Excavator and work system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12497752-B2
Application number	US-202117448956-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 27, 2021
Priority date	Mar 28, 2019
Publication date	Dec 16, 2025
Grant date	Dec 16, 2025

Abstract

A shovel including a lower-part traveling body, an upper-part swiveling body which is enabled to swivel and is mounted to the lower-part traveling body, an actuator, and a control device that implements a first control process that causes the actuator to act autonomously, and a second control process that causes the actuator to act autonomously, wherein the control device is configured to select one control unit from among a plurality of control units that implements the first control process and the second control process, as a priority control process that is given priority to act, in a case where a conflict is judged to occur among the plurality of control units that implements the first control process and the second control process.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A shovel comprising:
a lower-part traveling body;
an upper-part swiveling body swivelably mounted to the lower-part traveling body;
an actuator; and
a hardware processor configured to implement a first control process to cause the actuator to act autonomously, and a second control process to cause the actuator to act autonomously,
wherein the hardware processor is configured to
determine whether there is a conflict between the first control process and the second control process in response to receiving, during implementation of the first control process, a control command to implement the second control process, and
implement one control process among a plurality of control processes including the first control process and the second control process without implementing the rest of the plurality of control processes, in response to determining that there is the conflict between the first control process and the second control process,

the hardware processor is configured to select the one control process from among the plurality of control processes as a control process to be preferentially implemented over the rest of the plurality of control processes, based on a priority order preset for a plurality of objects each having a possibility of coming in contact with the shovel, in response to determining that there is the conflict between the first control process and the second control process, and
the priority order is a priority order of protection, the plurality of objects include a person, and the person is given a highest degree of protection among the plurality of objects.

2. The shovel according to claim 1 ,
wherein the hardware processor is configured to select a third control process that is different from both of the first control process and the second control process as the control process to be preferentially implemented over the rest of the plurality of control processes, in response to determining that there is the conflict between the first control process and the second control process.

3. The shovel according to claim 1 , wherein the hardware processor is configured to
detect an object in an area surrounding the shovel, the object having a possibility of contacting the shovel,
implement the first control process to cause the actuator to act autonomously to assist an operator in manually operating the shovel while the operator is manually operating the shovel, and
implement the second control process to cause the actuator to act autonomously, independent of the first control process, to move or stop the shovel to avoid contact with the detected object.

4. The shovel according to claim 1 , wherein the hardware processor is configured to implement the selected one control process to cause the actuator to act autonomously to operate the shovel, and in response to determining that it is unavoidable for the shovel to contact at least two of the plurality of objects while implementing the selected one control process, cause the actuator to act autonomously to cause the shovel to contact one of the at least two of the plurality of objects based on the priority order of protection preset for the plurality of objects, the one of the at least two of the plurality of objects having a lower degree of protection than the rest of the at least two of the plurality of objects.

5. A work system that supports a work by a shovel, the shovel including a lower-part traveling body, an upper-part swiveling body swivelably mounted to the lower-part traveling body, an attachment mounted to the upper-part swiveling body and including an end attachment, and an actuator, the work system comprising:
a communication device configured to communicate with the shovel; and
a hardware processor configured to implement a first control process to cause the actuator to act autonomously and a second control process to cause the actuator to act autonomously,
wherein the hardware processor is configured to
determine whether there is a conflict between the first control process and the second control process in response to receiving, during implementation of the first control process, a control command to implement the second control process, and
implement one control process among a plurality of control processes including the first control process and the second control process without implementing the rest of the plurality of control processes, in response to determining that there is the conflict between the first control process and the second control process,

the hardware processor is configured to select the one control process from among the plurality of control processes as a control process to be preferentially implemented over the rest of the plurality of control processes, based on a priority order preset for a plurality of objects each having a possibility of coming in contact with the shovel, in response to determining that there is the conflict between the first control process and the second control process, and
the priority order is a priority order of protection, the plurality of objects include a person, and the person is given a highest degree of protection among the plurality of objects.

6. The work system according to claim 5 ,
wherein the hardware processor is configured to select a third control process that is different from both of the first control process and the second control process as the control process to be preferentially implemented over the rest of the plurality of control processes, in response to determining that there is the conflict between the first control process and the second control process.

7. The work system according to claim 5 , wherein the hardware processor is configured to
detect an object in an area surrounding the shovel, the object having a possibility of contacting the shovel,
implement the first control process to cause the actuator to act autonomously to assist an operator in manually operating the shovel while the operator is manually operating the shovel, and
implement the second control process to cause the actuator to act autonomously, independent of the first control process, to move or stop the shovel to avoid contact with the detected object.

8. The work system according to claim 5 , wherein the hardware processor is configured to implement the selected one control process to cause the actuator to act autonomously to operate the shovel, and in response to determining that it is unavoidable for the shovel to contact at least two of the plurality of objects while implementing the selected one control process, cause the actuator to act autonomously to cause the shovel to contact one of the at least two of the plurality of objects based on the priority order of protection preset for the plurality of objects, the one of the at least two of the plurality of objects having a lower degree of protection than the rest of the at least two of the plurality of objects.

Assignees

• Sumitomo Construction Machinery Co Ltd

Inventors

• Izumikawa Takeya

Classifications

• E02F9/2296

  Systems with a variable displacement pump · CPC title

• E02F9/2292

  Systems with two or more pumps · CPC title

• E02F9/2285

  Pilot-operated systems · CPC title

• E02F9/2235

  including an electronic controller · CPC title

• E02F9/2203

  Arrangements for controlling the attitude of actuators, e.g. speed, floating function · CPC title