Compaction pattern adjustments for automated compaction

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12210348-B2
Application number	US-202117564508-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 29, 2021
Priority date	Dec 29, 2021
Publication date	Jan 28, 2025
Grant date	Jan 28, 2025

Abstract

A method for controlling a construction machine can include dividing a work area into a plurality of work lanes; selecting a first set of consecutive work lanes of the plurality of work lanes that can be worked without an obstruction; and completing one or more passes on the selected first set of consecutive work lanes before moving on to another set of the plurality of work lanes.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for controlling an autonomous soil compactor machine, comprising:
preparing a work plan for a single soil compactor machine to compact an entire work area;
dividing the work area into a plurality of work lanes to be compacted by the single soil compactor machine;
before performing any compacting, selecting a first set of consecutive work lanes of the plurality of work lanes that can be worked without an obstruction, wherein the obstruction includes a temporary obstruction in one or more of the plurality of work lanes that will be removed and where the single soil compactor machine will later be compacting, wherein the temporary obstruction includes a machine of a different type than the soil compactor machine and includes at least one of a dozer, a mixer, or a grader, wherein the first set of consecutive work lanes is less than a total of the plurality of work lanes;
based on a location of the selected first set of consecutive work lanes, a controller autonomously operating the soil compactor to complete two or more passes on each of the work lanes of the selected first set of consecutive work lanes, wherein the two or more passes on each of the work lanes include all of the necessary passes required for compacting all of the work lanes in the first set of consecutive work lanes;
after finishing compacting the first set of consecutive work lanes, selecting a second set of consecutive work lanes of the plurality of work lanes that can be worked without a temporary obstruction;
the controller autonomously operating the soil compactor to complete two or more passes on each of the work lanes of the selected second set of consecutive work lanes, wherein the two or more passes on each of the work lanes include all of the necessary passes required for compacting all of the work lanes in the second set of consecutive work lanes; and
continuing to select sets of work lanes to be compacted until all of the plurality of work lanes in the entire work area, including the work lanes having the temporary obstructions, have been compacted by the single autonomous soil compactor.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein after dividing the work area, defining a pass pattern for the construction machine in view of a number of the plurality of work lanes and a number of passes required.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising adjusting the pass pattern by doing more passes on the first set of selected work lanes after completing the two or more passes on the first set of selected work lanes.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of work lanes is approximately equal in width.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second set of consecutive work lanes are adjacent to the first set of work lanes.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second set of consecutive work lanes are a distance away from the first set of work lanes.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein completing the two or more passes on the selected work lanes includes completing all needed passes in the selected work lanes.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the obstruction includes another work machine in the work area or another work machine has not prepared a surface of the work area for construction yet.

9. The method of claim 1 , further including keeping track of which of the plurality of work lanes of the work area have been passed and how many passes there have been on each of the plurality of work lanes by including an increment counter in a display of the work area for each of the work lanes in the plurality of work lanes, wherein in the increment counter each work lane in the plurality of work lanes includes a number of passes required which decrements as each pass is accomplished in each work lane.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first set of consecutive work lanes are in a middle of the work area or on an end of the work area.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein after completing the selected work lanes, pausing, and saving the work area progress.

12. A system for autonomous construction comprising:
a controller configured to divide a work area into a plurality of work lanes and define a pass pattern for a single soil compactor in view of a number of the plurality of work lanes and a number of passes required;
before performing any compacting, the controller configured to select a first set of consecutive work lanes of the plurality of work lanes that can be worked without an obstruction, wherein the obstruction includes a temporary obstruction in one or more of the plurality of work lanes that will be removed and where the single soil compactor machine will later be compacting, wherein the temporary obstruction includes a machine of a different type than the soil compactor machine and includes at least one of a dozer, a mixer, or a grader, wherein the first set of consecutive work lanes is less than a total of the plurality of work lanes;
the controller autonomously operating the soil compactor to complete two or more passes on each of the work lanes of the selected first set of consecutive work lanes, wherein the two or more passes on each of the work lanes include all of the necessary passes required for compacting all of the work lanes in the first set of consecutive work lanes;
after the first set of consecutive work lanes are completed, the controller configured to adjust the pass pattern and select a second set of consecutive work lanes;
the controller autonomously operating the soil compactor to complete two or more passes on each of the work lanes of the selected second set of consecutive work lanes, wherein the two or more passes on each of the work lanes include all of the necessary passes required for compacting all of the work lanes in the second set of consecutive work lanes; and
continuing to select sets of work lanes to be compacted until all of the plurality of work lanes in the entire work area, including the work lanes having the temporary obstructions, have been compacted by the single autonomous soil compactor.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the second set of consecutive work lanes are adjacent to the first set of work lanes.

14. The system of claim 12 , wherein the second set of consecutive work lanes are a distance away from the first set of work lanes.

15. The system of claim 12 , wherein the obstruction includes another work machine in the work area or another work machine has not prepared a surface of the work area for working yet.

16. The system of claim 12 , further including an increment counter in a display of the work area for each of the work lanes in the plurality of work lanes, wherein the controller is configured to keep track of which of the plurality of work lanes of the work area have been passed and how many passes there have been on each of the plurality of work lanes, wherein in the increment counter each work lane in the plurality of work lanes includes a number of passes required which decrements as each pass is accomplished in each work lane.

17. The system of claim 12 , wherein the first set of consecutive work lanes are in a middle of the work area or on an end of the work area.

18. The system of claim 12 , wherein after the selected work lanes are completed, the autonomous construction pauses and the work area progress is saved.

19. The system of claim 18 , wherein the controller adjusts the pass pattern by instructing the machine to do any more needed passes on the first set of work lanes or moving to a second set of selected work lanes.

Assignees

• Caterpillar Paving Products Inc

Inventors

• Doy Nathaniel S
• Marsolek John L
• Gerding David Edwin
• Af Klinteberg Rolf
• Mcgee Robert J

Classifications

• G05D1/617

  Safety or protection, e.g. defining protection zones around obstacles or avoiding hazards (arrangements for controlling the position or course of two or more vehicles for avoiding collisions therebetween G05D1/693; arrangements for reacting to or preventing system or operator failure G05D1/80) · CPC title

• G05D1/648

  Performing a task within a working area or space, e.g. cleaning · CPC title

• G05D1/693

  for avoiding collisions between vehicles · CPC title

• E01C19/26 Primary

  self-propelled or fitted to road vehicles ({E01C19/231, E01C19/235} , E01C19/27 - E01C19/29 take precedence) · CPC title

• G07C3/08

  Registering or indicating the production of the machine either with or without registering working or idle time · CPC title