Robotic Technology Applied to Army Mobility Systems.
Abstract
Recognizing that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has a need for applying industrial robotic technology to high-risk and labor intensive tasks performed in the environment of a modern battlefield, USAMERADCOM started a small investigative project in a specific robotic application area--robotics applied to rapid excavation. The excavator used was a modified J. I. Case Model 35 Backhoe mounted on a highly mobile Mercedes Unimog truck. The conditions of the modern battlefield make rapid excavation extremely hazardous to the human operators due to the advent of highly accurate, technologically sophisticated weapons systems and the possibility of nuclear, biological, and/or chemical contamination of the battlefield environment. The goal, then, of the project was to eliminate or reduce through automation as much of the manual digging operation of the backhoe as would be consistent with current operating procedures. This report describes the system design and modifications associated with the implementation of a hierarchical 8-bit microprocessor control structure to the backhoe excavation cycle. The feedback control structure associated with driving a third order system consisting of electro-hydraulic values, microprocessors, optical encoders, and inertial loads is described along with an analysis of the predicted transient response.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jul 01, 1983
- Accession Number
- ADA134728
Entities
People
- C. A. Amazeen
- H. L. Keller
- R. J. Chavez