Autonomous Grading Maneuver Determination Algorithm for Electric Dozers

ABSTRACT State‐of‐the‐art autonomous grading algorithms can handle small regions and simple tasks due to their high computational loads. To address the aforementioned literature gap, this study presents an algorithm that heuristically calculates the excavation, transportation, dumping, and return maneuvers required for autonomous excavation. The algorithm is particularly developed for electric dozers with limited power. The algorithm starts from the opposite side of the dump zone and begins excavation from the local maximum height to avoid upward excavation and hauling to minimize the resistive forces acting on the dozer. The excavation depth and hauling capacity were defined so as not to exceed the electric dozer's power. Excavation of an area of 45 m wide and 60 m long was simulated by considering the effects of the open circuit voltage drop of the batteries. Simulations were completed between 16 and 64 s, depending on the configuration of the electric dozer. Regression analysis revealed that computation time increases linearly with an increase in width and quadratically with an increase in length. Simulations demonstrated that the proposed algorithm is suitable for electric dozers with low rimpull.