Virtual excavator

[With M.A.Sc.student Simon DiMaio . Supported by IRIS/PRECARN and a Commonwealth Scholarship.]

For teleoperation controller development and evaluation and operator training, a virtual excavator is being developed. It includes a detailed graphical model of the machine and an environment it which it can dig trenches, as well as a dynamic model of interaction of the excavator bucket with the soil [DiMaio et al, 1988]. In the graphical simulation, the camera view can be changed and includes the view from the cab. When a haptic interface is used to control the simulator, forces computed by the interaction model are returned to the operator.

Instrumented mini-excavator.

Graphical simulator.

Simulator controlled by the 5-DOF Twin Pantograph haptic interface. The haptic interface displays simulated bucket-ground interaction forces [DiMaio et al, 1988].

Graphical simulator - view from the cab.