Autonomous Navigation of Heavy Construction Equipment
Carl D. Crane, David G. Armstrong II, Arturo L. Rankin · Computer-Aided Civil and Infrastructure Engineering · 1995
Abstract: A John Deere model 690 excavator, mounted on a Standard Manufacturing Company wheeled undercarriage, has been automated for the purpose of autonomously uncovering and removing unexploded buried ordnance. This paper describes the development effort, with emphasis placed on the autonomous navigation of the excavator system. Accurate navigation is required in order to properly position the excavator system so that it can uncover and remove the target buried munition. Autonomous navigation is accomplished by use of an A* search algorithm for path planning, an inertial navigation system (INS) integrated with a global positioning system (GPS) for vehicle positioning, and proportional control for path-following. Data gathered from eight navigation test runs show that the excavator, on average, can navigate to within 0.67 m of a goal position and to within 0.021 rad of a goal orientation.