Manipulator’s configuration design, excavation path generation, and underground object detection for an autonomous electric excavator

Abstract

Construction is an industrial sector that requires high labor costs and is exposed to harsh and hazardous environmental conditions. As a solution to these problems, an autonomous excavator is expected in high demand. To increase the energy efficiency in autonomous excavators, and increase the safety of operation for them, the objectives of this research are threefolds. The first one is to design and fabricate an excavator with parallel electrical linear actuators. The second one is to develop and test the PSO-based and PFM-Based path generation algorithms for this excavator in order to save energy, maintain the digging efficiency, and avoid colliding with underground objects. In addition, the third one is to detect the metallic pipes and electricity carrying wires underground, using two inexpensive magnetometer sensors attached to the bucket of the autonomous excavator, and computer vision for verification of digging and motion accuracy.