A fuzzy control system for an automated mining excavator

To automate a mining excavator the control issues resulting from environmental uncertainties must be solved. In particular the interactions between the excavation tool and the excavation environment are dynamic, unstructured and complex. Thus, generating rigorous mathematical models as required by conventional control techniques is extremely difficult if possible. This paper presents an excavator controller that uses fuzzy logic to interpret forces and torques gathered from a wrist mounted force/torque sensor during the excavation process. This approach enables the transfer of human heuristics and expert knowledge to the controller. Experimental results from several excavation tests using the fuzzy logic controller are given. These results represent the first step toward an integrated approach that uses force/torque, vision, and other sensor data to perform generic tasks in uncertain mining environments