System and Method for Determining a State of Compaction

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016237630-A1
Application number	US-201514625053-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Feb 18, 2015
Priority date	Feb 18, 2015
Publication date	Aug 18, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

A system for determining a state of compaction of a work material includes a roller, a speed sensor, a pitch angle sensor, and a power loss sensor. A controller determines a three-dimensional hard earth power map based upon the speed and pitch angle of the machine and the power loss and also determines a soft earth calibration factor based upon the speed and pitch angle of the machine and the power loss. The controller determines the state of compaction of the work material based upon the speed and pitch angle of the machine, the three-dimensional hard earth power map, and the soft earth calibration factor as the machine moves along the work material.

First claim

1 . A system for determining a state of compaction of a work material during a compaction operation, comprising:
a roller associated with a machine and configured to engage and compact the work material; a speed sensor associated with the machine operative to determine a speed of the machine; a pitch angle sensor associated with the machine operative to determine a pitch angle of the machine; a power loss sensor associated with the machine operative to determine a power loss of the machine; and a controller configured to:
determine a plurality of hard earth calibration data points based upon the speed of the machine, the pitch angle of the machine, and the power loss of the machine as the machine moves along a hard earth calibration surface, the plurality of hard earth calibration data points corresponding to a plurality of different speeds and a plurality of different pitch angles;
determine a three-dimensional hard earth power map based upon the plurality of hard earth calibration data points;
determine at least one soft earth calibration data point based upon the speed of the machine, the pitch angle of the machine, and the power loss of the machine as the machine moves along a soft earth calibration surface;
determine a soft earth calibration factor based upon the at least one soft earth calibration data point; and
determine the state of compaction of the work material based upon the speed of the machine, the pitch angle of the machine, the three-dimensional hard earth power map, and the soft earth calibration factor as the machine moves along the work material.

2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to determine a three-dimensional soft earth power map and determine the state of compaction of the work material further based upon the three-dimensional soft earth power map.

3 . The system of claim 2 , wherein the controller is further configured to determine the three-dimensional soft earth power map based upon the three-dimensional hard earth power map and the soft earth calibration factor.

4 . The system of claim 2 , wherein the controller is configured to:
determine a hard earth gross amount of power used based upon the three-dimensional hard earth power map, the speed of the machine, and the pitch angle of the machine; determine a soft earth gross amount of power used based upon the three-dimensional soft earth power map, the speed of the machine, and the pitch angle of the machine; and further determine the state of compaction of the work material based upon the hard earth gross amount of power used and the soft earth gross amount of power used.

5 . The system of claim 2 , wherein the three-dimensional soft earth power map is generally identical to the three-dimensional hard earth power map but shifted relative to a pitch angle of the machine.

6 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to determine the soft earth calibration factor based upon only one soft earth calibration data point.

7 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to determine the soft earth calibration factor based upon a plurality of soft earth calibration data points.

8 . The system of claim 1 , further including a position sensor associated with the machine operative to determine a position of the machine and the controller is further configured to store the state of compaction together with the position of the machine.

9 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the machine further includes a hydrostatic system having a pump operatively connected to a motor, and the motor is operatively connected to the roller.

10 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the controller is further configured to determine the power loss based upon a difference between an input and an output of the motor.

11 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the machine further includes a torque converter, and the controller is further configured to determine the power loss based upon a difference between an input and an output of the torque converter.

12 . A controller-implemented method for determining a state of compaction of a work material during a compaction operation, comprising:
moving a machine along a along a hard earth calibration surface at plurality of different speeds and a plurality of different pitch angles; determining a plurality of hard earth calibration data points based upon a speed of the machine, a pitch angle of the machine, and a power loss of the machine as the machine moves along the hard earth calibration surface, the plurality of hard earth calibration data points corresponding to the plurality of different speeds and the plurality of different pitch angles; determining a three-dimensional hard earth power map based upon the plurality of hard earth calibration data points; moving the machine along a soft earth calibration surface; determining at least one soft earth calibration data point based upon the speed of the machine, the pitch angle of the machine, and the power loss of the machine as the machine moves along a soft earth calibration surface; determining a soft earth calibration factor based upon the at least one soft earth calibration data point; and moving the machine along the work material; determining the state of compaction of the work material based upon the speed of the machine, the pitch angle of the machine, the three-dimensional hard earth power map, and the soft earth calibration factor as the machine moves along the work material.

13 . The method of claim 12 , further including determining a three-dimensional soft earth power map and determining the state of compaction of the work material further based upon the three-dimensional soft earth power map.

14 . The method of claim 13 , further including determining the three-dimensional soft earth power map based upon the three-dimensional hard earth power map and the soft earth calibration factor.

15 . The method of claim 13 , further including determining:
a hard earth gross amount of power used based upon the three-dimensional hard earth power map, the speed of the machine, and the pitch angle of the machine; a soft earth gross amount of power used based upon the three-dimensional soft earth power map, the speed of the machine, and the pitch angle of the machine; and the state of compaction of the work material based upon the hard earth gross amount of power used and the soft earth gross amount of power used.

16 . The method of claim 13 , further including determining the three-dimensional soft earth power map by shifting the pitch angle of the three-dimensional hard earth power map.

17 . The method of claim 12 , further including determining the soft earth calibration factor based upon only one soft earth calibration data point.

18 . The method of claim 12 , further including determining the soft earth calibration factor based upon a plurality of soft earth calibration data points.

19 . The method of claim 12 , further including determining a position of the machine and storing the state of compaction together with the position of the machine.

20 . A machine comprising:
a prime mover; a roller associated with a machine and configured to engage and compact a work material; a speed sensor associated with the machine operative to determine a speed of the machine; a pitch angle sensor associated with the machine operative to determine a pitch angle of the machine; a power loss sensor associated with the machine operative to determine a power loss of the machine; and

Assignees

• Caterpillar Paving Products Inc

Inventors

• Aho Benjamin

Classifications

• G01N9/00

  Investigating density or specific gravity of materials; Analysing materials by determining density or specific gravity · CPC title

• E01C19/23 Primary

  Rollers therefor; Such rollers usable also for compacting soil ({E01C19/41,} E01C19/43, {E01C19/52, E01C23/065} take precedence; specially adapted for agricultural purposes A01B29/00; garden rollers A01G20/35; making or maintaining surfaces of snow or ice E01H4/00; solely for soil compaction E02D3/026) · CPC title

• E01C23/07 Primary

  Apparatus combining measurement of the surface configuration of paving with application of material in proportion to the measured irregularities (measuring means only E01C23/01 {G01B}) · CPC title

• E01C19/288

  adapted for monitoring characteristics of the material being compacted, e.g. indicating resonant frequency, measuring degree of compaction, by measuring values, detectable on the roller; using detected values to control operation of the roller, e.g. automatic adjustment of vibration responsive to such measurements · CPC title