Intelligent navigation strategies for an automated earthwork system

Abstract

The need for automation to better deal with the safety and the productivity requirements of earthwork operations in today's construction market has been increasing. In this paper, intelligent navigation strategies, which are essential for an automated earthwork system to execute excavation effectively, are suggested. The first type, which we call a global navigation strategy, creates movable paths between two work areas, reflecting the size and safety buffer of equipment, and suggests a method to reach the target point without collision with mobile obstacles. The second type, which we call a local navigation strategy, generates efficient paths for earthwork operations in a given work area. The possible application is tested using computer simulation. The results show that the navigation strategies can introduce intelligence to the automated system to generate a safe and effective path for remote or automated earthwork operations without human intervention and to execute earthwork in a hazard-free environment.