Plausibility check
AssigneeWirtgen GmbH
InventorsMatthias Fritz, René Müller, Manuel Rossa
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A system is provided for determining the plausibility that a current ground surface on which a construction machine is located conforms to a prior survey of that ground surface. A controller is provided with a digital model defined within a reference system external to the construction machine. The controller determines a current relative orientation and an expected relative orientation, of at least one sensor pair of a plurality of distance sensors, relative to each other and relative to a reference plane defined in the digital model. The controller compares those orientations to confirm whether the current relative orientation conforms to the expected relative orientation.
Claims31
A method of operating a construction machine including a machine frame, a working implement supported from the machine frame, a controller, and a plurality of distance sensors supported directly or indirectly from the machine frame, each respective distance sensor being configured to detect a distance between the machine frame and a ground surface, the method comprising:
- providing to the controller a digital model defined within a reference system external to the construction machine, the digital model being configured to guide the construction machine as the construction machine works the ground surface to create a design surface;
- determining with the controller a current relative orientation, relative to each other and relative to a reference plane defined within the reference system external to the construction machine, of a first sensor and a second sensor of at least one sensor pair of the plurality of distance sensors;
- determining with the controller based at least in part on the digital model an expected relative orientation, relative to each other and relative to the reference plane, of the first sensor and the second sensor of the at least one sensor pair;
- and
- comparing with the controller the current relative orientation to the expected relative orientation of the at least one sensor pair to confirm whether the current relative orientation conforms to the expected relative orientation.
A construction machine, comprising:
- a machine frame;
- a working implement supported from the machine frame for working a ground surface as the machine moves across the ground surface during a working operation;
- a plurality of distance sensors supported directly or indirectly from the machine frame, each respective distance sensor being configured to detect a distance between the machine frame and the ground surface;
- at least one slope sensor configured to detect a slope of the machine frame relative to a direction of gravity;
- at least one position data determination component operable to determine position data to define a current position of a reference point on the construction machine in a reference system external to the construction machine;
- and
- a controller associated with a memory, the memory having stored therein a digital model defined within the reference system external to the construction machine, the controller being operable to receive the position data from the at least one position data determination component, wherein the controller is configured to:
- determine a current x, y position in the reference system external to the construction machine of each of the distance sensors;
- determine a current relative orientation, relative to each other and relative to a reference plane defined within the reference system external to the construction machine, of a first sensor and a second sensor of at least one sensor pair of the plurality of distance sensors;
- determine based at least in part on the digital model an expected relative orientation, relative to each other and relative to the reference plane, of the first sensor and the second sensor of the at least one sensor pair;
- compare the current relative orientation to the expected relative orientation of the at least one sensor pair to confirm whether the current relative orientation conforms to the expected relative orientation;
- and
- in an event of a lack of conformity of the current relative orientation to the expected relative orientation of any of the sensor pairs, providing corrective action responsive to the lack of conformity.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.