EP3102744B1 - Dispositif de commande de véhicule à chargement autonome - Google Patents

Dispositif de commande de véhicule à chargement autonome Download PDF

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Publication number
EP3102744B1
EP3102744B1 EP15740514.3A EP15740514A EP3102744B1 EP 3102744 B1 EP3102744 B1 EP 3102744B1 EP 15740514 A EP15740514 A EP 15740514A EP 3102744 B1 EP3102744 B1 EP 3102744B1
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EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
bucket
dig
controller
alv
sensor signal
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EP15740514.3A
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German (de)
English (en)
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EP3102744C0 (fr
EP3102744A1 (fr
EP3102744A4 (fr
Inventor
Andrew Dobson
Joshua MARSHALL
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Epiroc Rock Drills AB
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Epiroc Rock Drills AB
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    • E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
    • E02—HYDRAULIC ENGINEERING; FOUNDATIONS; SOIL SHIFTING
    • E02F—DREDGING; SOIL-SHIFTING
    • E02F9/00—Component parts of dredgers or soil-shifting machines, not restricted to one of the kinds covered by groups E02F3/00 - E02F7/00
    • E02F9/26—Indicating devices
    • E02F9/264—Sensors and their calibration for indicating the position of the work tool
    • E02F9/265—Sensors and their calibration for indicating the position of the work tool with follow-up actions (e.g. control signals sent to actuate the work tool)
    • E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
    • E02—HYDRAULIC ENGINEERING; FOUNDATIONS; SOIL SHIFTING
    • E02F—DREDGING; SOIL-SHIFTING
    • E02F3/00—Dredgers; Soil-shifting machines
    • E02F3/04—Dredgers; Soil-shifting machines mechanically-driven
    • E02F3/28—Dredgers; Soil-shifting machines mechanically-driven with digging tools mounted on a dipper- or bucket-arm, i.e. there is either one arm or a pair of arms, e.g. dippers, buckets
    • E02F3/36—Component parts
    • E02F3/42—Drives for dippers, buckets, dipper-arms or bucket-arms
    • E02F3/43—Control of dipper or bucket position; Control of sequence of drive operations
    • E02F3/431—Control of dipper or bucket position; Control of sequence of drive operations for bucket-arms, front-end loaders, dumpers or the like
    • E02F3/434—Control of dipper or bucket position; Control of sequence of drive operations for bucket-arms, front-end loaders, dumpers or the like providing automatic sequences of movements, e.g. automatic dumping or loading, automatic return-to-dig
    • E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
    • E02—HYDRAULIC ENGINEERING; FOUNDATIONS; SOIL SHIFTING
    • E02F—DREDGING; SOIL-SHIFTING
    • E02F9/00—Component parts of dredgers or soil-shifting machines, not restricted to one of the kinds covered by groups E02F3/00 - E02F7/00
    • E02F9/20—Drives; Control devices
    • E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
    • E02—HYDRAULIC ENGINEERING; FOUNDATIONS; SOIL SHIFTING
    • E02F—DREDGING; SOIL-SHIFTING
    • E02F9/00—Component parts of dredgers or soil-shifting machines, not restricted to one of the kinds covered by groups E02F3/00 - E02F7/00
    • E02F9/20—Drives; Control devices
    • E02F9/2025—Particular purposes of control systems not otherwise provided for
    • E02F9/2029—Controlling the position of implements in function of its load, e.g. modifying the attitude of implements in accordance to vehicle speed
    • E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
    • E02—HYDRAULIC ENGINEERING; FOUNDATIONS; SOIL SHIFTING
    • E02F—DREDGING; SOIL-SHIFTING
    • E02F9/00—Component parts of dredgers or soil-shifting machines, not restricted to one of the kinds covered by groups E02F3/00 - E02F7/00
    • E02F9/20—Drives; Control devices
    • E02F9/2025—Particular purposes of control systems not otherwise provided for
    • E02F9/205—Remotely operated machines, e.g. unmanned vehicles

Definitions

  • This invention relates to control of excavation/loading vehicles.
  • this invention relates to autonomous or semi-autonomous control of excavation/loading vehicles.
  • Autonomous (or robotic) excavation/loading vehicles are of interest in the mining and construction industries, where the aim is to remove operators from hazardous environments, improve machine utilization and productivity, and reduce maintenance costs.
  • Autonomous excavation is also of interest in lunar or planetary exploration, where excavation cannot easily be carried out by remote control.
  • US6233511B1 describes a controller according to the preamble of claim 1 which permits an operator to coordinate the motion of two axes of a work implement such as the arm and bucket motions of a loader.
  • a dig controller for controlling interaction of an autonomous mining, construction or exploration or semi-autonomous loading vehicle (ALV), through a bucket movably attached to the ALV, with a rock pile, comprising: at least one controller that controls the bucket and/or the ALV in accordance with at least one sensor signal, wherein the at least one sensor signal is representative of interaction between the bucket and the rock pile during a dig; wherein the at least one sensor signal is obtained from at least one sensor associated with one or more actuators on the ALV, other than a bucket actuator, or one or more movable actuated elements acted upon by the actuators,.
  • the at least one controller comprises at least one adaptive admittance controller, which adaptive admittance controller maps a force signal obtained from one or more of the sensors to a change in bucket motion; and wherein the adaptive admittance controller implements a linear or non-linear movement control scheme for one or both the ALV and bucket in accordance with a predetermined, but tunable, bucket-loading algorithm.
  • the dig controller further comprises at least one iterative learning controller (ILC) that uses feedback from at least one previous dig to modify the at least one sensor signal provided to the at least one controller.
  • ILC iterative learning controller
  • the ALV at least one controller that controls a bucket and/or the ALV in accordance with at least one sensor signal, wherein the at least one sensor signal is representative of interaction between the bucket and the rock pile during a dig; and at least one ILC that uses feedback from at least one previous dig to modify the at least one sensor signal provided to the at least one controller.
  • the at least one sensor signal is obtained by measuring a force received by a boom actuator. In another embodiment, the at least one sensor signal is obtained by measuring a force received by an actuated element.
  • an admittance controller may control velocity of the bucket.
  • An adaptive admittance controller may dynamically adjust at least one parameter in response to a difference between a sensor signal and a desired signal.
  • the at least one controller maps one or more sensor signals to a range of possible bucket velocities or ALV velocities by using at least one of proportional, integral, and derivative control.
  • the at least one controller may map a total force error to a range of possible sensed forces using at least one of proportional, integral, and derivative control.
  • the at least one ILC may map a signal from a previous dig to changes in dig controller response using at least one of proportional, integral, and derivative control.
  • the dig controller may modify the at least one sensor signal provided to the controller such that bucket velocity or ALV velocity are changed.
  • the dig controller may comprise at least one position controller that controls at least one of movement of the bucket of the ALV to at least one selected pose, and movement of the ALV relative to the rock pile.
  • the dig controller may comprise a first velocity ILC that perturbs an ALV velocity based on a sensor signal representative of interaction between the bucket and the rock pile during at least one previous dig, and a second ILC that modifies a sensor signal derived from boom and bucket force error measurement of at least one previous dig.
  • the dig controller may comprise a first ILC that modifies a sensor signal being provided to a boom admittance controller, and a second ILC that modifies a sensor signal being provided to a bucket admittance controller, wherein modifying is based on feedback from at least one previous dig.
  • programmed media for use with an ALV dig controller comprising a computer
  • the programmed media comprising: a computer program stored on non-transitory storage media compatible with the computer, the computer program containing instructions to direct the computer to perform one or more of: receive at least one sensor signal from at least one sensor associated with one or more actuators other than a bucket actuator, or one or more actuated elements; wherein the at least one sensor signal is representative of interaction between the bucket and the rock pile during a dig; and control the bucket and/or the ALV in accordance with the at least one sensor signal.
  • ALV dig controller comprising a computer
  • the programmed media comprising: a computer program stored on non-transitory storage media compatible with the computer, the computer program containing instructions to direct the computer to perform one or more of: control a bucket and/or the ALV in accordance with at least one sensor signal, wherein the at least one sensor signal is representative of interaction between the bucket and the rock pile during a dig; and direct an ILC to use feedback from at least one previous dig to modify the at least one sensor signal; wherein modifying the at least one sensor signal changes the control of the bucket and/or the ALV.
  • Also described herein is a method of controlling an ALV, comprising: obtaining at least one sensor signal from at least one sensor associated with one or more actuators other than a bucket actuator, or one or more actuated elements; wherein the at least one sensor signal is representative of interaction between the bucket and the rock pile during a dig; and controlling the bucket and/or the ALV in accordance with the at least one sensor signal.
  • Also described herein is a method of controlling an ALV, comprising: controlling a bucket and/or the ALV in accordance with at least one sensor signal, wherein the at least one sensor signal is representative of interaction between the bucket and the rock pile during a dig; and modifying the at least one sensor signal using at least one ILC that incorporates feedback from at least one previous dig; wherein modifying the at least one sensor signal changes the control of the bucket and/or the ALV.
  • the method may include modifying the at least one sensor signal provided to the controller such that bucket velocity or ALV velocity are changed.
  • Controlling may further comprise dynamically adjusting at least one parameter in response to a difference between a sensor signal and a desired signal.
  • the method may further comprise controlling at least one of movement of the bucket of the ALV to at least one selected pose, and movement of the ALV relative to the rock pile.
  • the method may further comprise perturbing an ALV velocity based on a sensor signal representative of interaction between the bucket and the rock pile during at least one previous dig, and modifying a sensor signal derived from boom and bucket force error measurement of at least one previous dig.
  • the method may further comprise modifying a sensor signal being provided to a boom admittance controller, and modifying a sensor signal being provided to a bucket admittance controller, wherein modifying is based on feedback from at least one previous dig.
  • controlling may include mapping a total force error to a range of possible sensed forces using at least one of proportional, integral, and derivative control.
  • the method may further comprise mapping a signal from a previous dig to changes in dig controller response using at least one of proportional, integral, and derivative control.
  • the payload may be controlled based on a parameter of a breakout condition, or by modifying such a parameter.
  • autonomous loading vehicle As used herein, the term “autonomous loading vehicle” (ALV) is intended to refer generally to an autonomous, semi-autonomous, or robotic excavator machine or load-haul dump (LHD) vehicle used in accordance with the embodiments described herein.
  • LHD load-haul dump
  • actuator is intended to refer to a component of the ALV that causes a change in vehicle configuration and/or motion.
  • An actuator may carry out a function based on a command from a controller.
  • vehicle configuration may include position and/or orientation of a boom or dig tool, and/or position and/or orientation of the ALV.
  • actuated element is intended to refer to a component of the ALV that is acted upon by an actuator, such as, for example, a boom or a dig tool, or actuator not currently receiving a command but being acted on by another actuator.
  • bucket is intended to refer generally to a dig tool of an ALV, which may comprise a bucket, blade, chisel, fork, probe, bit, or other, as known in the art.
  • rock pile is intended to refer generally to the material being loaded by the ALV. It is to be understood that the material may be of any type or composition as may be associated with excavation, construction, mining, and exploration, such as, but not limited to, soil, sand, gravel, ore, slag, salt, fragmented rock, regolith, or any combination thereof.
  • dig is intended to refer generally to the actions performed by an ALV to carry out a desired function using its bucket.
  • a desired function may be to fill the bucket with material from the rock pile, wherein “dig” may be considered equivalent to "excavate”.
  • other actions e.g., "load”
  • the dig actions of the ALV are controlled by dig controller embodiments described herein.
  • modify means to change, adjust, or alter a magnitude or value, such as to increase or decrease a magnitude or value.
  • the magnitude or value may pertain to a sensor signal. Modifying may be performed according to a mathematical operation or function, and/or may be performed in respect of a constant.
  • the dig controller embodiments for ALVs described herein provide efficient autonomous excavation in a wide range of materials in applications such as mining, construction, and exploration.
  • the embodiments are particularly effective in rock piles including randomly sized fractured rock, which may be encountered in applications such as, for example, mining and construction.
  • FIG. 1A A generic ALV is shown in Fig. 1A .
  • the ALV includes a bucket 1 attached to a boom 2.
  • the bucket is moved by actuating a bucket linear actuator 3 (curl), while the boom is moved by actuating a boom linear actuator 4 (hoist).
  • These actuators which may be electric, hydraulic, pneumatic, or a combination thereof, may be equipped with linear sensors or angular encoders to determine the configuration and/or motion of the bucket.
  • Each actuator has a cylinder side and a rod side, shown as 7 and 8, respectively, for the bucket actuator 3.
  • the boom and bucket actuators 4, 3, respectively, are connected to a vehicle 5 that can drive the boom and actuators to a desired location within the workspace.
  • the vehicle drives the boom and bucket forward into the rock pile 6 (e.g., Fig. 1B ).
  • the interaction between the bucket and the rock pile e.g., Fig. 1C ) causes changes in pressure on both the cylinder side 7 and rod side 8 of both linear actuators (e.g., Fig. 1D ), until the bucket is extracted from the rock pile.
  • an ALV 10 interacts with a rock pile 6.
  • Sensors produce sensor signals 14 representative of interaction between the bucket and the rock pile (e.g., reaction forces 40) and signals representative of motion of one or more bucket actuators 50.
  • the sensors signals may be generated using one or more sensor or a combination of sensors selected from, but not limited to, accelerometer, force sensor, pressure sensor, torque sensor, load cell, and strain gauge.
  • Bucket velocity may be sensed using one or more sensor or a combination of sensors, transducers, and the like selected from, but not limited to, accelerometer, linear variable differential transformer, wave reflection measurement (e.g., sonar, laser, infrared, video, optical encoder), and potentiometer (e.g., string, linear, or angular).
  • the sensor signals are used by the dig controller 20, together with parameters 16 such as target forces 12, to generate control signals 18 that control the ALV.
  • Dig controller embodiments may include or utilize a sensing system 30 and controllers to control digging behavior of the ALV. Further detail is shown in the generalized embodiment block diagram of Fig. 2B .
  • the sensing system 30 includes at least one sensor 32 and optionally a signal conditioner 34 that provides a sensor signal as input to the dig controller 20, which may include a logic device 22 and memory 24. Manual controls 26 and an operator interface 28 may also be provided.
  • One or more sensors may be associated with an actuated element 64 of the ALV.
  • the controllers may include an actuator control device 60 to move the boom and bucket actuators 62 to an entry pose, to drive the ALV into the rock pile, and control forward motion of the ALV throughout the dig.
  • the sensing system may detect that a force threshold is reached (e.g., 40 in Fig. 2A ), upon which the dig controller 20 may use admittance controllers in an actuator control device 60 to regulate the velocity of the boom and/or bucket actuators 62 in response to the sensed forces.
  • the sensing system may detect that the bucket actuator is fully extended (e.g., 50 in Fig. 2A ), whereupon the forward motion of the ALV may be halted, and a position controller may be used to raise the boom to a weighing pose.
  • the sensing system 30 may include at least one linear or angular sensor for each actuator (e.g., boom and bucket), and at least one force sensor for each actuator.
  • the force sensors include one or more pressure sensors on each actuator (e.g., one on the cylinder side, and one on the rod side of hydraulic actuators).
  • the sensing system may optionally include a sensor for measuring the forward motion of the ALV.
  • the sensor may include one or more of an angular wheel encoder, an inertial sensor for detecting initial contact with the rock pile, and a vision system for detecting and/or assessing and/or characterizing the surface state of the rock pile.
  • the vision system may include a ranging system capable of generating a 3-D representation of the rock pile surface. The 3-D representation may be used to select a point of contact between the bucket and rock pile such that digging time and effort are minimized.
  • a controller may include a proportional, integral, or derivative controller, or any combination thereof.
  • the dig controller may include one or more admittance controllers 20A ( Fig. 3A ).
  • Admittance controllers respond to changes in force with changes in velocity.
  • an admittance controller seeks to maintain a mechanical admittance relationship between the environment (e.g., the rock pile) and a dig tool such that dig tool velocity is altered to achieve a desired environment reaction force.
  • an admittance controller may map a force signal to a change in bucket motion (e.g., a desired velocity, as shown in Fig. 3C ).
  • Sensor signal input to the dig controller may be one or more parameter selected from, or may include all of: entry height, angle, boom force target, throttle, digging boom and bucket force targets, boom and bucket admittance controller gains, breakout condition, and weighing height and angle.
  • entry height, angle, boom force target, throttle, digging boom and bucket force targets, boom and bucket admittance controller gains, breakout condition, and weighing height and angle For example, in one embodiment, when bucket forces increase, the velocity of the bucket is adjusted to bring the sensed forces within desired values.
  • admittance controllers provides embodiments that are relatively invariant to bucket-rock pile interactions because they regulate force, not position, of the bucket. This dynamic force regulation is particularly desirable for digging through a rock pile with random rock sizes, because pre-determined (i.e., static) path targets would be difficult to follow given the randomly shaped obstacles that may be present in a typical rock pile.
  • Admittance controller parameters may include proportional, integral, or derivative control terms, and a controller may implement a linear or nonlinear control scheme, e.g., according to a mathematical operation or function, and/or according to a constant.
  • An admittance controller may be operated using dig logic 22 such as that shown in the embodiment of Fig. 3B .
  • Aggressiveness of an admittance controller may be governed by one or more parameters.
  • these parameters are the ALV entry throttle and the target force values 12 for the admittance controllers 20A for the boom and bucket.
  • excavation efficiency is governed by the controller parameters and unknown rock pile parameters (more generally, the environmental parameters).
  • the unknown rock pile parameters may include, for example, the rock size distribution, the pile shape, rock parameters (shape, Young's modulus, Poisson's ratio, etc.), moisture content, cohesion, and angle of repose, among others. It would be impractical to measure each of these parameters because of their number, and because the rock pile changes so frequently. While equations exist for modelling more homogeneous materials, such as soils, they are generally ill-suited for modelling non-homogeneous and highly variable targets such as fractured rock piles.
  • the admittance controller overcomes this problem by treating the rock pile as an unmodelled body that provides changing reaction forces as the bucket passes through the pile.
  • the admittance controller uses these forces to modify the motion of the bucket without explicitly knowing the characteristics of the rock pile.
  • admittance controllers work well when the controller parameters have been tuned for a current state of the rock pile, they may need to be re-tuned when the rock pile changes significantly. For example, an admittance controller tuned for a wet rock pile may be too aggressive when the pile dries out, resulting in wasted effort and decreased efficiency.
  • the boom actuator may be used to sense the digging force and provide a sensor signal that is used by the controller (e.g., an admittance controller, an adaptive admittance controller) to change the velocity of the bucket.
  • the controller e.g., an admittance controller, an adaptive admittance controller
  • no commands are issued to the boom actuator, and forces sensed in the boom actuator are in response to the interaction between the dig tool and the rock pile.
  • reaction forces received by the boom actuator provide an indication of the interaction between the dig tool and the rock pile.
  • the bucket actuator receives commands from the controller, and the boom actuator becomes an actuated element because no commands are sent to it by the controller.
  • a sensor signal may be obtained by measuring strain in an actuated element, such as a boom.
  • one or more other elements of the ALV could be used together with, or instead of the boom actuator, to provide sensor signal(s) to the controller, and used for controlling the ALV, provided that such one or more other elements are associated with appropriate sensor(s) to generate sensor signal(s) related to a dig parameter such as interaction between the dig tool and the rock pile.
  • Such an embodiment may, for example, reduce strain on ALV components, thereby reducing down-time for maintenance and associated costs. This may be achieved by controlling the payload based on a parameter of a breakout condition, or by modifying such a parameter.
  • rock pile parameters can vary significantly from one dig to the next even if the material being extracted remains of the same type.
  • Admittance control as described herein has proved resilient to such changes; however, significant changes to digging conditions might give rise to a need to re-tune the admittance controller. Constantly tuning the admittance controller would not be practical or desirable.
  • Some embodiments as described herein avoid the tuning problem by including at least one iterative learning controller (ILC) 70, 72, as shown in Figs. 3D and 3E .
  • An ILC modifies the inputs to an admittance controller so that the controller parameters can remain constant while the controller response is altered. For example, as shown in Figs.
  • an ILC may modify an input sensor signal, such as force, to an admittance controller, so that a desired dig behaviour is achieved while the entry throttle and force targets remain the same.
  • an input sensor signal such as force
  • an admittance controller such as force
  • the degree to which forces are modified is dictated by the force error history from previous dig attempts.
  • an ILC allows the algorithm to respond to changing rock pile conditions without having to re-tune (e.g., select constants that optimize performance) the admittance controller. This feature saves time, and eliminates the need for a specialist who would otherwise be needed for the re-tuning process.
  • an adaptive admittance controller may be used. Parameters (e.g., proportional, integral, or derivative control terms) may be tuned or adapted dynamically (e.g., in real time or substantially in real time) to compensate for rapid changes in rock pile characteristics, such as stiffness, during a dig, thereby avoiding the need for modelling the rock pile. For example, an adaptive admittance controller may use the force tracking error to dynamically adjust admittance parameters throughout the dig in real time. In a further embodiment, an adaptive admittance controller may be used together with at least one ILC.
  • a dig controller shown in the block diagram of Fig. 3D , includes two admittance controllers 20A and two ILCs 70, 72.
  • a further embodiment may also include scripted entry and exit controllers.
  • a further embodiment may include a detector for detecting if/when the ALV is stuck.
  • the entry controller moves the boom and bucket actuators to an entry pose (e.g., bucket level with and just above the ground) using, for example, a proportional position controller.
  • the ALV is then commanded to move towards the rock pile at a rate determined by the entry throttle set point, and the bucket engages the rock pile.
  • the admittance controllers begin moving the boom and bucket actuators.
  • an exit controller takes over.
  • the exit controller moves the boom and bucket to a weighing pose (e.g., bucket fully curled and raised above the rock pile) using, e.g., a proportional position controller.
  • a weighing pose e.g., bucket fully curled and raised above the rock pile
  • the actuators is used to assess the success of the dig attempt.
  • An optimum dig maximizes bucket payload while minimizing dig time and work expended.
  • the admittance and position controllers operate at high frequency to perform the digging operations, while the ILCs only operate once per dig cycle.
  • An admittance controller may implement any mathematical relationship that maps the range of force errors to a range of possible actuator velocities.
  • An admittance controller may modify a parameter, for example, in response to the magnitude of a sensed signal less a desired signal value.
  • Fig. 3E is a block diagram of an admittance controller 20A according to one embodiment. Perturbed forces are used by the admittance controller to publish changes in the boom and bucket actuator velocities. These velocities are integrated to provide a set of desired positions for the boom and bucket actuator position controllers 60. The desired positions are tracked by the position controllers to provide the desired change in actuator length. The change in length causes the bucket to move in the rock pile, which causes the reaction forces to change.
  • This change in force is sensed by pressure sensors 90 and used to calculate the new boom and bucket actuator forces 80.
  • these updated forces are again perturbed by the admittance ILC before being fed back to the admittance controller.
  • the total force error 85 is used to update the force perturbation for the next dig attempt, while the entry throttle ILC adds the new entry slope error to the previous entry slope errors so that the next entry throttle perturbation can be calculated.
  • an ILC applies a correction 87 to the default entry throttle based on the entry force slope from several previous dig attempts.
  • Other parameters used are the digging force targets.
  • the ILCs apply a correction 92 to the sensed forces 94 based on the total force error 96 from several previous dig attempts.
  • the entry throttle is initially tuned to a set value, the entry throttle is perturbed by the ILC to improve digging efficiency consistency.
  • the entry throttle is perturbed by the ILC to improve digging efficiency consistency.
  • the initial force rise for each dig attempt may be represented by the slope of a line passing through the lowest force reading, and the highest force reading, during the entry period (between bucket entry and admittance control). These slopes are compared against an ideal entry force slope to calculate the slope error for each dig attempt. These errors are stored in memory and a specified number n of them are summed. The sum 98 is used by the entry ILC to calculate how the entry throttle should be perturbed for the next dig attempt.
  • an ILC may modify incoming forces so that the admittance controllers respond more aggressively.
  • Figs. 4C and 4D show that the ILCs increase the target entry throttle, and artificially increase the incoming forces. The increased values cause the ALV to enter the rock pile at a higher velocity, and curl and hoist the bucket faster.
  • increasing the entry, boom, and bucket velocities increases overall dig controller aggressiveness, and decreases digging variability compared to using parameters obtained from a training rock pile.
  • Dig controller embodiments may be implemented in analog and/or digital (hardware/software) platforms. Specific implementations may be provided for compatibility with existing control systems, ALVs, sensors, etc., such as may be required to retrofit or upgrade existing systems and ALVs.
  • a dig controller may be implemented in whole or in part using discrete components, using digital technology (e.g., in a digital signal processor (DSP), field programmable gate array (FPGA), or application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) device), or using a combination thereof.
  • DSP digital signal processor
  • FPGA field programmable gate array
  • ASIC application specific integrated circuit
  • One or more components of the dig controller may be implemented in an algorithm using a suitable hardware language such as, for example, very high speed integrated circuit (VHSIC), hardware descriptive language (VHDL), register transfer language (RTL), or Verilog.
  • VHSIC very high speed integrated circuit
  • VHDL hardware descriptive language
  • RTL register transfer language
  • Verilog Verilog
  • This example illustrates the design and field testing of an embodiment of a loading algorithm based on admittance control using forces sensed from the bucket-rock interactions to modify the velocity of the bucket during digging.
  • the loading algorithm (shown below) has three parts corresponding to three dig phases. The three dig phases, entry, digging, and breakout, are shown schematically in Figs. 1B, 1C, and 1D , respectively.
  • the entry phase is shown in Fig. 1B .
  • the entry phase ends when the bucket is in the entry position, and the forward motion of the ALV causes the bucket rock reaction forces to rise above a preset value.
  • the admittance controller causes the bucket to curl upwards or downwards to maintain a desired reaction force while the boom is used only to measure the digging reaction forces.
  • the breakout phase starts when the bucket has fully curled, and ends when the bucket is in the weighing position.
  • the admittance controller is the part of the algorithm that governs the motion of the bucket through the rock pile.
  • the admittance controller uses the error between the sensed dig reaction forces and a digging force target to alter the velocity of the bucket actuator.
  • FIG. 3C A generalized block diagram for the admittance controller is shown in Fig. 3C .
  • ⁇ A the actuator velocity
  • k A > 0 the (admittance) proportional gain
  • the force error is given by the target force f T minus the dig reaction force f S .
  • f T was set at 80 kN, while k A was set at 1.1 ⁇ 10 -7 .
  • k T was set at 80 kN
  • k A was set at 1.1 ⁇ 10 -7 .
  • These values were determined experimentally by adjusting them until the mass of payload in the bucket was high and consistent.
  • the values may also be determined using off-line tuning methods for the admittance controller, wherein the values are calculated based on known vehicle parameters, and average rock pile stiffness.
  • the controller was restricted to only making positive changes to the bucket velocity (i.e., only upward curl was allowed). In this example, this restriction was imposed so that no energy was wasted compressing rock against the underside of the bucket (and to maintain traction of the ALV wheels). However, this restriction is not always necessary, and may be omitted in other embodiments.
  • the drive train commands were set such that the loader was driven straight into the rock pile at a constant velocity.
  • the entry position was selected such that the bucket scraped the asphalt substrate to ensure the bucket penetrated the rock pile at entry.
  • the combination of drive train commands and entry pose resulted in substantially consistent penetration depth.
  • the throttle was set to full to maximize the bucket actuator speed and power while the forward thrust was limited by applying partial brake.
  • the brake level was set such that the forward thrust tended to increase the forces experienced in the actuators, which caused the admittance controllers to attempt to reduce the forces by curling backwards.
  • the forward thrust tends to bias the controller towards the breakout condition ensuring that the dig completes before the bucket forces rise sufficiently to overcome the capacity of the actuators.
  • An automated 1-tonne surface loader and a blasted limestone rock pile were used to test and tune the loading algorithm.
  • the loader was a Kubota R520s that was outfitted for automation by adding sensors, actuators, and on-board computer systems. Only boom and bucket extension and pressure sensors were used for this example. The boom and bucket actuator extensions were measured at 10 Hz by a custom hall effect sensor. Each extension sensor contained two Honeywell SPSL225 contactless IP69 linear encoders mounted in a custom housing. Two Measurement Specialties MSP-400 pressure sensors were installed on the rod and cylinder ports of each actuator so that the net force acting on the actuators could be calculated. The pressure sensor data was captured at 107 Hz by a single chicken Uno board.
  • the chicken Uno pressure and actuator extension messages were passed to the main computer over a Robot Operating System (ROS) Electric network.
  • the main computer was a Mini-ITX Intel Core i5 64-bit PC running Ubuntu 11.10, and ROS Electric.
  • the main computer used a ROS network to publish and subscribe to topics over a wireless network.
  • the autonomous loading algorithm was run on a separate Intel Core i5 64-bit laptop (running Ubuntu 11.10, and ROS Electric) connected to the wireless network. This laptop was also used for data collection.
  • the volume of rock within the bucket was also verified by using the video feed from the wireless workstation.
  • the payload was then dumped manually, and the loader was repositioned in front of the rock pile.
  • Saturated dig 18 (S 18) and P controlled dig 11 (P11) took 30 seconds longer than average due to wireless network issues, and low rock pile entry respectively.
  • the PI controller digs achieved 9% more payload and took 2 s longer than the fully saturated digs.
  • Average saturated (S 1 1), P controlled (P7), and PI controlled (PI68) dig attempts are presented, followed by the slow digs (S 18 and P11), a high work dig (PI71), and two failed digs (S8 and P6).
  • valves on the loader When considering the actuator positions, valve commands (based on valve positions), and actuator forces for the nominal digs (S 11 and P7), the valves on the loader have a deadband between ⁇ 0.5. No fluid can flow to the actuators for any commanded valve positions within the deadband, hence any command within the deadband can be treated as zero valve displacement (a closed valve).
  • the saturated dig curls the bucket at maximum velocity and the forces oscillate severely.
  • the admittance controller alters the curl velocity in response to the changing forces resulting in less severe force changes.
  • Desired force profiles such as shown in Figs. 6A and 6B , may be used as basis for dividing a loading ILC into two parts: the entry ILC that governs the entry throttle; and the admittance controller ILC that modifies the sensed forces going into the admittance controllers.
  • the entry ILC compared the slope of the boom entry force profile to the slope of the desired entry force profile as shown in Fig. 7 .
  • a force rise below 100 kN/s indicates that the rock pile provided less resistance than a training rock pile, while a force rise above this target indicates a more resistive pile. Compensation for a less resistive pile may be achieved by adjusting the entry throttle according to the relationship shown in Equation 5.
  • ⁇ entry is any desired controller that maps the entry slope error e entry slope to a throttle increment, referred to as the entry throttle correction C Entry throttle .
  • the simplest controller is a proportional controller entry that linearly maps slope error to a throttle correction increment.
  • i is the number of dig cycles to consider.
  • ⁇ i is an optional weight applied to each entry slope error. This weight term can be used to bias the correction towards a desired set of entry slope error readings. For instance, the most recent entry slope errors are likely to best represent the current state of the rock pile. For example, a weight that exponentially decreases with respect to i may be used to apply the largest weights to the most recent tests.
  • Equation 6 shows a specific instance of the entry ILC where slope errors from five dig attempts are multiplied by an exponentially decreasing weight, and summed before being multiplied by a proportional gain entry.
  • the admittance ILC compares the calculated forces to the desired forces, and uses the result to modify the forces used by the admittance controllers.
  • An example force profile is shown in Fig. 8 .
  • ⁇ admittance is the admittance ILC gain. Any general controller ⁇ admittance could be used instead of the proportional controller ⁇ admittance .
  • ILCs An advantage of the ILCs is that once the admittance controller parameters are tuned for a given vehicle and rock pile they need never be tuned again.
  • the ILCs discussed in this section have only two parameters each: the number of previous dig attempts i , and the ILC gains y. Another way to view the ILC gains is in terms of the aggressiveness of the entire digging algorithm (admittance and ILC controllers).
  • the admittance controllers will respond more aggressively to changes in the rock pile, and if the ILC gains are low the controllers will respond less aggressively. This level of control is perfect for operators since it is a single value that can be tuned based on the overall loading goals. If an LHD payload is below the desired mass flow rate of the mill the operator can increase the aggressiveness of the controller by increasing the ILC gains. If the mass flow rate exceeds what the mill can handle, the ILC gains can be reduced, e.g., to save on tire wear and fuel consumption.

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Mining & Mineral Resources (AREA)
  • Civil Engineering (AREA)
  • General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Structural Engineering (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • Operation Control Of Excavators (AREA)
  • Control Of Position, Course, Altitude, Or Attitude Of Moving Bodies (AREA)

Claims (22)

  1. Dispositif de commande d'excavation (20) pour commander une interaction d'un véhicule à chargement autonome (ALV) d'exploitation minière, de construction ou d'exploration (5, 10) par l'intermédiaire d'un godet fixé de manière mobile à l'ALV, avec un tas de roches, comprenant :
    au moins un dispositif de commande commandant le godet (1) et/ou l'ALV conformément à au moins un signal de capteur (14), dans lequel l'au moins un signal de capteur est représentatif d'une interaction entre le godet et le tas de roches (16) pendant une excavation ;
    l'au moins un signal de capteur étant obtenu à partir d'au moins un capteur (32) associé à un ou plusieurs actionneurs sur l'ALV, autres qu'un actionneur de godet, ou à un ou plusieurs éléments mobiles actionnés par les actionneurs,
    caractérisé en ce que
    l'au moins un dispositif de commande comprend au moins un dispositif de commande d'admission adaptatif, lequel dispositif de commande d'admission adaptatif mappe un signal de force obtenu à partir d'un ou plusieurs capteurs à un changement dans un mouvement de godet ; et
    dans lequel le dispositif de commande d'admission adaptatif met en oeuvre un schéma de commande de déplacement linéaire ou non linéaire pour l'un ou l'autre de l'ALV et du godet, ou les deux, conformément à un algorithme de chargement de godet prédéterminé mais accordable.
  2. Dispositif de commande d'excavation selon la revendication 1, dans lequel l'algorithme de chargement de godet comprend des parties correspondant à des phases d'excavation prédéterminées qui comportent l'entrée, l'excavation et l'extraction d'un godet chargé.
  3. Dispositif de commande d'excavation selon la revendication 1, dans lequel une charge utile de godet finale est réglée en modifiant un paramètre correspondant à une phase d'extraction d'une excavation.
  4. Dispositif de commande d'excavation selon la revendication 1, dans lequel l'au moins un signal de capteur est obtenu en mesurant une force reçue par un actionneur de flèche (4).
  5. Dispositif de commande d'excavation selon la revendication 1, dans lequel l'au moins un signal de capteur est obtenu en mesurant une force reçue par un élément actionné.
  6. Dispositif de commande d'excavation selon la revendication 1, dans lequel le dispositif de commande d'admission adaptatif règle dynamiquement au moins un paramètre en réponse à une différence entre le ou les signaux de capteur et un signal souhaité.
  7. Dispositif de commande d'excavation selon la revendication 1, dans lequel l'au moins un dispositif de commande d'admission adaptatif mappe un ou plusieurs signaux de capteur à une gamme de vitesses de godet ou de vitesses ALV possibles à l'aide d'au moins l'une parmi une commande proportionnelle, une commande intégrale et une commande dérivée.
  8. Dispositif de commande d'excavation selon l'une quelconque des revendications 1 à 7, comprenant en outre au moins un dispositif de commande d'apprentissage itératif (ILC) (70,72) qui utilise la rétroaction d'au moins une excavation précédente pour modifier l'au moins un signal de capteur fourni à l'au moins un dispositif de commande d'admission adaptatif.
  9. Dispositif de commande d'excavation selon la revendication 8, dans lequel l'ALV comprend une flèche mobile et un godet mobile fixé à la flèche, dans lequel le dispositif de commande d'excavation comprend en outre un premier ILC de vitesse (70,72) qui perturbe une vitesse d'ALV sur la base d'un signal de capteur représentatif d'une interaction entre le godet et le tas de roches pendant au moins une excavation précédente, et un deuxième ILC qui modifie un signal de capteur dérivé d'une mesure d'erreur de force de flèche et de godet d'au moins une excavation précédente.
  10. Dispositif de commande d'excavation selon la revendication 8, comportant un premier ILC qui modifie un signal de capteur fourni à un dispositif de commande d'admission de flèche, et un deuxième ILC qui modifie un signal de capteur fourni à un dispositif de commande d'admission de godet, dans lequel la modification est basée sur la rétroaction d'au moins une excavation précédente.
  11. Dispositif de commande d'excavation selon la revendication 8, dans lequel l'au moins un ILC mappe un signal d'une excavation précédente à des changements dans une réponse de dispositif de commande d'excavation à l'aide d'au moins l'une parmi une commande proportionnelle, une commande intégrale et une commande dérivée.
  12. Procédé de commande d'un véhicule à chargement autonome (ALV) (5, 10) équipé d'un godet mobile, comprenant les étapes consistant à :
    amener le godet à se mettre en prise et à interagir avec un tas de roches ;
    obtenir, pendant l'interaction du godet avec le tas de roches, au moins un signal de capteur (14) à partir d'au moins un capteur associé à un ou plusieurs actionneurs, autres qu'un actionneur de godet (3), ou à un ou plusieurs éléments actionnés de l'ALV, ou au niveau de celui-ci, qui sont actionnés par l'un respectif des actionneurs ;
    et utiliser un dispositif de commande d'excavation conformément à l'une quelconque des revendications 1 à 11 pour commander un déplacement du godet et/ou de l'ALV conformément à l'au moins un signal de capteur pendant l'interaction avec le tas de roches.
  13. Procédé selon la revendication 12, comprenant l'étape consistant à obtenir l'au moins un signal de capteur (14) en mesurant une force appliquée par un actionneur de flèche à une flèche avec le godet, ou en mesurant une contrainte dans l'élément actionné.
  14. Procédé selon la revendication 12, comportant l'étape consistant à modifier l'au moins un signal de capteur fourni au dispositif de commande d'excavation de sorte à changer une vitesse de godet ou une vitesse d'ALV.
  15. Procédé selon la revendication 12, dans lequel la commande comprend en outre l'étape consistant à régler dynamiquement au moins un paramètre en réponse à une différence entre le signal de capteur et un signal souhaité.
  16. Procédé selon la revendication 12, comprenant en outre l'étape consistant à commander au moins l'un parmi un déplacement du godet de l'ALV vers au moins une position sélectionnée, et un déplacement de l'ALV par rapport au tas de roches.
  17. Procédé selon la revendication 12, dans lequel le godet est fixé à une flèche de l'ALV, le procédé comprenant en outre l'étape consistant à perturber une vitesse d'ALV sur la base d'un signal de capteur représentatif d'une interaction entre le godet et le tas de roches pendant au moins une excavation précédente, et à modifier un signal de capteur dérivé d'une mesure d'erreur de force de flèche et de godet d'au moins une excavation précédente.
  18. Procédé selon la revendication 12, dans lequel le godet est fixé à une flèche de l'ALV, le procédé comprenant en outre l'étape consistant à modifier un signal de capteur fourni à un dispositif de commande d'admission de flèche commandant la flèche, et à modifier un signal de capteur fourni à un dispositif de commande d'admission de godet du godet, dans lequel la modification est basée sur la rétroaction d'au moins une excavation précédente.
  19. Procédé selon la revendication 12, dans lequel la commande comporte le mappage d'une erreur de force totale à une gamme de forces détectées possibles à l'aide d'au moins l'une parmi une commande proportionnelle, une commande intégrale et une commande dérivée.
  20. Procédé selon la revendication 12, comprenant en outre l'étape consistant à mapper un signal d'une excavation précédente à des changements dans une réponse de dispositif de commande d'excavation à l'aide d'au moins l'une parmi une commande proportionnelle, une commande intégrale et une commande dérivée.
  21. Procédé selon la revendication 12, comprenant en outre l'étape consistant à régler une charge utile finale en modifiant un paramètre correspondant à une phase d'extraction d'une excavation.
  22. Produit de support de stockage non transitoire codant un programme de commande d'un véhicule à chargement autonome (ALV) d'exploitation minière, de construction ou d'exploration qui, lorsqu'il est exécuté sur un processeur de l'ALV, fournit un dispositif de commande d'excavation selon l'une quelconque des revendications 1 à 11 et commande l'ALV conformément aux étapes de l'une quelconque des revendications 12 à 20.
EP15740514.3A 2014-01-24 2015-01-23 Dispositif de commande de véhicule à chargement autonome Active EP3102744B1 (fr)

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US201462033904P 2014-08-06 2014-08-06
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CA3129016A1 (fr) * 2021-04-07 2022-10-07 Queen's University At Kingston Classification automatique de materiaux d'excavation

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RU2016134403A3 (fr) 2018-08-21
CL2016001684A1 (es) 2016-11-18
EP3102744C0 (fr) 2023-07-05
RU2016134403A (ru) 2018-03-01
EP3102744A1 (fr) 2016-12-14
RU2703086C2 (ru) 2019-10-15
CA2935576A1 (fr) 2015-07-30
AU2015208631B2 (en) 2019-07-25
EP3102744A4 (fr) 2018-03-07
CA2935576C (fr) 2022-08-02
WO2015109392A1 (fr) 2015-07-30
AU2015208631A1 (en) 2016-07-28

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