Qualification of electrohydraulic drive systems for assisted/automated mobile machines and digitalized construction processes

Task / Objective

In the course of the increasing digitalization of the construction industry and the growing shortage of qualified personnel, there are increasing efforts to automate construction processes on the part of research and industry. These range from the automated execution of simple work processes (e.g. grading with a hydraulic excavator) according to the requirements of the machine operator to more complex activities without the intervention of an operator (e.g. concrete 3D printing). However, only very few of these automated work processes currently meet the practical requirements in terms of working speed and accuracy of the automation result and are inferior to an experienced machine operator.

The aim of the project is to determine the extent to which current drive systems of mobile machines are able to meet the requirements of automation and which measures contribute to qualifying the drive systems for automated operation.

Solution approach

As part of the project, two typical automation functions of mobile machines are identified ("path following" and "positioning") and the characteristics of the automated implementation of these functions are analyzed on different test machines. On this basis, requirements for process automation are defined and analytical quality criteria are formulated.

In order to visualize the influence of individual system and component parameters on the quality of the automation, an extensive simulation study is carried out by varying numerous parameters (controller settings, dynamic parameters, ...) using validated system simulation models.

The results of the sensitivity analysis show clear tendencies towards particularly influential and less influential parameters. To verify the results, the selected automation functions are tested on a demonstrator that has been upgraded as part of the project. By adjusting selected parameters of the drive system in a targeted manner, the influence of the parameters on the fulfillment of the defined quality criteria is investigated. Based on the results from simulation and testing, key factors influencing the automation result are identified and measures for upgrading mobile hydraulic drive systems for automated construction processes are derived.

The IGF project 21570 BR/1 of the research association Forschungskuratorium Maschinenbau e. V. was funded within the framework of the program for the promotion of joint industrial research (IGF) by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection (BMWK) on the basis of a resolution of the German Bundestag.
Project duration: 01.12.2020 – 30.11.2023

The final report of the project can be obtained from the Forschungskuratiom Maschinenbau e. V. (http://www.fkm-net.de) (postal address: Lyoner Str. 18, 60528 Frankfurt am Main, e-mail: info@fkm-net.de).