Cartesian Controlled Heavy Machines Supported by Advanced Human-Machine-Interfaces

This paper presents an approach to Cartesian controlled heavy machines. The system under investigation is a drill rig equipped with two drilling booms each actuated by eight hydraulic drives. To improve accuracy and efficiency in both possible operation modes, drilling and bolting, a Cartesian control system has been implemented, which takes advantage of using different subsets of the redundant kinematic boom structure. Another important aspect is the human-machine-interface which enables easy operation in manual and automatic control modes. In this context the use of Internet technologies is an important approach to build up standardized interfaces. First experiments with future concepts of human-machine-interfaces like gesture controlled operation yield promising results.