Patent Application
20230287638
This patent application is directed to estimating material compaction, and more specifically, to an on-board determination of compaction quality by relating machine drive power to material compaction.
The compaction of asphalt, soil, and other earthen material is an important step in the construction of road beds, pavements, foundations, dams, runways, landfill liners, etc. Compaction can improve the load bearing capacity of earthen materials, improve their strength, and their resistance to failure. In most construction processes, some quality assurance compaction test must be performed on a base material before further construction can take place on the compacted base material.
There are many known compaction quality assurance tests, such as walk out tests (walk out occurs when a compactor with a tipped roller becomes supported on the base material by the roller tips), penetrometer tests, and material density tests including nuclear density measurements. While these quality assurance techniques can help assure the compaction quality of a base material, they only check the compaction quality of a small portion of the compacted area which is typically a relatively large area. Thus, inadequate compaction in one area can go undetected after a quality assurance test at another location on the base material suggests that the material has been satisfactorily compacted. Furthermore, the down time involved in waiting for a quality assurance test to be performed after completion of a compaction process can increase inefficiencies and substantially increase the overall costs of a construction project.
Efforts have been made to avoid costly downtime associated with waiting for a quality assurance test to be performed. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,973,821 to Corcoran (hereinafter “Corcoran”) contemplates generating compaction quality assurance data using on-board generated compaction quality control data. The quality control compaction data is based upon quantifying a sinkage deformation interaction between the compactor and the base material. The interaction might include monitoring an effective roller radius of the compactor, or an amount of energy transferred or consumed when the compactor moves over the base material, or measuring a rut depth caused by the compactor.
In one instance Corcoran quantifies a sinkage deformation interaction between the compactor and base material by measuring compactive energy which can be related to propelling power. The propelling power is determined by the product of hydraulic flow rate and hydraulic pressure of the compactor. Corcoran states that it is preferred to account for internal energy loss rates of the compactor due to bearings, gears, hydraulic fluid and the like. Accordingly, Corcoran includes additional sensor data and calculations. Furthermore, Corcoran is directed to a specific drive system, namely hydraulic drives.
Thus, there are still opportunities to improve on-board base material compaction estimates, particularly where electric drive systems are employed. The example systems and methods described herein are directed toward overcoming one or more of the deficiencies described above and/or other problems with the prior art.
In some embodiments, a method for estimating material compaction can include creating compaction lookup tables based on total drive motor current and slope angle for each of a plurality of machine types. The method can include receiving telematics data related to total drive motor current for an individual machine and receiving telematics data related to a slope angle for the individual machine. The method can further include receiving a machine type of the individual machine and selecting a compaction lookup table corresponding to the individual machine type. A compaction value is determined from the selected lookup table based on the total drive motor current and the slope angle.
According to some aspects, the method can further comprise receiving a GPS location of the individual machine and mapping the compaction value with the GPS location of the individual machine. In some aspects, the method can further comprise activating a compaction indicator located on the individual machine when the compaction value exceeds a selected threshold. In certain aspects, selecting the compaction lookup table further comprises selecting the compaction lookup table based on a parameter value associated with the individual machine type. In some aspects, the parameter value associated with the individual machine type comprises tire pressure. According to certain aspects, the compaction lookup tables are empirically derived.
In some embodiments, a system for estimating material compaction can include one or more current sensors located on an individual machine, one or more slope angle sensors located on the individual machine, one or more processors, and one or more memory devices having instructions stored thereon. When executed, the instructions cause the processors to receive telematics data from the one or more current sensors related to total drive motor current for the individual machine and receive telematics data from the one or more slope angle sensors related to a slope angle for the individual machine. The instructions can also cause the processors to receive a machine type of the individual machine and select a compaction lookup table corresponding to the individual machine type. The instructions can also cause the processors to determine a compaction value from the selected lookup table based on the total drive motor current and the slope angle.
In some embodiments, one or more non-transitory computer-readable media can store computer-executable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations. The operations can include receiving telematics data related to total drive motor current for an individual machine and receiving telematics data related to a slope angle for the individual machine. The operations can also include receiving a machine type of the individual machine and selecting a compaction lookup table corresponding to the individual machine type. A compaction value from the selected lookup table is determined based on the total drive motor current and the slope angle.
The systems and methods described herein may be better understood by referring to the following Detailed Description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals indicate identical or functionally similar elements:
The headings provided herein are for convenience only and do not necessarily affect the scope of the embodiments. Further, the drawings have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be expanded or reduced to help improve the understanding of the embodiments. Moreover, while the disclosed technology is amenable to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments have been shown by way of example in the drawings and are described in detail below. The intention, however, is not to unnecessarily limit the embodiments described. On the contrary, the embodiments are intended to cover all suitable modifications, combinations, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the scope of this disclosure.
Various examples of the systems and methods introduced above will now be described in further detail. The following description provides specific details for a thorough understanding and enabling description of these examples. One skilled in the relevant art will understand, however, that the techniques and technology discussed herein may be practiced without many of these details. Likewise, one skilled in the relevant art will also understand that the technology can include many other features not described in detail herein. Additionally, some well-known structures or functions may not be shown or described in detail below so as to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the relevant description.
The terminology used below is to be interpreted in its broadest reasonable manner, even though it is being used in conjunction with a detailed description of some specific examples of the embodiments. Indeed, some terms may even be emphasized below; however, any terminology intended to be interpreted in any restricted manner will be overtly and specifically defined as such in this section.
Disclosed are methods and systems for estimating material compaction based on electric motor drive power. The compaction of a material affects the rolling resistance of the compactor. Thus, the power required to move the compactor over the material is related to the compaction of the material. In electrically driven compactors, the total current applied to the drive motors is therefore related to the compaction of the material. The disclosed technology uses empirically derived lookup tables to determine compaction based on total current and slope angle of the compactor. The disclosed technology is applicable to base materials such as soil and other earthen materials as well as asphalt. Using the disclosed methods to monitor compactor motor current can provide a more precise compaction estimate suitable for harder material such as asphalt, whereas conventional systems measuring hydraulic pressure are not precise enough to reliably estimate asphalt compaction. Compaction can be specified as density or unit weight (e.g., pounds per cubic foot). Compaction can also be specified as a percent of maximum density achieved in a lab. The compaction lookup tables can be based on known compaction testing methods and correlated to motor current and slope angle or grade, for example.
As shown in
In some embodiments, the Compaction Lookup Module 130 is configured to receive the information gathered by Module 120 and select the corresponding lookup table. The lookup table can be selected based on machine type, model number, and/or additional parameter values. For example, the lookup table can be based on the model number and a ballast value. Thus, different ranges of ballast can have different lookup tables. Compaction Lookup Module 130 can determine the compaction value using the selected lookup table based on the received slope angle and current value.
In some embodiments, the Compaction Value Output Module 140 is configured to receive the compaction value and display and/or indicate the compaction value to a machine operator and/or a cite manager, for example. In some embodiments, the Output Module 140 can activate an indicator 27 (
The techniques disclosed here can be embodied as special-purpose hardware (e.g., circuitry), as programmable circuitry appropriately programmed with software and/or firmware, or as a combination of special-purpose and programmable circuitry. Hence, embodiments may include a machine-readable medium having stored thereon instructions which may be used to cause a computer, a microprocessor, processor, and/or microcontroller (or other electronic devices) to perform a process. The machine-readable medium may include, but is not limited to, optical disks, compact disc read-only memories (CD-ROMs), magneto-optical disks, ROMs, random access memories (RAMs), erasable programmable read-only memories (EPROMs), electrically erasable programmable read-only memories (EEPROMs), magnetic or optical cards, flash memory, or other type of media/machine-readable medium suitable for storing electronic instructions.
Several implementations are discussed below in more detail in reference to the figures.
CPU 610 can be a single processing unit or multiple processing units in a device or distributed across multiple devices. CPU 610 can be coupled to other hardware devices, for example, with the use of a bus, such as a PCI bus or SCSI bus. The CPU 610 can communicate with a hardware controller for devices, such as for a display 630. Display 630 can be used to display text and graphics. In some examples, display 630 provides graphical and textual visual feedback to a user. In some implementations, display 630 includes the input device as part of the display, such as when the input device is a touchscreen or is equipped with an eye direction monitoring system. In some implementations, the display is separate from the input device. Examples of display devices are: an LCD display screen; an LED display screen; a projected, holographic, or augmented reality display (such as a heads-up display device or a head-mounted device); and so on. Other I/O devices 640 can also be coupled to the processor, such as a network card, video card, audio card, USB, FireWire or other external device, sensor, camera, printer, speakers, CD-ROM drive, DVD drive, disk drive, or Blu-Ray device.
In some implementations, the device 600 also includes a communication device capable of communicating wirelessly or wire-based with a network node. The communication device can communicate with another device or a server through a network using, for example, TCP/IP protocols. Device 600 can utilize the communication device to distribute operations across multiple network devices.
The CPU 610 can have access to a memory 650. A memory includes one or more of various hardware devices for volatile and non-volatile storage, and can include both read-only and writable memory. For example, a memory can comprise random access memory (RAM), CPU registers, read-only memory (ROM), and writable non-volatile memory, such as flash memory, hard drives, floppy disks, CDs, DVDs, magnetic storage devices, tape drives, device buffers, and so forth. A memory is not a propagating signal divorced from underlying hardware; a memory is thus non-transitory. Memory 650 can include program memory 660 that stores programs and software, such as an operating system 662, Compaction Estimation Platform 664, and other application programs 666. Memory 650 can also include data memory 670 that can include database information, etc., which can be provided to the program memory 660 or any element of the device 600.
Some implementations can be operational with numerous other general purpose or special purpose computing system environments or configurations. Examples of well-known computing systems, environments, and/or configurations that may be suitable for use with the technology include, but are not limited to, personal computers, server computers, handheld or laptop devices, cellular telephones, mobile phones, wearable electronics, gaming consoles, tablet devices, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based systems, programmable consumer electronics, network PCs, minicomputers, mainframe computers, distributed computing environments that include any of the above systems or devices, or the like.
In some implementations, server computing device 710 can be an edge server that receives client requests and coordinates fulfillment of those requests through other servers, such as servers 720A-C. Server computing devices 710 and 720 can comprise computing systems, such as device 600. Though each server computing device 710 and 720 is displayed logically as a single server, server computing devices can each be a distributed computing environment encompassing multiple computing devices located at the same or at geographically disparate physical locations. In some implementations, each server computing device 720 corresponds to a group of servers.
Client computing devices 705 and server computing devices 710 and 720 can each act as a server or client to other server/client devices. Server 710 can connect to a database 715. Servers 720A-C can each connect to a corresponding database 725A-C. As discussed above, each server 720 can correspond to a group of servers, and each of these servers can share a database or can have their own database. Databases 715 and 725 can warehouse (e.g., store) information. Though databases 715 and 725 are displayed logically as single units, databases 715 and 725 can each be a distributed computing environment encompassing multiple computing devices, can be located within their corresponding server, or can be located at the same or at geographically disparate physical locations.
Network 730 can be a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), but can also be other wired or wireless networks. Network 730 may be the Internet or some other public or private network. Client computing devices 705 can be connected to network 730 through a network interface, such as by wired or wireless communication. While the connections between server 710 and servers 720 are shown as separate connections, these connections can be any kind of local, wide area, wired, or wireless network, including network 730 or a separate public or private network.
General software 820 can include various applications, including an operating system 822, local programs 824, and a basic input output system (BIOS) 826. Specialized components 840 can be subcomponents of a general software application 820, such as local programs 824. Specialized components 840 can include a Data Gathering Module 844, a Compaction Lookup Module 846, a Mapping Module 848, a Output/Display Module 850, and components that can be used for transferring data and controlling the specialized components, such as Interface 842. In some implementations, components 800 can be in a computing system that is distributed across multiple computing devices or can be an interface to a server-based application executing one or more of specialized components 840.
Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the components illustrated in
In some embodiments, a compaction estimation system can include a Data Gathering Module 844, a Compaction Lookup Module 846, a Mapping Module 848, and an Output/Display Module 850 (
The Compaction Lookup Module 846 can select a compaction lookup table corresponding to the machine type and/or parameter values. Module 846 determines a compaction value from the selected table based on the total current and slope angle.
The Mapping Module 848 can combine each compaction value with a corresponding location (e.g., GPS location) to create a map of an area to be compacted. The map can be color coded to indicate which areas are sufficiently compacted (e.g., green) and those that may need additional compaction (e.g., yellow).
The Output/Display Module 850 is configured to output an indication of whether an area under the compactor is sufficiently compacted with an indicator, such as an LED. In some embodiments, if the area is sufficiently compacted, the indicator displays a green light, otherwise the it displays a yellow light. The Output/Display Module 850 can also display the mapped compaction values on a monitor located in the cab of the compactor and/or at a remote location.
The above description and drawings are illustrative and are not to be construed as limiting. Numerous specific details are described to provide a thorough understanding of the disclosure. However, in some instances, well-known details are not described in order to avoid obscuring the description. Further, various modifications may be made without deviating from the scope of the embodiments.
Reference in this specification to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the disclosure. The appearances of the phrase “in one embodiment” in various places in the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment, nor are separate or alternative embodiments mutually exclusive of other embodiments. Moreover, various features are described which may be exhibited by some embodiments and not by others. Similarly, various requirements are described which may be requirements for some embodiments but not for other embodiments.
The terms used in this specification generally have their ordinary meanings in the art, within the context of the disclosure, and in the specific context where each term is used. It will be appreciated that the same thing can be said in more than one way. Consequently, alternative language and synonyms may be used for any one or more of the terms discussed herein, and any special significance is not to be placed upon whether or not a term is elaborated or discussed herein. Synonyms for some terms are provided. A recital of one or more synonyms does not exclude the use of other synonyms. The use of examples anywhere in this specification, including examples of any term discussed herein, is illustrative only and is not intended to further limit the scope and meaning of the disclosure or of any exemplified term. Likewise, the disclosure is not limited to various embodiments given in this specification. Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure pertains. In the case of conflict, the present document, including definitions, will control.
