Machine controls for trailer loading/unloading

1 . An excavator comprising:

a lower traveling structure;

an upper turning structure which is turnably mounted to the lower traveling structure;

an attachment mounted on the upper turning structure;

a sensor configured to recognize an object in a three-dimensional space around the excavator; and

a processing circuitry provided in the upper turning structure and configured to, upon receipt of a predetermined command from an external device, perform a control of automatically causing the lower traveling structure to travel either toward a bed of a trailer or from the bed to a rear area of the trailer,

wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to transmit a command to the external device, the command requesting the external device to display, in a form of a plurality of steps, a plurality of icons including respective texts corresponding to a plurality of different operations that are performed during the control of automatically causing the lower traveling structure to travel, and to indicate, with a cursor, one of the plurality of different operations that is currently in execution,

the plurality of different operations include

determining whether a ramp plate is installed at a rear of the trailer,

determining, while the excavator is not on the ramp plate, whether a horizontal level of the ramp plate extending from the rear of the trailer onto ground satisfies a predetermined standard, based on an output of the sensor, and

starting automatically causing the lower traveling structure to travel either toward the bed of the trailer or from the bed to the rear area of the trailer, in response to determining that the ramp plate is installed at the rear of the trailer and that the horizontal level of the ramp plate satisfies the predetermined standard,

the texts corresponding to the plurality of different operations include a text indicating an operation of said determining, while the excavator is not on the ramp plate, whether the horizontal level of the ramp plate extending from the rear of the trailer onto the ground satisfies the predetermined standard, based on the output of the sensor, and

the command further requests the external device to display an operation area for transmitting the predetermined command to the excavator separately from an operation status information area in which the plurality of icons, the texts, and the cursor are displayed, the operation area including an upward arrow icon, a downward arrow icon, and directional information in text form indicating that the upward arrow icon indicates a direction toward the trailer, the upward arrow icon being configured to be operated to transmit the predetermined command to cause the processing circuitry to perform the control of automatically causing the lower traveling structure to travel toward the bed of the trailer, the downward arrow icon being configured to be operated to transmit the predetermined command to cause the processing circuitry to perform the control of automatically causing the lower traveling structure to travel toward the rear area of the trailer.

2 . The excavator according to claim 1 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to detect the trailer based on the output of the sensor.

3 . The excavator according to claim 1 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to detect the trailer based on an external signal.

4 . The excavator according to claim 1 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to evaluate a stability of the excavator when the lower traveling structure automatically travels under own control, and to output alert information indicating that the excavator is unstable when the stability falls below another predetermined standard.

5 . The excavator according to claim 1 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to determine a presence or absence of a first obstacle in a traveling path from a position of the excavator to a predetermined position on the bed of the trailer when the trailer is behind the excavator, and to determine a presence or absence of a second obstacle in the traveling path from the position of the excavator to the predetermined position in the rear area of the trailer when the excavator is on the bed of the trailer.

6 . The excavator according to claim 1 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to transmit, to the external device, a command for displaying a traveling path on a display unit of the external device.

7 . The excavator according to claim 1 , further comprising:

a plurality of actuators including a traveling actuator configured to drive the lower traveling structure and a turning actuator configured to drive the upper turning structure,

wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to stop the actuators prior to a start of operation of the actuators when it is determined that a person is within a predetermined range from the excavator based on the output of the sensor.

8 . The excavator according to claim 1 , further comprising:

a plurality of actuators including a traveling actuator configured to drive the lower traveling structure and a turning actuator configured to drive the upper turning structure,

wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to disable the actuators prior to a start of operation of the actuators when it is determined that a person is within a predetermined range from the excavator based on the output of the sensor, even when the predetermined command is received.

9 . The excavator according to claim 1 ,

wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to

determine whether the ramp plate is installed at the rear of the trailer,

determine, while the excavator is not on the ramp plate, whether the horizontal level of the ramp plate extending from the rear of the trailer onto the ground satisfies the predetermined standard, based on the output of the sensor,

start automatically causing the lower traveling structure to travel either toward the bed of the trailer or from the bed to the rear area of the trailer, in response to determining that the ramp plate is installed at the rear of the trailer and that the horizontal level of the ramp plate satisfies the predetermined standard, and

stop said automatically causing the lower traveling structure to travel, in response to determining that the ramp plate is not installed at the rear of the trailer, that the horizontal level of the ramp plate does not satisfy the predetermined standard, or that stability of posture of the excavator is below another predetermined standard, after starting said automatically causing the lower traveling structure to travel.

10 . The excavator as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the command further requests the external device to display, on a same screen as the operation area and the operation status information area, a traveling path information area configured by a bird's-eye view image of an entirety of a traveling path from a position of the excavator to a loading target position on the bed of the trailer or an unloading target position in the rear area of the trailer as viewed from directly above the traveling path, the bird's-eye view image including an image of the trailer and an image of the ramp plate.

11 . A control device for an excavator, the excavator including a lower traveling structure, an upper turning structure turnably mounted on the lower traveling structure, a sensor configured to recognize an object in a three-dimensional space around the excavator, and an attachment mounted on the upper turning structure, the control device comprising:

a processing circuitry configured to, upon receipt of a predetermined command from a predetermined external device, perform a control of automatically causing the lower traveling structure to travel either toward a bed of a trailer or from the bed to a rear area of the trailer,

wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to transmit a command to the external device, the command requesting the external device to display, in a form of a plurality of steps, a plurality of icons including respective texts corresponding to a plurality of different operations that are performed during the control of automatically causing the lower traveling structure to travel, and to indicate, with a cursor, one of the plurality of different operations that is currently in execution,

the plurality of different operations include

determining whether a ramp plate is installed at a rear of the trailer,

determining, while the excavator is not on the ramp plate, whether a horizontal level of the ramp plate extending from the rear of the trailer onto ground satisfies a predetermined standard, based on an output of the sensor, and

starting automatically causing the lower traveling structure to travel either toward the bed of the trailer or from the bed to the rear area of the trailer, in response to determining that the ramp plate is installed at the rear of the trailer and that the horizontal level of the ramp plate satisfies the predetermined standard,

the texts corresponding to the plurality of different operations include a text indicating an operation of said determining, while the excavator is not on the ramp plate, whether the horizontal level of the ramp plate extending from the rear of the trailer onto the ground satisfies the predetermined standard, based on the output of the sensor, and

the command further requests the external device to display an operation area for transmitting the predetermined command to the control device separately from an operation status information area in which the plurality of icons, the texts, and the cursor are displayed, the operation area including an upward arrow icon, a downward arrow icon, and directional information in text form indicating that the upward arrow icon indicates a direction toward the trailer, the upward arrow icon being configured to be operated to transmit the predetermined command to cause the processing circuitry to perform the control of automatically causing the lower traveling structure to travel toward the bed of the trailer, the downward arrow icon being configured to be operated to transmit the predetermined command to cause the processing circuitry to perform the control of automatically causing the lower traveling structure to travel toward the rear area of the trailer.

12 . The control device as claimed in claim 11 , wherein the command further requests the external device to display, on a same screen as the operation area and the operation status information area, a traveling path information area configured by a bird's-eye view image of an entirety of a traveling path from a position of the excavator to a loading target position on the bed of the trailer or an unloading target position in the rear area of the trailer as viewed from directly above the traveling path, the bird's-eye view image including an image of the trailer and an image of the ramp plate.