realize autonomous excavation, the dynamic model for the boom of excavator’s arm which was regarded as a planar manipulator with three degrees of freedom was constructed with Lagrange equation. The excavator was retrofitted with electrohydraulic proportional valves, associated sensors (three inclinometers) and a computer control system (the motion controller of EPEC). The full nonlinear mathematic model of electrohydraulic proportional system was achieved. A discontinuous projection based on an adaptive robust controller to approximate the nonlinear gain coefficient of the valve was presented to deal with the nonlinearity of the whole system, the error was dealt with by robust feedback and an adaptive robust controller was designed. The experiment results of the boom motion control show that, using the controller, good performance for tracking can be achieved, and the peak tracking error of boom angles is less than 4°.

Modeling and parameter estimation for hydraulic system of excavator's arm

A retrofitted electro-hydraulic proportional system for hydraulic excavator was introduced firstly. According to the principle and characteristic of load independent flow distribution(LUDV) system,taking boom hydraulic system as an example and ignoring the leakage of hydraulic cylinder and the mass of oil in it,a force equilibrium equation and a continuous equation of hydraulic cylinder were set up. Based on the flow equation of electro-hydraulic proportional valve,the pressure passing through the valve and the difference of pressure were tested and analyzed. The results show that the difference of pressure does not change with load,and it approximates to 2.0 MPa. And then,assume the flow across the valve is directly proportional to spool displacement and is not influenced by load,a simplified model of electro-hydraulic system was put forward. At the same time,by analyzing the structure and load-bearing of boom instrument,and combining moment equivalent equation of manipulator with rotating law,the estimation methods and equations for such parameters as equivalent mass and bearing force of hydraulic cylinder were set up. Finally,the step response of flow of boom cylinder was tested when the electro-hydraulic proportional valve was controlled by the step current. Based on the experiment curve,the flow gain coefficient of valve is identified as 2.825×10-4 m3/(s·A) and the model is verified.

Fault detection of excavator’s hydraulic system based on dynamic principal component analysis

In order to improve reliability of the excavator's hydraulic system, a fault detection approach based on dynamic principal component analysis(PCA) was proposed. Dynamic PCA is an extension of PCA, which can effectively extract the dynamic relations among process variables. With this approach, normal samples were used as training data to develop a dynamic PCA model in the first step. Secondly, the dynamic PCA model decomposed the testing data into projections to the principal component subspace(PCS) and residual subspace(RS). Thirdly, T2 statistic and Q statistic performed as indexes of fault detection in PCS and RS, respectively. Several simulated faults were introduced to validate the approach. The results show that the dynamic PCA model developed is able to detect overall faults by using T2 statistic and Q statistic. By simulation analysis, the proposed approach achieves an accuracy of 95% for 20 test sample sets, which shows that the fault detection approach can be effectively applied to the excavator's hydraulic system.

Reducing-resistance mechanism of vibratory excavation of hydraulic excavator

Based on the working principle of vibratory excavation of hydraulic excavator,the expression of digging resistance changed with time under sine wave inspiritment was deduced;a comparison analysis was given after calculating the forces status of rock and soil under static load and vibratory load respectively by using MATLAB;and then RFPA-2D(rock failure process analysis code)was used to make comparison of simulation experiment on rock and soil failure process under static load and vibratory load.The results demonstrate that,compared with the normal excavation under the same situation,the digging resistance and the energy consumption can be reduced by respectively 30%and 60%at maximum,and that the working efficiency can be increased by 45%at maximum owing to vibratory excavation.

A soft-sensing model on hydraulic excavator's backhoe vibratory excavating resistance based on fuzzy support vector machine

In order to measure the backhoe vibratory excavating resistance of a hydraulic excavator fast and precisely,the influences of vibratory excavating depth,angle,vibratory frequency,amplitude,bucket inserting velocity and soil type on the vibratory excavating resistance were analyzed.Simulation analysis was carried out to establish the bucket inserting velocity,amplitude and vibratory frequency considered as secondary variables and excavating resistance as primary variable.A fuzzy membership function was introduced to improve the anti-noise capacity of support vector machine,which is a soft-sensing model on the hydraulic excavator's backhoe vibratory excavating resistance based on fuzzy support vector machine.The simulation result reveals that its maximum relative training and testing error are nearly 0.68% and-0.47%,respectively.It is concluded that the model has quite high modeling precision and generalization capacity,and it can measure the vibratory excavating resistance accurately,reliably and fast in an indirect way.

Study on an Energy-saving System for a Hydraulic Excavator′s Boom

To improve the energy efficiency of a hydraulic boom, a new energy-saving system adopting a hydraulic accumulator is proposed. First, the principle of the system is presented. Then, the dynamic simulation is intro- duced. Finally, the conclusions are given based on the analysis of simulation data. In Summary, the innovative energy-saving system combines flow regeneration and potential energy recovery, runs steadily and comfortably, saves energy remarkably and has good potential for improving energy utilization of a hydraulic excavator.

Research on hydraulic slotting technology controlling coal-gas outbursts

Measured to control serious coal-gas outburst in coal seam were analyzed by theory and experimented in test site.A new technique to distress the coal-bed and drain methane,called hydraulic slotting,was described in detail,and the mechanism of hydrau- lic slotting was put forward and analyzed.The characteristic parameter of hydraulic slotting was given in Jiaozuo mining area and the characteristic of validity,adaptability and secu- rity was evaluated.The results show that the stress surrounding the strata and the gas in coal seam is released efficiently and thoroughly while new techniques are taken,as slot- ting at heading face by high pressure large diameter jet.The resistance to coal and gas outbursts is increased dramatically once the area of slotting is increased to a certain size. In the process of driving 2 000 m tunnel by hydraulic slotting excavation,coal and gas outburst never occurre.The technique could be used to prevent and control potential coal-gas outburst in the proceeding of tunnel driving,and the speed tunneling could be as high as more than 2 times.

液压挖掘机斗杆内收流量分配节能设计

为解决小型挖掘机挖掘工况(正负载)下斗杆内收速度慢、系统压力高、存在溢流损失等问题,提出一种斗杆内收节能系统,挖掘工况下,使斗杆内收通过节能阀回油,即斗杆内收流量不再生时增大回油面积。给出了该节能系统工作原理和仿真参数,基于AMESim搭建了斗杆内收节能系统仿真模型,对比仿真了有无节能阀系统的斗杆内收速度、压力、流量等动态特性,分析了节能阀直径对斗杆内收动态特性的影响效果,进行了系统实际应用可行性分析,挖掘机整机测试有效验证了仿真结论。结果表明:引入节能阀,斗杆内收速度增加18%,斗杆油缸进油压力降低65%;节能阀直径对斗杆内收系统输出流量、回油总流量、系统压力影响不大;通过挖掘机整机测得斗杆内收速度提高19%。

穿越岩溶地区隧洞施工开挖防渗措施研究

穿越岩溶地区隧洞在施工开挖期极易遭遇涌水突泥现象,如何选择合适的防渗措施减少隧洞渗流量一直是热点问题。依托某引调水工程,建立岩溶地区复杂地层三维有限元模型,重点考虑洞顶回填混凝土、洞周注浆圈、混凝土防渗墙3种防渗措施,研究了隧洞开挖过程中孔隙水压力及隧洞渗流量的变化规律,分析了防渗墙和注浆圈渗透系数对渗流特征的影响。结果表明:在本工程中,混凝土防渗墙对隧洞孔隙水压力分布的影响非常大,防渗墙之间水位降低程度明显,而洞周注浆圈对隧洞渗流量的影响最大,施工时要保证注浆圈的质量;孔隙水压力随着与隧洞中心水平距离增加而增加,随着与隧洞中心竖直距离增加呈现先增大后减小的变化趋势;随着注浆圈或防渗墙渗透系数增加,注浆圈或防渗墙区域内的孔压增长速率逐渐降低,隧洞渗流量不断增大。

基于DEM-MBD耦合的液压挖掘机动力学仿真分析

在实际工况下,液压挖掘机工作装置受到的载荷较大且具有强时变性,因此工作装置各组成杆件及液压缸较易出现各种形式的失效。针对以上问题,选取某型号液压挖掘机作为研究对象,根据液压挖掘机工作装置实际挖掘物料工况,利用多体动力学软件ADAMS建立液压挖掘机虚拟样机模型并利用离散元软件EDEM建立物料模型。通过DEM-MBD耦合仿真分析方法,对液压挖掘机工作装置进行动力学仿真分析,主要获取挖掘物料过程中铲斗受力变化曲线、不同时刻铲斗受力云图,通过对其分析,能够获取铲斗在挖掘作业过程中受力变化情况,为铲斗的有限元分析、优化设计提供理论依据。

挖掘机液压混合动力系统跟踪控制研究

由于挖掘机混合动力系统参数的不确定性和系统的非线性给挖掘机的跟踪控制带来了巨大的困难。对此,构建了挖掘机液压混合动力系统模型,并采用改进的自适应鲁棒控制(ARC)实现挖掘机液压混合动力系统的跟踪控制。根据挖掘机液压混合动力系统,对液压系统、挖掘机动力学和发动机进行数学建模。利用线性稳定反馈控制规律,采用改进的自适应鲁棒控制,使挖掘机液压混合动力系统具有足够大的反馈增益。最后对斗杆、动臂和铲斗的倾角进行跟踪仿真实验,给出了系统模型位置和速度的跟踪误差,并与PI控制进行比较分析。结果表明:相比于PI控制,ARC控制下的斗杆、动臂和铲斗倾角的最大振幅波动率和倾角的波动范围都有所降低,且回转位置和速度的跟踪误差超调较小。说明采用ARC控制的挖掘机混合动力系统控制方法,能够更好的补偿系统模型的非线性,具有较好的控制稳定性以及跟踪精度。

考虑多关节时滞的液压挖掘机轨迹跟踪研究

为了减小多关节系统的时滞特性对液压挖掘机工作装置轨迹跟踪精度的影响,本文设计了考虑时滞的长短期记忆-广义回归级联网络和一种基于该网络模型的多关节控制系统。利用几何法分析闭式链运动状态,建立以摇臂关节为末端反馈关节的含闭式链的工作装置运动学逆解,通过4-3-3-3-4多项式轨迹规划算法在关节空间上生成轨迹。结合LSTM的时序处理能力和GRNN的强非线性映射能力,以比例阀信号和关节转角的各阶延迟以及目标转角作为网络输入特征,通过多关节联动辨识建立起输出信号和输入特征的映射关系模型,将关节模型作为逆控制器实现多关节轨迹跟踪。经AMESim-Simulink仿真验证:在空载或变载荷作用下,与不考虑时滞的LSTM系统比,考虑时滞的多关节控制系统能更准确、更迅速、更平滑地跟踪规划轨迹,误差小,并且系统具有较强鲁棒性。

飞轮储能蓄能器挖掘机动臂设计及负载特性分析

对飞轮储能蓄能器进行分析,在动臂驱动系统中加入了蓄能器以及轴向柱塞马达,以实现储存更多挖掘机动臂能量和节能控制的效果。研究利用速度传感器把测试得到的负载速度信号传输到比较器中,根据检测数据完成柱塞马达排量的实施调节功能,最终达到稳定的运行速度。研究结果表明:挖掘机阀控系统中选择一个循环下的液压执行元件进行能量利用率分析,执行元件的能量利用率达到了主泵输出的近81%,动臂能量回收占比为17.5%,回转机构的能量回收比例达到主泵输出能量8.9%。负载从位移为0的初始状态发生线性增大,表现出了稳定的运动性能,最终达到2.8 m的位移。环形活塞的压力与位移之间呈现线性变化的特征。位移由0提高到172 mm,压力则由2.1 MPa提高到3.2 MPa,实现了稳定的控制性能。