Customized work planning for automated loading, unloading, and transport operations by scraper systems

A system comprising:

• one or more earth working machines each including a loading container and a scraper blade, and being configured in a first work state to control loading of earth being worked by the scraper blade while the respective machine is advancing into the loading container, wherein a flow rate of earth into the loading container is dependent on at least an advance speed of the working machine and an actuatable position of the scraper blade relative to a ground surface traversed by the working machine, in a second work state to disable further loading and to transport the earth working machine with the earth loaded in the loading container, and in a third work state to disable advancing of the machine and further direct unloading of the loaded earth from the loading container;
• a data storage network having stored therein:
• a design plan comprising design data representing a difference between a current profile of a working area and a target profile of the working area, wherein the design data comprise x, y, and z coordinate data in a reference system external to the one or more earth working machines;
• and
• for at least one of the one or more earth working machines, one or more performance optimization data sets comprising a loading capacity of the loading container and loading rates of the earth working machine correlated to respective combinations of input data for working parameters for the earth working machine;
• one or more computing devices in functional communication with the one or more earth working machines and with the data storage network, wherein the one or more computing devices are configured to, for each of the one or more earth working machines:
• predict an amount of earth to be worked during one iteration of the first work state for the at least one earth working machine based upon at least the one or more performance optimization data sets;
• generate a work plan comprising a route of advance and corresponding work state transitions of the earth working machine with respect to the working area, wherein the work plan is generated based at least in part on the predicted amount of earth to be worked with each iteration of the first work state and the design plan, and wherein the generated work plan comprises a projected sequence of work cycles to optimize a number of iterations of the first work state required to produce a profile for the working area corresponding to the target profile of the working area, wherein each work cycle comprises a sequence of the first, second, and third work states, and wherein each iteration of the first work state for a given work cycle defines a respective work segment;
• automatically control one or more working parameters for the earth working machine in accordance with the generated work plan;
• obtain current input data during operation of the earth working machine corresponding to the loading capacity and the loading rate thereof;
• generate and/or selectively retrieve one or more updated performance optimization data sets based at least in part on the obtained current input data;
• generate an updated work plan based at least in part on the one or more updated performance optimization data sets;
• and
• automatically control one or more working parameters for the earth working machine in accordance with the updated work plan.