Determination of an excavator swing boom angle based on the direction of the centripetal acceleration

A system for determining a swing boom angle of an excavator,

• wherein the excavator comprises:
• a lower part,
• an upper part comprising a cabin, the upper part being arranged on the lower part and configured to be rotated relative to the lower part about a first rotation axis,
• a swing boom arranged on the upper part and configured to be rotated relative to the upper part about a second rotation axis that an actual swing boom position defines a swing boom angle, wherein the system comprises:
• a first inertial measurement unit (IMU) configured to be mounted on the swing boom and to generate first IMU data, wherein the first IMU comprises at least one acceleration sensor, and
• a processing unit configured to:
• receive the first IMU data,
• determine a direction of a centripetal acceleration acting on the first IMU based on the received first IMU data when the upper part rotates about the first rotation axis relative to the lower part, and
• determine the swing boom angle based on the direction of the centripetal acceleration,
• wherein the system further comprises a motion model configured to:
• track a motion of the upper part, the lower part or the swing boom,
• determine a type of motion based on the tracked motion,
• determine a motion acceleration and a gravitational acceleration based on the tracked motion of upper part, lower part or swing boom,
• change an execution of the sensor fusion algorithm and/or the determination of the direction of the centripetal acceleration based on the determined type of motion,
• wherein the centripetal acceleration of the tracked motion is calculated by subtracting the gravitational acceleration from the motion acceleration,
• wherein the motion is tracked as
• a rotation of the upper part relative to the lower part about the first rotation axis, and
• a rotation of the swing boom relative to the upper part about a third rotation axis, wherein the third rotation axis is perpendicular to the first rotation axis,
• wherein based on the tracked motion:
• a centripetal acceleration of the rotation motion of the swing boom about the third rotation axis is determined based on the position of the first IMU,
• a centripetal acceleration of the rotation motion of the upper part about the first rotation axis is calculated by subtracting the gravitational acceleration and the centripetal acceleration of the rotation motion of the swing boom about the third rotation axis from the motion acceleration of the upper part.

A system for determining a swing boom angle of an excavator, wherein the excavator comprises:

• a lower part,
• an upper part comprising a cabin, the upper part being arranged on the lower part and configured to be rotated relative to the lower part about a first rotation axis,
• a swing boom arranged on the upper part and configured to be rotated relative to the upper part about a second rotation axis that an actual swing boom position defines a swing boom angle, wherein the system comprises:
• a first inertial measurement unit (IMU) configured to be mounted on the swing boom and to generate first IMU data, wherein the first IMU comprises at least one acceleration sensor, and
• a processing unit configured to:
• receive the first IMU data,
• determine a direction of a centripetal acceleration acting on the first IMU based on the received first IMU data when the upper part rotates about the first rotation axis relative to the lower part, and
• determine the swing boom angle based on the direction of the centripetal acceleration,
• wherein the system further comprises a motion model configured to:
• track a motion of the upper part, the lower part or the swing boom,
• determine a type of motion based on the tracked motion,
• determine a motion acceleration and a gravitational acceleration based on the tracked motion of upper part, lower part or swing boom,
• change an execution of the sensor fusion algorithm and/or the determination of the direction of the centripetal acceleration based on the determined type of motion,
• wherein the motion is tracked as
• a rotation of the upper part relative to the lower part about the first rotation axis, and a rotation of the swing boom relative to the upper part about the second rotation axis,
• wherein based on the tracked motion:
• a centripetal acceleration of the rotation motion of the swing boom about the second rotation axis is determined based on the position of the first IMU,
• a centripetal acceleration of the rotation motion of the upper part about the first rotation axis is calculated by subtracting the gravitational acceleration and the determined centripetal acceleration of the rotation motion of the swing boom about the second rotation axis from the motion acceleration of the upper part.

A system for determining a swing boom angle of an excavator, wherein

• the excavator comprises:
• a lower part,
• an upper part comprising a cabin, the upper part being arranged on the lower part and configured to be rotated relative to the lower part about a first rotation axis,
• a swing boom arranged on the upper part and configured to be rotated relative to the upper part about a second rotation axis that an actual swing boom position defines a swing boom angle, wherein the system comprises:
• a first inertial measurement unit (IMU) configured to be mounted on the swing boom and to generate first IMU data, wherein the first IMU comprises at least one acceleration sensor, and
• a processing unit configured to:
• receive the first IMU data,
• determine a direction of a centripetal acceleration acting on the first IMU based on the received first IMU data when the upper part rotates about the first rotation axis relative to the lower part, and
• determine the swing boom angle based on the direction of the centripetal acceleration,
• wherein the system further comprises a motion model configured to:
• track a motion of the upper part, the lower part or the swing boom,
• determine a type of motion based on the tracked motion,
• determine a motion acceleration and a gravitational acceleration based on the tracked motion of upper part, lower part or swing boom,
• change an execution of the sensor fusion algorithm and/or the determination of the direction of the centripetal acceleration based on the determined type of motion,
• wherein the centripetal acceleration of the tracked motion is calculated by subtracting the gravitational acceleration from the motion acceleration,
• wherein the motion is tracked as
• a rotation of the upper part relative to the lower part about the first rotation axis, and a rotation of the swing boom relative to the upper part about the second rotation axis,
• wherein based on the tracked motion:
• a centripetal acceleration of the rotation motion of the swing boom about the second rotation axis is determined based on the position of the first IMU,
• a centripetal acceleration of the rotation motion of the upper part about the first rotation axis is calculated by subtracting the gravitational acceleration and the determined centripetal acceleration of the rotation motion of the swing boom about the second rotation axis from the motion acceleration of the upper part.