Development of a Heuristics-Based Task Planning System for Intelligent Excavating System

A research consortium called 'Intelligent Excavation System (IES)' has been formed in Korea with the support of the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs of Korea. The final goal of this research consortium is to develop a robotic excavator that can improve the productivity, the quality, and the safety of the conventional earthwork. The knowledge of the construction metrology and task level planning should be well fed into the robotic control mechanism in order for the machine to have the intelligence of the construction planner and the operator. Task Planning System (TPS) is one of the core technologies of IES. TPS generates an optimal earthwork system based on a virtual work environment updated in real time by work environment cognitive technology. TPS is an integrated module based on the heuristics of skillful excavator operators for effective and error-minimizing work planning. In this paper, the heuristics and the functions of system modules along with the virtual reality-based simulation results are presented.