Assessments of Intuition and Efficiency: Remote Control of the End Point of Excavator in Operational Space by Using One Wrist

Abstract

A robotic teleoperation system of excavator has been developed to improve safety and remote-control methods at hazardous situations such as construction or disaster sites. This paper introduces an innovative remote-control method and a newly developed robotic hardware system, Phantom, to rapidly retrofit existing construction equipment for efficient robotic control from a remote place. The system allows one joystick to control one excavator. A remote operator with two joysticks at a remote workstation can intuitively control two excavators equipped with Phantom simultaneously. The proposed method was compared with typical excavator operation methods to evaluate its performance based on operation time and mechanical movement accuracy from given tasks. The tests show the promising results and the proposed robotic equipment operation approach can significantly improve the safety of the operators who need to work at dangerous site conditions. © 2019 American Society of Civil Engineers.