Automated work system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12385220-B2
Application number	US-202118023454-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 13, 2021
Priority date	Feb 2, 2021
Publication date	Aug 12, 2025
Grant date	Aug 12, 2025

Abstract

An automated operation controller 45 of an automated work system 10 includes: a work status management section 452 that selects a work content according to a work DB 456 that records a work plan for a hydraulic excavator 1 and a work order in the work plan, creates an operation plan based on the selected work content and information on the surrounding environment measured by laser scanners 34 , and outputs a control signal to a vehicle body controller 41 based on the operation plan; and an abnormal object detection section 454 that detects an abnormal object present on a work site based on the information on the surrounding environment measured by the laser scanners 34 . When the execution of the operation plan is determined to be hindered by the presence of the abnormal object, the work status management section 452 selects another work content from the work plan.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An automated work system comprising:
a surrounding environment measuring device that measures a surrounding environment of a work machine; and
an automated operation controlling device that controls an automated operation of the work machine,
wherein the automated operation controlling device includes:
a work status management section that selects, according to a work order in a work plan obtained, a work content from the work plan, creates an operation plan for the work machine on a work site based on the selected work content and information on the surrounding environment measured by the surrounding environment measuring device, and outputs a control signal to a vehicle body controller disposed in the work machine based on the created operation plan, so as to manage a work status of the work machine; and
an abnormal object detection section that detects an abnormal object present on the work site where the work plan is executed based on the information on the surrounding environment measured by the surrounding environment measuring device, and
when an abnormal object is detected by the abnormal object detection section on the work site, the work status management section determines whether or not an execution of the operation plan is to be hindered by the presence of the abnormal object, and when the execution of the operation plan is determined to be hindered by the presence of the abnormal object, further determines whether or not a hindered work is dividable into a work executed in a range including the abnormal object and a work executed in a range not including the abnormal object by comparing a work amount in the range not including the abnormal object with a preliminarily determined threshold value, and when the hindered work is determined to be dividable, creates the operation plan for the range not including the abnormal object.

2. The automated work system according to claim 1 ,
wherein the work machine includes a traveling body and a working assembly,
the automated operation controlling device further includes a computation section that computes a target trajectory of a distal end of the working assembly and a target trajectory of the traveling body based on the operation plan, and
when the abnormal object that hinders at least one of the target trajectory of the distal end of the working assembly or the target trajectory of the traveling body computed by the computation section is present, the work status management section determines that the execution of the operation plan is to be hindered by the presence of the abnormal object.

3. The automated work system according to claim 1 , further comprising
an object recording section that records at least one of information on a predicted present object predicted to be present on the work site or information on an unpredicted present object other than the predicted present object,
wherein the object recording section is disposed in the automated operation controlling device or a server.

4. The automated work system according to claim 3 ,
wherein the abnormal object detection section detects an abnormal object present on the work site based on a concordance rate of the information on the surrounding environment measured by the surrounding environment measuring device and the information on an object recorded in the object recording section.

5. The automated work system according to claim 1 , further comprising
a work recording section that records the work plan,
wherein the work plan includes a work content and a work order executed by at least one work machine, and the work recording section is disposed in the automated operation controlling device or a server.

6. The automated work system according to claim 1 further comprising
an information display device that displays the work content selected by the work status management section, an executing range of the work, and the information on the abnormal object that is to hinder the execution of the operation plan.

7. The automated work system according to claim 6 , further comprising
an information input device that accepts input from at least a work administrator,
wherein, when the execution of the operation plan is determined to be hindered by the presence of the abnormal object, and continuation of work is instructed by the input to the information input device by the work administrator, the work status management section creates a work plan for the range not including the abnormal object.

8. The automated work system according to claim 7 ,
wherein after the work machine is switched to manual control by the work administrator and the abnormal object is removed from the work site, and when an instruction for starting work of the work machine is given by the work administrator and a human is not detected around the work machine based on the information on the surrounding environment measured by the surrounding environment measuring device, the work status management section selects another work from the work plan.

Assignees

• Hitachi Construction Mach Co

Inventors

• Sato Hiroaki
• Narikawa Ryu
• Kanazawa Akira
• Yamamoto Shinjirou
• SHIWAKU Kouji

Classifications

• E02F9/262

  with follow-up actions to control the work tool, e.g. controller · CPC title

• E02F9/205

  Remotely operated machines, e.g. unmanned vehicles (E02F3/8866 takes precedence) · CPC title

• E02F9/245

  for preventing damage to underground objects during excavation, e.g. indicating buried pipes or the like (detection of pipes in the ground F16L1/11) · CPC title

• E02F9/2054 Primary

  Fleet management · CPC title

• E02F3/437 Primary

  providing automatic sequences of movements, e.g. linear excavation, keeping dipper angle constant · CPC title