Operating System of a Double-Front Work Machine for Simultaneous Operation

Many kinds of work machines based on hydraulic excavators have been developed for various work fields, e.g. demolition and industrial waste disposal. These work machines have also played an important role in the recovery work after disasters such as earthquakes, typhoons, and floods. We think that adapting these work machines to complex works will be expected in the near future. For this purpose, we developed a new type of work machine named ASTACO, which features two front arms and is based on 7-ton class hydraulic excavator. We also developed a new operating system for ASTACO that enables operators to handle the two front arms simultaneously through two controll devices. In this paper, we present an overview of ASTACO and its operating method.