E02F9/2041

Shovel-to-truck communication to improve acceleration
11371219 · 2022-06-28 · ·

A system may determine that an upcoming pass is a final pass associated with loading a machine. The system may compute, based on determining that the upcoming pass is the final pass, a trigger time associated with causing a trigger signal to be transmitted. The trigger time may be computed based on a final pass completion time that identifies a time at which the final pass is expected to be completed. The trigger time may be prior to the final pass completion time. The system may cause the trigger signal to be transmitted at the trigger time. The system may cause, based on a receipt of the trigger signal, a transition of the machine from an idle state to a ready state to be initiated. The transition from the idle state to the ready state may be caused to be initiated prior to a time at which the final pass, associated with loading the machine, is completed.

METHOD FOR PUTTING DOWN A TOOL OF A CONSTRUCTION MACHINE
20220195705 · 2022-06-23 ·

A method is for putting down a tool of a construction machine. A position and an orientation of the tool relative to the construction machine or to a direction of Earth's gravity is determined by one or more of the following sensors including: an inertial measuring unit, an angle sensor, a linear sensor, and/or by an algorithm for determining a kinematic chain of the construction machine. Moreover, an orientation of at least one part of the construction machine, which part touches the ground, and which orientation characterizes an orientation of the construction machine relative to the ground, is determined relative to Earth's gravity. Based on this determination, movement of the tool is controlled, in order to bring a lower face of the tool to the same level and in the same orientation as the at least one part touching the ground, for putting down the tool.

SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING IMPLEMENT OPERATION OF A WORK VEHICLE USING A SPEED-BASED PARAMETER
20220186469 · 2022-06-16 · ·

A system for controlling implement operation of a work vehicle includes the computing system is configured to receive an input associated with a target position of an implement of the vehicle. Furthermore, the computing system is configured to monitor the current position of the implement of the vehicle. Additionally, the computing system is configured to control the operation of an actuator of the vehicle such that the implement is moved toward the target position based on the monitored current position. Moreover, the computing system is configured to determine a speed-based parameter associated with a speed at which the implement is being moved across a time period. In addition, after the time period has elapsed, the computing system is configured to control the operation of the actuator such that the implement is moved to the target position based on the monitored current position and the determined speed-based parameter.

WORK MACHINE
20220170234 · 2022-06-02 ·

Provided is a hydraulic excavator including a controller that can control a work device by utilizing an excavation work control for causing a claw tip of a bucket to move along a predetermined target surface and a leveling work control for causing the bucket to move along the target surface while maintaining the posture of the bucket with respect to the target surface, in which: the controller, based on posture data and size data on a work device and position data on the target surface, calculates an arm tip difference Dva that is the distance from the tip of an arm to the target surface; and the controller executes the leveling work control in a case of the calculated arm tip difference being equal to or less than a predetermined threshold dv1, there being no input of a bucket operation to an operation lever, and there being an input of an arm operation to the operation lever, and otherwise executes the excavation work control.

SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR TRACKING MOTION OF LINKAGES FOR SELF-PROPELLED WORK VEHICLES IN INDEPENDENT COORDINATE FRAMES
20220170239 · 2022-06-02 ·

A system and method are provided for controlling movement of an implement for a self-propelled work vehicle, said implement comprising one or more components coupled to a main frame of the work vehicle. A linkage joint in defined in association with at least one implement component, wherein sensors are respectively associated with opposing sides of the linkage joint. Output signals from each sensor comprise sense elements which are fused in an independent coordinate frame associated at least in part with the respective linkage joint, wherein the independent coordinate frame is independent of a global navigation frame for the work vehicle. At least one joint characteristic (e.g., joint angle) is tracked based on at least a portion of the sense elements from the received output signals for each of the opposing sides of the respective linkage joint. Movement of implement components may optionally be controlled in view of the tracked joint characteristics.

Machine learning for optimizing tool path planning in autonomous earth moving vehicles

An autonomous earth moving system can select an action for an earth moving vehicle (EMV) to autonomously perform using a tool (such as an excavator bucket). The system then generates a set of candidate tool paths, each illustrating a potential path for the tool to trace as the earth moving vehicle performs the action. In some cases, the system uses an online learning model iteratively trained to determine which candidate tool path best satisfies one or more metrics measuring the success of the action. The earth moving vehicle the executes the earth moving action using the selected tool path and measures the results of the action. In some implementations, the autonomous earth moving system updates the machine learning model based on the result of the executed action.

Power lift
11339041 · 2022-05-24 · ·

Power machines and control systems used thereon include a lift cylinder, a tilt cylinder, and a slave cylinder mechanically connected to assist the lift cylinder with raising a boom. With a lift control valve controlled to cause extension of the lift cylinder to raise the boom, pressure from a hydraulic source is provided to the slave cylinder to aid in raising the boom. Resulting increased pressure on a side of the slave cylinder opens load holding valves, allowing hydraulic pressure from the tilt cylinder to be communicated to the slave cylinder such that tilt cylinder pressure due to a heavy load on an implement aids in raising the boom.

Excavating earth from a dig site using an excavation vehicle

This description provides an autonomous or semi-autonomous excavation vehicle that is capable of navigating through a dig site and carrying an excavation routine using a system of sensors physically mounted to the excavation vehicle. The sensors collect one or more of spatial, imaging, measurement, and location data representing the status of the excavation vehicle and its surrounding environment. Based on the collected data, the excavation vehicle executes instructions to perform an excavation routine by excavating earth from a hole using an excavation tool positioned at a single location within the site. The excavation vehicle is also able to carry out numerous other tasks, such as checking the volume of excavated earth in an excavation tool, navigating the excavation vehicle over a distance while continuously excavating earth from a below surface depth, and preparing a digital terrain model of the site as part of a process for creating the excavation routine.

System and method for controlling bulldozer

A controller determines that a signal from an operating device represents either a normal operation to manually control a blade or a trigger operation to automatically control the blade. The controller moves the blade so that the angle of the blade is changed in accordance with the operation of the operating device when the signal from the operating device is determined as representing a normal operation. The controller moves the blade until the angle of the blade reaches a predetermined target angle when the signal from the operating device is determined as representing the trigger operation while the bulldozer is traveling.

CONTAINER LOAD ASSIST SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR A WORK VEHICLE

A system includes a work vehicle, user interface, and controller. The work vehicle includes a frame, boom, implement, perception sensor, and ground speed sensor. The perception sensor senses an approaching environment. The user interface includes controls and indicators. The controller is coupled to the controls, indicators, perception sensor, and ground speed sensor. The controller receives a command to move the work vehicle, drives the work vehicle, determines a distance to the container, determines the ground speed, determines a boom raising start distance from the container, receives a command to raise the boom, and activates one of the indicators if the user command to raise the boom occurs prior to the work vehicle reaching the boom raising start distance from the container.