Checking volume in an excavation tool

#The disclosure relates generally to method for excavating earth from a dig site, and more specifically to excavating earth using a vehicle operated using a sensor assembly coupled to control the vehicle.

#Vehicles such as backhoes, loaders, and excavators, generally categorized as excavation vehicles, are used to excavate earth from locations. Currently, operation of these excavation vehicles is very expensive as each vehicle requires a manual operator be available and present during the entire excavation. Further complicating the field, there is an insufficient labor force skilled enough to meet the demand for operating these vehicles. Because they must be operated manually, excavation can only be performed during the day, extending the duration of excavation projects and further increasing overall costs. The dependence of current excavation vehicles on manual operators increases the risk of human error during excavations and reduce the quality of work done at the site.

#Described is an autonomous or semi-autonomous excavation system that unifies an excavation vehicle with a sensor system for excavating earth from a site. The excavation system controls and navigates an excavation vehicle through an excavation routine of a site. The excavation system uses a combination of sensors integrated into the excavation vehicle to record the positions and orientations of the various components of the excavation vehicle and/or the conditions of the surrounding earth. Data recorded by the sensors may be aggregated or processed in various ways, for example, to determine and control the actuation of the vehicle's controls, to generate representations of the current state of the site, to perform measurements and generate analyses based on those measurements, and perform other tasks described herein.

#FIG. 1 shows an excavation system for excavating earth, according to an embodiment.

#FIG. 2A illustrates the example placement of sensors for a compact track loader, according to an embodiment.

#FIG. 2B illustrates the example placement of sensors for an excavator, according to an embodiment.

#The figures depict various embodiments of the presented invention for purposes of illustration only. One skilled in the art will readily recognize from the following discussion that alternative embodiments of the structures and methods illustrated herein may be employed without departing from the principles described herein.

#I. Excavation System

#FIG. 1 shows an excavation system 100 for excavating earth autonomously or semi-autonomously from a dig site using a suite of one or more sensors 170 mounted on an excavation vehicle 115 to record data describing the state of the excavation vehicle 115 and the excavated site. As examples, FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate the example placement of sensors for a compact track loader and an excavator, respectively, according to example embodiments. FIGS. 1-2B are discussed together in the following section for clarity.