A Practical Interface for Coordinated Position Control of an Excavator Arm.

Abstract This paper presents a new hand controller interface that addresses practical challenges to implementing coordinated position control (CPC) for an excavator arm. The new interface uses a hybrid control scheme with closed-loop CPC of the excavator arm and open-loop flow control of the swing. CPC is achieved using a joystick that is kinematically similar to the excavator arm. The kinematically similar joystick motion is planar. Thus, it can be mounted vertically, matching the excavator arm, or horizontally, which has many advantages, such as reduced operator fatigue. The new interface is compared to a conventional interface in a human subject experiment using a dynamic excavator simulator. The results demonstrate similar improvements in spoil removed and fuel efficiency as previous CPC approaches while being more practically designed. Although the design is for an excavator, the concepts presented can apply to a range of hydraulic manipulators.

[1]  Jongwon Kim,et al.  Excavator tele-operation system using a human arm , 2009 .

[2]  Wayne J. Book,et al.  Operator Efficiency Improvements from Novel Human-Machine Interfaces , 2010 .

[3]  Wayne J. Book,et al.  A virtual reality Operator Interface station with hydraulic hardware-in-the-loop simulation for prototyping excavator control systems , 2009, 2009 IEEE/ASME International Conference on Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics.

[4]  Jungwon Yoon,et al.  Development of an intuitive user interface for a hydraulic backhoe , 2010 .

[5]  Simon Richir,et al.  The "Bubble" technique: interacting with large virtual environments using haptic devices with limited workspace , 2005, First Joint Eurohaptics Conference and Symposium on Haptic Interfaces for Virtual Environment and Teleoperator Systems. World Haptics Conference.

[6]  C. S. G. Lee,et al.  Robotics: Control, Sensing, Vision, and Intelligence , 1987 .

[7]  E. C. Poulton,et al.  Tracking skill and manual control , 1974 .

[8]  Septimiu E. Salcudean,et al.  Application of force feedback to heavy duty hydraulic machines , 1993, [1993] Proceedings IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation.

[9]  Monika Ivantysynova,et al.  Energy Consumption of an LS Excavator Hydraulic System , 2007 .

[10]  Matthew E. Kontz.  Haptic control of hydraulic machinery using proportional valves , 2007 .

[11]  Ron Daniel,et al.  Specification and design of input devices for teleoperation , 1990, Proceedings., IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation.

[12]  Mark Vincent Noyes,et al.  Superposition of graphics on low bit rate video as an aid in teleoperation , 1984 .

[13]  U Wallersteiner,et al.  A human factors evaluation of two different machine control systems for log loaders. , 1993, Ergonomics.

[14]  Ming Zhu,et al.  Coordinated and Force-Feedback Control of Hydraulic Excavators , 1995, ISER.

[15]  Christopher A. Williamson.  Power management for multi-actuator mobile machines with displacement controlled hydraulic actuators , 2010 .

[16]  Septimiu E. Salcudean,et al.  A Virtual Environment for the Simulation and Programming of Excavation Trajectories , 2001, Presence: Teleoperators & Virtual Environments.

[17]  Septimiu E. Salcudean,et al.  Suppressing operator-induced oscillations in manual control systems with movable bases , 2003, IEEE Trans. Control. Syst. Technol..

[18]  Joseph George Frankel,et al.  Development of a Haptic Backhoe Testbed , 2004 .

[19]  Amod Jog,et al.  Assessing system operation skills in robotic surgery trainees , 2012, The international journal of medical robotics + computer assisted surgery : MRCAS.

[20]  Rafael Aracil,et al.  A remote handling rate-position controller for telemanipulating in a large workspace , 2014 .

[21]  R. Brent Gillespie,et al.  Cancellation of Biodynamic Feedthrough in Vehicle Control Tasks , 2007, IEEE Transactions on Control Systems Technology.

[22]  Wayne J. Book,et al.  Compensation for biodynamic feedthrough in backhoe operation by cab vibration control , 2011, 2011 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation.

[23]  Lawrence W. Stark,et al.  A comparison of position and rate control for telemanipulations with consideration of manipulator system dynamics , 1987, IEEE Journal on Robotics and Automation.