Systems, methods, and machines for automated screw anchor driving
AssigneeOjjo, Inc.
InventorsSteven Kraft, Jack West, Daniel Flanigan
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
In a machine for driving screw anchors and other foundation components, a desired embedment depth is calculated based on a minimum required embedment depth, work point height and length of available upper leg sections. Once calculated, the machine automatically drives the screw anchor to the depth so that one of the available upper leg lengths will fit between the driven screw anchor and apex truss hardware. If uplift is detected during driving, the machine will add additional embedment depth. In-situ validation of driven screw anchors may be performed after the embedment depth is reached.
Claims20
An automated control system for a screw anchor driving machine comprising:
- a plurality of control nodes;
- a plurality of control nodes controllably coupled to a processor perform an automated screw anchor driving operation;
- a plurality of sensor nodes communicatively coupled to the controller;
- and
- a storage device communicatively coupled to the controller, the storage device storing program code executable by the controller to cause it to calculate an upper leg length, to calculate an actual embedment depth based on the upper length, and to drive a screw anchor into underlying ground substantially to the embedment depth based in part on information received from at least one of the sensor nodes during a driving operation.
A screw anchor driving machine comprising:
- a mast attached to the machine, the mast comprising:
- a first motor powering a drive train;
- a rotary driver movable along the mast via the drive train;
- a tool driver movable along the mast proximate to the rotary driver and operable to operate a tool through the rotary driver during an screw anchor driving operation;
- and
- a second motor coupled to the tool driver for selectively moving the tool driver along the mast independent of the rotary driver;
- a controller coupled to the first motor, the rotary driver, the tool driver, and the second motor to perform the automated screw anchor driving operation based on a control program stored in a memory of the controller;
- and
- a plurality of sensors providing information to the controller during the automated screw anchor driving operation.
A method of performing an automated screw anchor driving operation with a screw anchor driving machine comprising, with a controller of the screw anchor driving machine:
- calculating an upper leg length based in part on a predetermined minimum embedment depth for the screw anchor and a required truss work point height;
- selecting an upper leg length from a group of available upper leg lengths based on the calculated upper leg length;
- calculating an actual embedment depth based on the required work point and the selected upper leg length;
- and
- with the controller, controlling a driving assembly of the machine to automatically drive the screw anchor substantially to the calculated embedment depth.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.