Automatic Excavation Planning of Hydraulic Excavator

This paper describes an efficient trajectory planning method for hydraulic excavator tasks including a complete excavation/loading work cycle. Also provided is an effective method for analyzing geometric trajectories satisfying mechanical-geometric constraints. Additionally, a continuous excavation and shaping method is introduced for trench digging. In order to improve excavation efficiency, we reduced the work cycle for rough excavation but increased the work cycle for finishing excavation (shaping) using similar digging trajectories. Experimental continuous excavation and shaping was conducted and the results were evaluated. The key quantifiable benefits of this automatic technology include the liberation of human workers from many of the work processes, potential increase in work productivity, and significant labor savings.