State of the Art in Automation of Earthmoving

Abstract

A recent trend towards greater automation of earthmoving machines, such as backhoes, loaders, and dozers, reflects a larger movement in the construction industry to improve productivity, efficiency, and safety. This paper reviews related work in various disciplines drawn upon by researchers—soil mechanics, computer graphics, kinematic and dynamical modeling, optimization, control, and decision theory. A taxonomy is suggested into which various automated systems reported in the literature, can be classified.