JP2023118169A - Control device for work machine, and work machine including the same - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a control device for a work machine that allows for improved work efficiency of the work machine, regardless of geography and geological properties of a work site.SOLUTION: A control device for a work machine has an operation planning part forming an operation plan of the work machine, on the basis of a position of the work machine. The operation planning part acquires first geographical information related to the geography of a surrounding region of the work machine including the position, and first geological property information related to the geological properties of the surrounding region, and identifies a work region of the work machine on the basis of the first geographical information and the first geological property information.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to a work machine control device and a work machine including the control device.

Conventionally, there is known a work machine capable of maintaining semi-automatic control construction accuracy regardless of soil quality (for example, Patent Literature 1).

Patent Literature 1 describes a hydraulic excavator that includes a traveling body, a revolving body mounted on the traveling body so as to be able to turn, and a front work machine connected to the revolving body so as to be vertically rotatable. ing. The front work machine includes a boom vertically rotatably connected to a revolving body, an arm vertically rotatably connected to the tip of the boom, and a vertically rotatable arm attached to the tip of the arm. It has a rotatably connected bucket, a boom cylinder that drives the boom, an arm cylinder that drives the arm, and a bucket cylinder that drives the bucket. Further, the hydraulic excavator is equipped with a pressure sensor that converts the load pressure of the boom cylinder, the arm cylinder, and the bucket cylinder into a pressure signal and outputs the signal.

In the hydraulic excavator disclosed in Patent Literature 1, load pressures of the boom cylinder, the arm cylinder, and the bucket cylinder detected by pressure sensors are input to the soil acquisition unit as pressure signals. The soil acquisition unit acquires soil information based on the pressure signal and the like. In the hydraulic excavator, the operation command for the front work equipment is corrected according to the estimated load calculated based on this soil information.

JP 2020-37837 A

By the way, hydraulic excavators are used at various work sites in terms of topography (open pit (single bench, double bench), underground, etc.) and geology (metal, non-metal, coal, limestone, etc.). Hydraulic excavators are required to work efficiently at such various work sites.

In this respect, the hydraulic excavator described in Patent Document 1 attempts to improve the work efficiency by changing the operation command of the front working machine according to the soil information of the work site. However, since this hydraulic excavator is not designed to change the operation command of the front work equipment according to topographical information, for example, work cannot be performed efficiently at a work site where different topographical features coexist. was there. In addition, in the hydraulic excavator, it is necessary to detect the load pressure of the boom cylinder, the arm cylinder, and the bucket cylinder with a pressure sensor in order to acquire the soil information. In other words, in order to acquire the soil information, the hydraulic excavator needs to actually perform excavation work based on the operation of the operator. In order to further improve the efficiency of work by the hydraulic excavator, it is desirable to change the operation command of the front work machine without actually excavating.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above, and provides a work machine control device capable of improving the work efficiency of the work machine regardless of the topography and geology of the work site, and a work machine including the control device. intended to provide

In order to solve the above-described problems, the work machine control device of the present invention is a work machine control device comprising an operation planning unit that generates an operation plan for the work machine based on the position of the work machine, The operation planning unit acquires first topographical information regarding the topography of a surrounding area of the work machine including the position, and first geological information regarding the geological features of the surrounding area. A work area of the work machine is specified based on the information.

According to the work machine control device of the present invention, the operator of the work machine does not need to actually perform excavation work, for example, in order to specify the work area. In other words, before starting work with the work machine, it is grasped that the work area is the area where the work with the work machine is performed based on the first topographic information and the first geological information. Therefore, regardless of the topography and geology of the work site, the working efficiency of the work machine can be improved. Problems, configurations, and effects other than those described above will be clarified by the following description of the embodiments.

1 is a diagram showing a system configuration example of a work machine control device according to a first embodiment of the present invention; FIG. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of an operation flowchart of a topography/geology determining unit included in the work machine control device of FIG. 1; FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of terrain information generated in the operation flowchart of FIG. 2; FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of an operation flowchart of an operation planning unit included in the work machine control device of FIG. 1; FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of an operation flowchart of an automatic control unit included in the work machine control device of FIG. 1; The figure which shows the system configuration example of the control apparatus for work machines of 2nd Embodiment of this invention. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of an operation flowchart of an operation planning unit included in the work machine control device of FIG. 6 ; The figure which shows one state of the excavation work by a working machine. 8 is a view for explaining an example of operation know-how regarding excavation depth received by the operation planning unit in the operation flowchart of FIG. 7; FIG. FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining another example of operation know-how regarding excavation depth received by the operation planning unit in the operation flowchart of FIG. 7 ; FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of a work plan related to the order of excavation generated in the operation flowchart of FIG. 7; FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining an example of operation know-how regarding an excavation order received by an operation planning unit in the operation flowchart of FIG. 7; FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of an operation flowchart of an automatic control unit included in the work machine control device of FIG. 6 ; The figure which shows the system configuration example of the control apparatus for work machines based on the modification of 2nd Embodiment of this invention. FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example of an operation flowchart of an automatic control unit included in the work machine control device of FIG. 14; FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an example of a monitor screen based on a display command generated in the operation flowchart of FIG. 15; FIG. 16 is a diagram showing another example of a monitor screen based on the display command generated in the operation flowchart of FIG. 15; FIG. 16 is a diagram showing another example of a monitor screen based on the display command generated in the operation flowchart of FIG. 15; FIG. 16 is a diagram showing another example of a monitor screen based on the display command generated in the operation flowchart of FIG. 15; FIG. 16 is a diagram showing another example of a monitor screen based on the display command generated in the operation flowchart of FIG. 15; The figure which shows the system configuration example of the control apparatus for work machines of 3rd Embodiment of this invention. FIG. 22 is a diagram showing an example of an operation flowchart of a topography/geology determining unit included in the work machine control device of FIG. 21; FIG. 22 is a functional block diagram of the topography and geology determination unit in FIG. 21;

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. It should be noted that components denoted by the same reference numerals in each embodiment have the same function in each embodiment unless otherwise specified, and description thereof will be omitted. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a system configuration example of a controller (work machine control device) 100 according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

First, a working machine to be controlled by the controller 100 according to the present embodiment will be described. In this embodiment, the work machine is a hydraulic excavator 101 (hereinafter, also referred to as an excavator 101), and a case where excavation work is performed by the hydraulic excavator 101 will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, the hydraulic excavator 101 includes a lower traveling body 5, an upper revolving body 4 rotatably attached to the lower traveling body 5, and a front working machine rotatably attached to the upper revolving body 4. 10; The controller 100 may be mounted, for example, on the upper revolving body 4 or may be provided in a command room or the like at a location different from the hydraulic excavator 101 . When the controller 100 is provided in the command room or the like, the controller 100 may be connected to the hydraulic excavator 101 via a known wireless communication line or the like, for example. Also, the hydraulic excavator 101 may be connected to a dump vehicle 504, which will be described later, via, for example, a known wireless communication line.

The undercarriage 5 is of a so-called crawler type, and a crawler belt is entrained between the driven wheels and the drive wheels. When the travel motor is driven, rotational power is transmitted to the driving wheels via, for example, a speed reducer, and the crawler belt is driven to circulate between the driving wheels and the driven wheels. Since the structure of the undercarriage 5 is well known, detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The upper revolving structure 4 is rotatably attached to the upper portion of the lower traveling structure 5, and includes a revolving frame, a machine room, a counterweight, a driver's seat 6, and the like. The revolving frame is a base frame of the upper revolving body 4 and is attached to the upper portion of the lower traveling body 5 so as to be able to turn. A machine room is provided in the rear area of the swing frame. Equipment such as an engine and a hydraulic pump driven by the engine are mounted inside the machine room. In FIG. 1, this hydraulic pump is described as hydraulic device 111 . A counterweight is mounted further behind the machine room on the revolving frame. The counterweight is a weight for balancing with the front working machine 10 . A driver's seat 6 is provided in the front area of the revolving frame. Since the structure of the upper revolving body 4 is well known, its detailed description is omitted.

The front work machine 10 is of a multi-joint type provided at the front part of the upper revolving body 4 to perform work such as excavation of earth and sand. A cylinder, an arm cylinder that drives the arm 1, and a bucket cylinder that drives the bucket 3 (none of which are shown) are provided. The boom 2 is connected to the front part of the upper rotating body 4, the arm 1 is connected to the tip of the boom 2, and the bucket 3 is connected to the tip of the arm 1, respectively. The boom 2, the arm 1, and the bucket 3 are all pivoted around a pin horizontally extending to the left and right. The boom cylinder, arm cylinder and attachment cylinder are all hydraulic actuators. These hydraulic actuators are supplied with hydraulic oil discharged from a hydraulic device 111 (hydraulic pump mounted in a machine room), and each expands and contracts to drive the front work implement 10 . Since the configuration of the front working machine 10 is well known, detailed description thereof will be omitted. In this embodiment, an example in which the bucket 3 is attached to the arm 1 is shown, but the object to be attached is not limited to this, and can be appropriately replaced with other attachments such as a breaker and a grapple.

Although not shown, the controller 100 has a configuration in which a CPU as an operating circuit, RAM and ROM as storage devices, and the like are connected via a bus. The controller 100 controls the operation of the entire system by the CPU executing various control programs stored in the ROM. As a result, the controller 100 functions as a position detection unit 103, an excavation surface imaging unit 104, a terrain and geology determination unit 107, an operation planning unit 109, and an automatic control unit 110, which will be described later.

<First embodiment>
A controller 100 according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5. FIG. As shown in FIG. 1 , the controller 100 according to this embodiment includes a position detection unit 103 , a topography/geology determination unit 107 , an operation planning unit 109 and an automatic control unit 110 .

The position detection unit 103 detects the position of the excavator 101 . Specifically, the position detection unit 103 receives radio waves from four or more satellites including the GPS satellites 102 and calculates the position of the hydraulic excavator 101 . The GPS satellite 102 is an artificial satellite for acquiring the position coordinates (latitude, longitude) of the hydraulic excavator 101 in a satellite positioning system. Note that the controller 100 does not have to include the position detection unit 103 . In this case, a position detection device (not shown) may be provided separately from the controller 100 to detect the position of the excavator 101 . The position detection device may be, for example, a sensor such as a LiDAR. The position detection device transmits the position information of the hydraulic excavator 101 to the terrain and geology determination unit 107, which will be described later.

The terrain and geology determination unit 107 determines the features of the terrain and geology of the area where the hydraulic excavator 101 excavates. Here, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of an operation flowchart of the topography/geology determining unit 107 included in the controller 100 of FIG. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the topography/geology determination unit 107 receives the position coordinates (latitude and longitude) of the excavator 101 as position information from the position detection unit 103 (S100 in FIG. 2). Next, the topography/geology determination unit 107 transmits the position information (latitude and longitude) to the topography database 105 (S110 in FIG. 2), and receives topography information A (second topography information) from the topography database 105 (see FIG. 2 S120). The terrain database 105 is an external storage device that stores terrain information. As an example, the terrain database 105 divides the ground surface into a plurality of grids and stores latitude, longitude and altitude information for each grid. As a result, based on the position information (latitude and longitude) of the hydraulic excavator 101 received from the geomorphology and geological determination unit 107, the terrain database 105 stores the surrounding area 501 of the excavator 101 including the position of the excavator 101 as the terrain information A. Output data about grid point coordinates (e.g. elevation).

Next, the topography/geology determination unit 107 transmits the information (latitude, longitude) received from the position detection unit 103 and the topography information A (elevation) received from the topography database 105 to the geological database 106 as the positional information of the excavator 101 ( S130 in FIG. 2), and receives geological information B (second geological information) from the geological database 106 (S140 in FIG. 2). The geological database 106 is an external storage device that stores geological information. As an example, the geological database 106 divides the ground surface into a plurality of grids, and stores latitude, longitude, altitude, and geological information (hardness, viscosity, mass per unit volume (hereinafter also simply referred to as mass) of the coordinates of each grid. ) is stored. As a result, the geological database 106, based on the above information (latitude, longitude, and altitude) received from the topography and geological determination unit 107, stores the geological information of the area 501 surrounding the excavator 101 including the position of the excavator 101 as the geological information B. Output (hardness, viscosity, mass).

Next, the topography and geological determination unit 107 generates topographic information A′ (first topographic information) and geological information B′ (first geological information) to be described later from the topographic information A and the geological information B (S150 in FIG. 2). ), the topographical information A' and the geological information B' are transmitted to the operation planning section 109 (S160 in FIG. 2).

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of topography information A' generated in the operation flowchart of FIG. In FIG. 3 , a symbol 301 indicates the position and orientation of the hydraulic excavator 101 . The surrounding area 501 is an area including the position of the hydraulic excavator 101 and its surroundings. A work bench (work area) 502 is an area included in the range of the surrounding area 501, and is an area where the shovel 101 performs excavation work. Excavation area 503 is a portion of workbench 502 and is the area from which excavator 101 excavates. A recessed area 510 is an area that is lower in height than its surroundings. As shown in FIG. 3, the terrain information A' is terrain surface shape information obtained from the width, depth, and height of the surrounding area 501, the work bench 502, and the excavation area 503. FIG. This surface shape information is generated, for example, from a set of grid coordinates (latitude, longitude, elevation), a set of triangular polygon mesh data, or the like. The geological information B' is obtained by clustering information on the hardness, viscosity, and mass of the soil on the workbench 502 into, for example, five levels. By clustering the information on soil hardness, viscosity, and mass, minerals (for example, iron, bauxite, rare metals, etc.) existing in the excavation area 503 can be estimated.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of an operation flowchart of the operation planning section 109 included in the controller 100 of FIG. The operation planning unit 109 generates an operation plan for the excavator 101 based on the position of the excavator 101 . Specifically, the operation planning unit 109 acquires topography information A′ regarding the topography of the surrounding area 501 of the excavator 101 including the position of the excavator 101, and geological information B′ regarding the geology of the surrounding area 501 (Fig. 4 S200). Specifically, as shown in FIG. 3, the operation planning unit 109 uses terrain surface shape information obtained from the width, depth, and height of the surrounding area 501, the work bench 502, and the excavation area 503 as the terrain information A'. to get The operation planning unit 109 also acquires information on hardness, viscosity, and mass of the soil on the workbench 502 of the excavator 101 included in the surrounding area 501 as the geological information B′. The operation planning unit 109 then identifies the workbench 502 based on the topographical information A' and the geological information B'. A work bench 502 is an area where excavation work is performed by the shovel 101 . Specifically, the operation planning unit 109 identifies the types of minerals existing on the workbench 502 based on the information on the types of minerals included in the geological information B′ (S210 in FIG. 4), thereby 502 is identified. Further, the operation planning unit 109 identifies the excavation area 503 in which the mineral to be excavated exists from the workbench 502 based on the hardness, viscosity, and mass of the excavation area 503 included in the geological information B′. good too. Finally, the operation planning unit 109 sends a work instruction (operation plan) to excavate the workbench 502 (especially the excavation area 503) to the automatic control unit 110 (S220 in FIG. 4).

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of an operation flowchart of the automatic control section 110 included in the controller 100 of FIG. The automatic control unit 110 controls the operation of the hydraulic excavator 101 . The automatic control unit 110 receives an excavation work instruction for the excavation area 503 from the operation planning unit 109 (S300 in FIG. 5), and based on the work instruction, generates commands for moving, turning, and excavating the hydraulic excavator 101. (S310 in FIG. 5). The automatic control unit 110 transmits the movement command to the hydraulic motor of the lower traveling body 5 (S320 in FIG. 5), transmits the turning command to the hydraulic motor of the upper revolving body 4 (S330 in FIG. 5), and controls the hydraulic system. 111 (S340 in FIG. 5). Based on the operation command, pressure oil is supplied from the hydraulic device 111 to the arm cylinder, boom cylinder, and bucket cylinder. As a result, the arm 1, the boom 2, and the bucket 3 are operated in cooperation to realize excavation operation.

As described above, the operation planning unit 109 of the controller 100 according to the present embodiment acquires the topography information A' regarding the topography of the surrounding area 501 and the geological information B' regarding the topography of the workbench 502 based on the position of the excavator 101. Then, based on the terrain information A′ and the geological information B′, the work bench 502 is identified as the area where the excavation work by the excavator 101 is to be performed. Therefore, the operator of the excavator 101 does not need to actually perform excavation work in order to specify the work bench 502 (especially the excavation area 503). In other words, before starting work with the shovel 101, the operator recognizes that the workbench 502 is the area where the excavation work with the shovel 101 is to be performed based on the terrain information A' and the geological information B'. Therefore, the work efficiency of the excavator 101 can be improved regardless of the topography and geology of the work site.

<Second embodiment>
Next, a controller 100 according to a second embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 to 13. FIG. A controller 100 according to the second embodiment differs from the controller 100 according to the first embodiment in the functions of an operation planning section 109 and an automatic control section 110 . In the controller 100 according to the second embodiment, description of the same configuration and operation as those of the first embodiment will be omitted.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a system configuration example of the controller 100 according to the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of an operation flowchart of the operation planning section 109 included in the controller 100 of FIG.

The operation plan unit 109 according to the present embodiment generates an operation plan for excavation work (for example, excavation, turning, earth dumping, return turning) by the hydraulic excavator 101 . As shown in FIG. 6, the operation planning unit 109 determines the width, depth, and height of the workbench 502 included in the topography information A′, the hardness, viscosity, and per unit volume of the excavation area 503 included in the geological information B′. The mass and the type of operation (excavation, turning, dumping, return turning) of the hydraulic excavator 101 are transmitted to the skilled operation database 108 (S230 in FIG. 7). Next, the operation planning unit 109 acquires expert operation know-how information C for the excavation area 503 from the expert operation database 108 (S240 in FIG. 7). Here, the expert operation database 108 is an external storage device that stores know-how information of human experts. For example, the skilled operation database 108 stores operation methods of skilled operators corresponding to operation types (excavation, turning, dumping, return turning), terrain information and geological information of excavation sites. As a result, the skilled operation database 108 can store the operation know-how based on the terrain information A′ and the geological information B′ received from the operation planning unit 109 and the operation type (excavation, turning, dumping, return turning) of the hydraulic excavator 101 . Output information C. Next, the operation plan unit 109 creates a work plan (work locus information and work speed information) for the excavation area 503 which is a part of the work bench 502 based on the terrain information A', the geological information B', and the operation know-how information C. (S250 in FIG. 7), and transmits the work plan to the automatic control unit 110 (S260 in FIG. 7).

Next, the operation know-how information C output from the expert operation database 108 will be described. First, the operation know-how information C regarding the excavation depth d, which is output based on the height h of the work bench 502 and the viscosity of the excavation area 503, will be described with reference to FIGS. 8 to 10. FIG. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing one state of excavation work by the hydraulic excavator 101. As shown in FIG. In the example shown in FIG. 8 , the hydraulic excavator 101 is positioned on the work bench 502 and the toe 701 of the bucket 3 is positioned near the excavation area 503 . As shown in FIG. 8, the bench height h is the length of the work bench 502 in the vertical direction. The excavation depth d is the length of the excavation area 503 in the direction from the front surface of the excavation area 503 toward the excavator 101 .

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of operation know-how regarding the excavation depth d received by the operation planning unit 109 in the operation flowchart of FIG. FIG. 10 is a diagram explaining another example of the operation know-how regarding the excavation depth d received by the operation planning unit 109 in the operation flowchart of FIG. 9 and 10 show operational know-how for determining the excavation depth d in the excavation area 503. FIG. In FIG. 9, the horizontal axis of the graph indicates the soil viscosity, and the vertical axis indicates the excavation depth d. FIG. 10 also shows that the operation type, the bench height h, and the viscosity are input information, and the excavation depth d corresponding to these input information is output as the operation know-how C. FIG. FIG. 9 shows that the more viscous the soil, the shorter the excavable depth d. FIG. 10 also shows that in a certain range of bench heights, the more viscous the soil, the shorter the excavable depth d. This is because the higher the viscosity of the soil, the greater the load in the traveling direction of the bucket 3 . Figures 9 and 10 also show that the greater the bench height h of the excavation area 503, the shorter the depth.

In this way, the operation planning unit 109 acquires the height h of the workbench included in the terrain information A′ and the viscosity of the excavation area 503 included in the geological information B′. As the work locus information, the excavation depth of the excavator 101 with respect to the work bench 502 (especially the excavation area 503) is set small. On the other hand, the lower the height h and the lower the viscosity, the greater the excavation depth d of the shovel 101 with respect to the work bench 502 (especially the excavation area 503) as the work locus information. In the example shown in FIGS. 8 to 10 , the height h of workbench 502 and the viscosity of excavation area 503 are sent from operation planner 109 to expert operation database 108 . As a result, the operation planning unit 109 obtains the information on the excavation depth d from the skilled operation database 108 and generates the trajectory of the toe 701 of the bucket 3 . The trajectory of the toe 701 of the bucket 3 will be described later with reference to FIGS. 19 and 20. FIG.

11 and 12, the operation know-how C relating to the order of excavation output based on the viscosity and mass of the excavation area 503 will be described. FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of a work plan relating to the order of excavation generated by the operation flowchart of FIG. FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of operation know-how regarding the order of excavation received by the operation planning unit in the operation flowchart of FIG.

FIG. 11 shows how the hydraulic excavator 101 excavates an excavation area 503 with a dump vehicle 504 to which excavated soil is to be discharged on the left side of the excavator 101 . FIG. 12 shows operation know-how for determining from which side of the excavation area 503 to start excavation when the excavation area 503 is excavated, for example, four times in the state shown in FIG. In FIG. 12, the horizontal axis indicates the mass per unit volume of soil, and the vertical axis indicates the viscosity of the soil. FIG. 12 shows that drilling starts from the right side of the drilling area 503 when the mass per unit volume is low and the viscosity is low. Under this geological condition, the bucket 3 can be heaped with soil, and the soil tends to fall from the bucket 3 to the ground during transportation to the dump vehicle 504 . Therefore, by starting excavation from the right side of the excavation area 503, even if soil spills out of the bucket 3 during turning, the spilled soil can be scooped up in the next excavation. On the other hand, FIG. 12 shows that drilling starts from the left side of the drilling area 503 when the mass per unit volume is large and the viscosity is high. Under this geological condition, the excavated area 503 will not collapse during transportation to the dump vehicle 504 . In addition, since it is difficult to pile up the soil in the bucket 3, the soil rarely spills to the ground. Therefore, by starting excavation from a position close to the dump vehicle 504, the soil can be reliably transported.

In this way, the operation planning unit 109 acquires the viscosity and the mass per unit volume of the excavation area 503 included in the geological information B′, and the smaller the viscosity and the mass, the greater the amount of dumping in the excavation area 503 as the work trajectory information. An excavation order is set in which excavation is performed from a position far from the vehicle 504 (vehicle to be loaded) toward a position close to the dump vehicle 504 . In this case, the operation planning unit 109 may set an excavation trajectory in which the amount of excavation is reduced as the position moves from a farther position to a closer position. Further, the operation planning unit 109 sets an excavation order in which excavation is performed from a position closer to the dump vehicle 504 to a position farther from the dump vehicle 504 as the work locus information as the viscosity and the mass increase. In this case, the operation planning unit 109 sets an excavation trajectory in which the amount of excavation decreases as the position moves from a nearer position to a farther position, and, as work speed information, a turning motion in which the conveying speed increases as the position moves from a closer position to a farther position. You can set the speed. In the example shown in FIGS. 11 and 12 , the viscosity and mass of the excavation area 503 are transmitted from the operation planner 109 to the expert operation database 108 . As a result, the operation planning unit 109 obtains the excavation order information from the skilled operation database 108 and determines the excavation start position of the excavator 101 .

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of an operation flowchart of the automatic control section 110 included in the controller 100 of FIG. Based on the excavation depth d, the excavation sequence, the excavation trajectory (work trajectory information), and the turning speed (work speed information) transmitted from the operation planning unit 109, the automatic control unit 110 controls the movement of the excavator 101 related to the excavation work. , slewing motion, and digging motion. Specifically, the automatic control unit 110 receives the work plan (work locus information and work speed information) from the operation planning unit 109 (S300a in FIG. 15), and moves and turns the hydraulic excavator 101 based on this work plan. , to generate each command for the excavation operation (S310a in FIG. 15).

In the mining business, it is difficult to secure skilled operators because they are forced to stay in mines for long periods of time. Further, in excavation work in a mine using the hydraulic excavator 101, there is often a difference in production volume between a skilled worker and a beginner. Therefore, the productivity can be improved by reflecting the operation know-how of the expert in the control of the excavator 101 . Especially in mines, there are various differences in topography (open pit (single bench, double bench), underground, etc.) and geology (metallic, non-metallic, coal, limestone, etc.). In addition, the operation know-how of experts in excavation work also differs according to differences in topography and geology. Therefore, when reflecting the operation know-how of experts in excavation work, it is necessary to make a selection according to the topography and geology of the site. In this respect, according to the controller 100 according to the present embodiment, the operation planning unit 109 generates a work plan (work locus information and work speed information) for the excavation area 503 based on the operation know-how information C, and the work plan is sent to the automatic control unit 110 . For this reason, based on the operation know-how (excavation depth d, order of excavation, excavation trajectory, and revolving speed) of an expert according to differences in topography and geology, the movement, revolving, and rotation of the excavator 101 related to the excavation work can be performed. It becomes possible to control the excavation motion. Therefore, the working efficiency of the hydraulic excavator 101 can be further improved.

<Modification>
Next, a controller 100 according to a modification of the second embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 14 to 20. FIG. The controller 100 according to this modification differs from the controller 100 according to the second embodiment in the function of the automatic control section 110 . In the controller 100 according to this modified example, description of the same configuration and operation as in the second embodiment will be omitted.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a system configuration example of the controller 100 according to the modified example of the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example of an operation flowchart of the automatic control section 110 included in the controller 100 of FIG. The automatic control unit 110 issues a display command to the monitor 509 based on the work plan transmitted from the operation planning unit 109, that is, the excavation depth d, the order of excavation, the excavation trajectory (work trajectory information), and the turning speed (work speed information). is generated (S350 in FIG. 15). Further, the automatic control unit 110 displays information on the moving motion, the turning motion, and the excavating motion on the monitor 509 provided on the excavator 101 based on the work locus information and the work speed information (S360 in FIG. 15). . The operator operates the excavator 101 based on information displayed on the monitor 509, which will be described later.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an example of the screen of monitor 509 based on the display command generated in the operation flowchart of FIG. FIG. 16 shows the movement locus of the hydraulic excavator 101 displayed on the monitor 509 in the driver's seat 6 in order to assist the operator of the hydraulic excavator 101 . In FIG. 16, the monitor 509 displays the position of the excavator 101, the surrounding area 501, the work bench 502 where the excavator 101 excavates, and the excavation area 503 where the excavator 101 excavates first. A monitor 509 displays a dump vehicle 504, a tray 505, a stop position 506, an arrow 507, and an elevation map 508. FIG. The dump vehicle 504 is for loading the soil excavated by the hydraulic excavator 101 and transporting it to another location. A tray 505 is provided on the dump vehicle 504 and is a container for loading soil excavated by the hydraulic excavator 101 . A stop position 506 is a symbol instructing to stop the front surface of the hydraulic excavator 101 at this position. An arrow 507 is a symbol indicating the movement locus of the hydraulic excavator 101 up to the stop position 506 . Elevation diagram 508 illustrates the height of workbench 502 and excavation area 503 relative to surrounding area 501 .

The automatic control unit 110 determines the hydraulic excavator 101, the work bench 502, and the excavation area based on the topography information A′ (the width, depth, and height of the work bench 502) generated by the topography and geological determination unit 107 and the position information of the excavator 101. 503 positional relationship is generated and these positions are displayed on the monitor 509 . Further, the automatic control unit 110 performs excavation based on the operation know-how information C received from the skilled operation database 108 according to the terrain information A′ (height of the work bench 502) and the geological information B′ (viscosity of the excavation area 503). Depth d of region 503 is determined and displayed. As a result, the stop position of the hydraulic excavator 101 is obtained, and the stop position 506 is displayed. Further, since the position of the depression 510 is known from the height h of the workbench 502, the arrow 507 of the movement trajectory toward the stop position 506 is displayed so as to avoid the depression 510. FIG. Also, the stop position of the dump vehicle 504 is determined by the stop position 506 of the hydraulic excavator 101 and displayed on the monitor 509 . Therefore, the stop position and direction of the dump vehicle 504 are displayed so that the excavator 101 can instruct the dump vehicle 504 to appropriately stop. Note that the same information as that displayed on the monitor 509 may be displayed on the monitor of the actual dump vehicle 504 . If the dump vehicle 504 is not stopped at the correct position, the operator of the hydraulic excavator 101 may be notified by a lamp or sound.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing another example of the screen of monitor 509 based on the display command generated in the operation flowchart of FIG. FIG. 18 is a diagram showing another example of the screen of monitor 509 based on the display command generated in the operation flowchart of FIG. Specifically, FIGS. 17 and 18 show how excavation area 503 is excavated.

FIG. 17 shows the excavation depth, excavation sequence, and excavation amount when the soil in the excavation region 503 has a high viscosity and a high mass per unit volume. That is, FIG. 17 shows that the excavation depth d3 is shortened, and excavation is performed in the order of "1" to "4" from a position closer to the tray 505 of the dump vehicle to a position farther. Also, FIG. 17 shows that the amount of excavation is increased at "1" and the amount of excavation is decreased at "4". Under the geological conditions shown in FIG. 17, a large amount of soil is dug at the location of "1" where the distance of the dump vehicle 504 to the tray 505 is short. At this time, it is preferable to reduce the speed of the transportation turning. On the other hand, less soil is dug at the location "4" where the distance to the dump vehicle 504 is long. At this time, it is preferable to increase the speed of the transportation turning. As a result, the total cycle time of four times from excavation to loading can be shortened, and the efficiency of excavation work can be improved.

Moreover, FIG. 18 shows the excavation depth, the order of excavation, and the amount of excavation when the viscosity is low and the mass per unit volume is small. The depth d4 of the excavation area 503 shown in FIG. 18 is longer than the depth d3 of the excavation area 503 shown in FIG. It also shows that excavation is performed in the order of "1" to "4" from a position farther to a position closer to the tray 505 of the dump vehicle 504. This is because it is assumed that the excavated soil will spill out of the bucket 3 during transportation and turning because of the low viscosity of the soil. That is, when the dump vehicle 504 turns to load the soil excavated in the region "1" onto the tray 505, the soil may fall from the bucket 3. For example, if soil has spilled onto area "2", the previously spilled soil can be scooped up together when excavating area "2". Also, since the amount of spilled soil is expected to increase as one goes to the area "4", the amount of excavation is reduced from a farther position toward a closer position. As a result, the total cycle time of four times from excavation to loading can be shortened, and the efficiency of excavation work can be improved.

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing another example of the screen of monitor 509 based on the display command generated in the operation flowchart of FIG. FIG. 20 is a diagram showing another example of the screen of monitor 509 based on the display command generated in the operation flowchart of FIG. FIG. 19 shows the trajectory of the toe 701 during excavation when the soil has a high viscosity and a large mass per unit volume. In other words, FIG. 19 shows that even if the hydraulic pressure applied to the arm 1, boom 2, and bucket 3 is maximized, it is impossible to dig deeper than the depth d1. On the other hand, FIG. 20 shows the trajectory of the toe 701 during excavation when the soil has a low viscosity and a small mass per unit volume. In other words, FIG. 20 shows that the bucket 3 can be lifted upward even when the depth d2, which is greater than the depth d1, is dug.

Thus, according to this modification, the excavation work of the excavator 101 is controlled based on the operation know-how (excavation depth, excavation order, excavation trajectory, and turning speed) of the expert according to differences in topography and geology of the work site. Such moving motion, turning motion, and digging motion can be displayed on the monitor 509 . Therefore, the operator can perform the excavation work according to the operation know-how of the expert displayed on the monitor 509. Therefore, in the excavation work of the mine using the hydraulic excavator 101, for example, the production amount can be calculated between the expert and the beginner. can reduce the difference between As a result, for example, when excavating work is performed using a plurality of hydraulic excavators 101, the work efficiency of the entire work site can be improved.

<Third Embodiment>
Next, a controller 100 according to a third embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 21 to 23. FIG. A controller 100 according to the third embodiment differs from the controller 100 according to the second embodiment in that an excavation surface imaging unit 104 is provided and the function of a topography and geology determination unit 107 is provided. In the controller 100 according to the third embodiment, descriptions of the same configurations and operations as in the second embodiment will be omitted.

FIG. 21 is a diagram showing a system configuration example of the controller 100 according to the third embodiment of the invention. FIG. 22 is a diagram showing an example of an operation flowchart of the topography/geology determining unit 107 included in the controller 100 of FIG. FIG. 23 is a functional block diagram of the topography/geology determination unit 107 in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 21 , the controller 100 according to this embodiment includes an excavation surface imaging unit 104 . The excavation surface imaging unit 104 acquires point cloud data a, which are the coordinates of grid points on the surface of the work bench 502, and the color and particle size of the surface of the work bench 502 from a camera (not shown) provided on the excavator 101. Acquire image data b including As shown in FIG. 23 , the excavated surface imaging unit 104 transmits the point cloud data a and the image data b to the topography and geology determination unit 107 . The topography/geology determination unit 107 generates topography information A' and geological information B' based on the point cloud data a and the image data b. Specifically, the topography and geology determination unit 107 generates topography information A′ by correcting the topography information A based on the point cloud data a, and corrects the geological information B′ based on the image data b. Generate geological information B'.

As shown in FIG. 23 , the terrain and geology determination unit 107 according to this embodiment includes an excavation area extraction unit 1001 , a terrain data correction unit 1002 and a geology data correction unit 1003 . The excavation area extraction unit 1001 receives topography information A (elevation) of the surrounding area 501 including the excavator 101 from the topography database 105 . Note that the topography/geology determination unit 107 receives position information (latitude and longitude) of the excavator 101 from the position detection unit 103 . The excavation area extraction unit 1001 also receives geological information B (hardness, viscosity, mass) of the surrounding area 501 of the excavator 101 including the position of the excavator 101 from the geological database 106 . Then, the excavation area extracting unit 1001 extracts topographic information and geological information of the excavating area 503 from the topographic information A and the geological information B. FIG. In addition, the excavation area extraction unit 1001 transmits topographic information and geological information of the extracted excavation area 503 to the topographic data correcting unit 1002 and the geological data correcting unit 1003, respectively.

As shown in FIGS. 22 and 23, the terrain and geology determination unit 107 receives the point cloud data a acquired by the excavation surface imaging unit 104 in the terrain data correction unit 1002 (S170 in FIG. 22). In addition, the terrain data correction unit 1002 of the terrain geology determining unit 107 receives the terrain information A from the terrain database 105 (S120 in FIG. 22), and also receives the terrain information of the excavation area 503 from the excavation area extraction unit 1001 . The terrain data correction unit 1002 corrects the terrain information A based on the point cloud data a. Specifically, the terrain data correction unit 1002 corrects the grid point information of the excavation area 503 based on the grid point height information of the point cloud data a. The terrain data correction unit 1002 corrects the terrain information A to the latest terrain data based on the point cloud data a immediately before excavation. Specifically, the terrain data correction unit 1002 confirms consistency between the point cloud data a and the terrain information A immediately before excavation, and corrects the terrain information A to the latest terrain data if they do not match. do. Then, the terrain data correction unit 1002 generates terrain information A' based on the corrected terrain information A (S180 in FIG. 22), and transmits this terrain information A' to the operation planning unit 109 (S160 in FIG. 22). ).

As shown in FIGS. 22 and 23, the geological data correction unit 1003 of the topography and geology determination unit 107 receives the image data b acquired by the excavation surface imaging unit 104 (S170 in FIG. 22). In addition, the geological data correcting unit 1003 of the topography and geological judgment unit 107 receives the geological information B from the geological database 106 (S140 in FIG. 22), and also receives the geological information of the excavation region 503 from the excavation region extraction unit 1001. A geological data correction unit 1003 corrects the geological information B based on the image data b. Specifically, the geological data correction unit 1003 determines the wetness of the soil from the color of the soil in the excavated area 503 included in the image data b, and corrects the viscosity of the soil included in the geological information B according to the result. do. Further, the geological data correction unit 1003 determines the mixing ratio of soil and stone in the excavated region 503 included in the image data b, and corrects the hardness and mass per unit volume of the soil in the excavated region 503 . Then, the geological data correction unit 1003 generates geological information B' based on the corrected geological information B (S190 in FIG. 22), and transmits this geological information B' to the operation planning unit 109 (S160 in FIG. 22). ).

Thus, according to the third embodiment, the latest topographical information (point cloud data a) and geological information (image data b) of the excavated area 503 can be obtained via the excavated surface imaging unit 104 . Also, the topography/geology determination unit 107 corrects the topography information A and the geological information B based on the point cloud data a and the image data b. Therefore, the operation planning unit 109 can create a work plan for the hydraulic excavator 101 based on the latest topographical information and geological information. As a result, stagnation of excavation work in the hydraulic excavator 101 is suppressed, and the work efficiency of the hydraulic excavator 101 can be further improved.

In addition, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and includes various modifications. For example, the above embodiments have been described in detail in order to explain the present invention in an easy-to-understand manner, and are not necessarily limited to those having all the configurations described. Moreover, it is possible to replace part of the configuration of one embodiment with the configuration of another embodiment, and it is also possible to add the configuration of another embodiment to the configuration of one embodiment. Moreover, it is possible to add, delete, or replace a part of the configuration of each embodiment with another configuration.

Further, each of the configurations, functions, processing units, processing means, etc. described above may be realized by hardware, for example, by designing a part or all of them using an integrated circuit. Moreover, each of the above configurations, functions, etc. may be realized by software by a processor interpreting and executing a program for realizing each function. Information such as programs, tapes, and files that implement each function can be stored in recording devices such as memories, hard disks, SSDs (solid state drives), or recording media such as IC cards, SD cards, and DVDs.

Further, the control lines and information lines indicate those considered necessary for explanation, and not all control lines and information lines are necessarily indicated on the product. In practice, it may be considered that almost all configurations are interconnected.

4 upper revolving body 5 lower traveling body 10 front working machine 100 controller (control device for working machine)
101 hydraulic excavator (working machine)
103 Position detection unit 104 Excavation surface imaging unit 107 Terrain and geology determination unit 109 Operation planning unit 110 Automatic control unit 501 Surrounding area 502 Work bench (work area)
503 excavation area 504 dump vehicle (vehicle to be loaded)

Claims (8)

A work machine control device comprising an operation planning unit that generates an operation plan for the work machine based on the position of the work machine,
The operation planning unit acquires first topographical information regarding topography of a surrounding area of the work machine including the position, and first geological information regarding the geological features of the surrounding area, and obtains the first topographical information and the first geological information. A control device for a work machine, wherein a work area of the work machine is specified based on geological information. 2. The work machine control device according to claim 1, wherein the operation planning unit specifies the work area based on information on the kind of mineral contained in the first geological information. further comprising an automatic control unit that controls the operation of the working machine;
The operation planning department
From an external storage device based on the width, depth and height of the work area included in the first geological information and the hardness, viscosity and mass per unit volume of the work area included in the first geological information acquiring operation know-how information of a skilled person for the work area, generating work locus information and work speed information for the work area based on the operation know-how information, and automatically controlling the work locus information and the work speed information; 3. The work machine control device according to claim 2, wherein the data is sent to a department. The operation plan unit generates an operation plan for excavation work by the work machine,
obtaining the height of the work area included in the first topographical information and the viscosity of the work area included in the first geological information;
The higher the height and the viscosity, the smaller the excavation depth of the work machine with respect to the work area is set as the work trajectory information,
4. The control device for a working machine according to claim 3, wherein the lower the height and the lower the viscosity, the greater the excavation depth of the working machine with respect to the working area is set as the working locus information. The operation plan unit generates an operation plan for excavation work by the work machine,
Obtaining the viscosity and mass per unit volume of the work area included in the first geological information;
As the viscosity and the mass become smaller, an excavation order is set in which excavation is performed in the work area from a position farther from the vehicle to be loaded toward a position closer to the vehicle to be loaded as the work locus information, and setting an excavation trajectory that decreases the amount of excavation as it moves from a farther position to the nearer position;
As the viscosity and the mass increase, an excavation order is set as the work locus information in which excavation is performed from the near position to the far position, and the excavation amount is reduced from the near position to the far position. 4. The work machine control according to claim 3, wherein a trajectory is set and, as the working speed information, a turning speed is set such that the conveying speed increases as the position moves from the closer position to the farther position. Device. the working machine is a hydraulic excavator,
The automatic control unit controls a moving operation, a turning operation, and an excavating operation related to excavating work of the hydraulic excavator based on the work locus information and the work speed information transmitted from the operation planning unit, or 6. The work machine control device according to claim 4, wherein information of said moving operation, said turning operation and said excavating operation is displayed on a monitor provided in said hydraulic excavator. an excavation surface imaging unit that acquires point cloud data, which are coordinates of grid points on the surface of the work area, and image data including the color and particle size of the surface of the work area;
a topographic and geological determination unit that generates the first topographic information and the first geological information based on the point cloud data and the image data;
The topographical and geological determination unit acquires second topographical information about coordinates of grid points in the surrounding area based on the position, corrects the second topographical information based on the point cloud data, and corrects the corrected first topographical information. 2 a terrain data correction unit that generates the first terrain information based on the terrain information;
obtaining second geological information about hardness, viscosity, and mass per unit volume of the surrounding area based on the position; correcting the second geological information based on the image data; and obtaining the corrected second geological information. A work machine control device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising a geological data correcting unit that generates the first geological information based on. a lower running body;
an upper rotating body rotatably attached to the lower traveling body;
a front working machine rotatably attached to the upper revolving body;
A work machine comprising a work machine control device according to claim 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 7.

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