IP Library › Granted Patent US 10,914,049
Granted Patent B1
US 10,914,049 · App. 17/066,480 · Granted Feb 9, 2021

Excavating earth from a dig site using an excavation vehicle

Inventors: Noah Austen Ready-Campbell (San Francisco, CA); Andrew Xiao Liang (San Francisco, CA); Linus Page Chou (San Francisco, CA); Edward Stephen Walker, Jr. (San Francisco, CA); Christian John Wawrzonek (San Francisco, CA); Cyrus McMann Ready-Campbell (San Francisco, CA)
Assignee: Built Robotics Inc.
E02F3/435E02F3/32E02F3/434E02F3/439E02F3/964E02F9/205E02F9/2029E02F9/262E02F9/265
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 10,914,049
App. No.
17/066,480
Granted
Feb 9, 2021
Kind
B1
Abstract

This description provides an autonomous or semi-autonomous excavation vehicle that is capable of navigating through a dig site and carrying out an excavation routine using a system of sensors physically mounted to the excavation vehicle. The sensors collect any one or more of spatial, imaging, measurement, and location data representing the status of the excavation vehicle and its surrounding environment. Based on the collected data, the excavation vehicle executes instructions to carry out an excavation routine. The excavation vehicle is also able to carry out numerous other tasks, such as checking the volume of excavated earth in an excavation tool and helping prepare a digital terrain model of the site as part of a process for creating the excavation routine.

Claims (98)

1. A method for moving a volume of material in a site, the method comprising

selecting, for an earth moving vehicle (EMV) in a site, a set of instructions for the EMV to move material in the site, the set of instructions comprising a location in the site from which a volume of material is to be moved and a target state of the location;

executing, with a computer coupled to the EMV, the set of instructions configured to cause the EMV to:

move a tool of the EMV over a distance at a first depth below a ground surface of the location to move a portion of the volume of material;

responsive to moving the portion of the volume of material, determine an amount of material moved by the tool over the distance based on sensor data describing a quantity of material in front of a leading edge of the tool and determine a current state of the location resulting from moving the portion of the volume of material based on the determined amount of material;

compare the current state of the location to the target state of the location; and

responsive to determining that the current state of the location differs from the target state of the location based on the comparison, repeat the movement of the tool over the distance at a second depth below the ground surface.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the target state of the location defines one or more of:

a total volume of material to be moved from the location;

a target depth of the ground surface at the location; and

a target grade of the ground surface at the location.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein instructions for comparing the current state of the location to the target state of the location cause the EMV to:

compare a first set of coordinates representing the movement of the tool over the distance at the first depth below the ground surface to a second set of coordinates representing a target motion of the tool; and

responsive to the comparison indicating a threshold difference between the first and second set of coordinates, execute the set of instructions to repeat the movement of the tool over the distance at the second depth below a ground surface.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein instructions for comparing the current state of the location to the target state of the location cause the EMV to:

receive a digital file of the location describing the target state of the location and positions of one or more features around the location, the target state describing a volume of material to be moved from the location;

compare the digital file of the location to a representation of the current state of the location, wherein the representation of the current state of the location is generated using sensor data collected by one or more sensors physically coupled to the EMV as the tool moves over the distance; and

determining a difference between the target state of the site and the current state of the site by aligning features in the digital file with features recorded in the collected sensor data.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the set of instructions further cause the EMV to:

identify a second portion of the volume of material to be moved from the location based on the comparison of the current state of the location and the target state of the location;

adjust a position of the tool below the ground surface of the target location and an orientation of a leading edge of the tool to move the second portion of the volume of material; and

move the tool over the distance at the adjusted position and the adjusted orientation to move the second portion of the volume of material.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the set of instructions further cause the EMV to:

determine a second portion of the volume of material to be moved from the location based on the comparison of the current state of the location and the target state of the location;

generate a trend line relating the distance the tool moved at the first depth below the ground surface to the second portion of the volume of material; and

determine a second distance for the tool to move below the ground surface based on the second portion of the volume of material.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the set of instructions further cause the EMV to:

determine the second depth based on a difference in the depth between the current state of the location and the target state of the location based on the comparison of the of the current state of the location and the target state of the location;

adjust a position of the tool to the second depth below the ground surface; and

repeat the movement of the tool over the distance at the second depth to remove the difference in depth between the current state of the location and the target state of the location.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the set of instructions further cause the EMV to:

responsive to determining that the current state of the location matches a target state of the location, raise the tool above the ground surface of the target location; and

navigate the EMV to a second location in the site from which a second volume of material is to be moved.

9. An earth moving vehicle (EMV) comprising:

a processor; and

a non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing executable instruction for moving a volume of material from a site encoded thereon that, when executed by a processor cause the processor to:

select, for the EMV in a site, a set of instructions for the EMV to move material in the site, the set of instructions comprising a location in the site from which a volume of material is to be moved and a target state of the location;

move a tool of the EMV over a distance at a first depth below a ground surface of the location to move a portion of the volume of material;

responsive to moving the portion of the volume of material, determine an amount of material moved by the tool over the distance based on sensor data describing a quantity of material in front of a leading edge of the tool and determine a current state of the location resulting from moving the portion of the volume of material based on the determined amount of material;

compare the current state of the location to the target state of the location; and

responsive to determining that the current state of the location differs from the target state of the location based on the comparison, repeat the movement of the tool over the distance at a second depth below the ground surface.

10. The EMV of claim 9 , wherein the target state of the location defines one or more of:

a total volume of material to be moved from the location;

a target depth of the ground surface at the location; and

a target grade of the ground surface at the location.

11. The EMV of claim 9 , wherein instructions for comparing the current state of the location to the target state of the location cause the processor to:

compare a first set of coordinates representing the movement of the tool over the distance at the first depth below the ground surface to a second set of coordinates representing a target motion of the tool; and

responsive to the comparison indicating a threshold difference between the first and second set of coordinates, execute the set of instructions to repeat the movement of the tool over the distance at the second depth below a ground surface.

12. The EMV of claim 9 , wherein the set of instructions further cause the EMV to:

identify a second portion of the volume of material to be moved from the location based on the comparison of the current state of the location and the target state of the location;

adjust a position of the tool below the ground surface of the target location and an orientation of a leading edge of the tool to move the second portion of the volume of material; and

move the tool over the distance at the adjusted position and the adjusted orientation to move the second portion of the volume of material.

13. The EMV of claim 9 wherein the set of instructions further cause the EMV to:

determine a second portion of the volume of material to be moved from the location based on the comparison of the current state of the location and the target state of the location;

generate a trend line relating the distance the tool moved at the first depth below the ground surface to the second portion of the volume of material; and

determine a second distance for the tool to move below the ground surface based on the second portion of the volume of material.

14. The EMV of claim 9 , wherein the set of instructions further cause the EMV to:

determine the second depth based on a difference in the depth between the current state of the location and the target state of the location based on the comparison of the of the current state of the location and the target state of the location;

adjust a position of the tool to the second depth below the ground surface; and

repeat the movement of the tool over the distance at the second depth to remove the difference in depth between the current state of the location and the target state of the location.

15. A method for moving a volume of material in a site, the method comprising:

moving a tool of an earth moving vehicle (EMV) over a distance at a first depth below a ground surface of a location to move a portion of the volume of material, wherein the movement of the tool is recorded by one or more sensors mounted to the EMV;

responsive to moving the portion of the volume of material, determining an amount of material moved by the tool over the distance based on sensor data describing a quantity of material in front of a leading edge of the tool and determining a current state of the location resulting from moving the portion of the volume of material based on the determined amount of material;

comparing the current state of the location to a target state of the location; and

responsive to determining that the current state of the location differs from the target state of the location based on the comparison, repeating the movement of the tool recorded by the one or more sensors at a second depth below the ground surface.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the target state of the location defines one or more of:

a total volume of material to be moved from the location;

a target depth of the ground surface at the location; and

a target grade of the ground surface at the location.

17. The method of claim 15 , wherein comparing the current state of the location to the target state of the location comprises:

comparing a first set of coordinates representing the movement of the tool over the distance at the first depth below the ground surface to a second set of coordinates representing a target motion of the tool; and

responsive to the comparison indicating a threshold difference between the first and second set of coordinates, executing the set of instructions to repeat the movement of the tool over the distance at the second depth below a ground surface.

18. The method of claim 15 , wherein comparing the current state of the location to the target state of the location comprises:

receiving a digital file of the location describing the target state of the location and positions of one or more features around the location, the target state describing a volume of material to be moved from the location;

comparing the digital file of the location to a representation of the current state of the location, wherein the representation of the current state of the location is generated using sensor data collected by one or more sensors physically coupled to the EMV as the tool moves over the distance; and

determining a difference between the target state of the site and the current state of the site by aligning features in the digital file with features recorded in the collected sensor data.

19. The method of claim 15 , further comprising:

identifying a second portion of the volume of material to be moved from the location based on the comparison of the current state of the location and the target state of the location;

adjusting a position of the tool below the ground surface of the target location and an orientation of a leading edge of the tool to move the second portion of the volume of material; and

repeating the movement of the tool recorded by the one or more sensors at the adjusted position and the adjusted orientation to move the second portion of the volume of material.

20. The method of claim 15 , wherein the set of instructions further cause the EMV to:

determining a second portion of the volume of material to be moved from the location based on the comparison of the current state of the location and the target state of the location;

generating a trend line relating the distance the tool moved at the first depth below the ground surface to the second portion of the volume of material; and

determining a second distance for the tool to move below the ground surface based on the second portion of the volume of material.

21. The method of claim 15 , further comprising:

determining the second depth based on a difference in the depth between the current state of the location and the target state of the location based on the comparison of the of the current state of the location and the target state of the location;

adjusting a position of the tool to the second depth below the ground surface; and

repeating the movement of the tool recorded by the one or more sensors at the second depth to remove the difference in depth between the current state of the location and the target state of the location.

22. The method of claim 15 , further comprising:

responsive to determining that the current state of the location matches a target state of the location, raise the tool above the ground surface of the target location; and

navigating the EMV to a second location in the site from which a second volume of material is to be moved.

23. A method for moving a volume of material in a site, the method comprising:

moving a tool of an earth moving vehicle (EMV) over a distance at a first depth below a ground surface of a location to move a portion of the volume of material, wherein the movement of the tool is recorded by one or more sensors mounted to the EMV;

responsive to moving the portion of the volume of material, determining a current state of the location resulting from moving the portion of the volume of material;

comparing the current state of the location to a target state of the location and determining a second portion of the volume of material to be moved based on the comparison;

generating a trend line relating the distance the tool moved at the first depth below the ground surface to the second portion of the volume of material;

determining a second distance for the tool to move below the ground surface based on the second portion of the volume of material; and

repeating the movement of the tool at a second depth below the ground surface and for the second distance.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Dec 28, 2020
From: READY-CAMPBELL, NOAH AUSTEN; LIANG, ANDREW XIAO; CHOU, LINUS PAGE; WALKER, EDWARD STEPHEN, JR.; WAWRZONEK, CHRISTIAN JOHN; READY-CAMPBELL, CYRUS MCMANN
To: BUILT ROBOTICS INC.
Reel/Frame 054756/0365 →
Continuity (5)
Continuation 16985176 · Aug 4, 2020
Continuation 15877217 · Jan 22, 2018
Provisional Application 62449443 · Jan 23, 2017
Provisional Application 62510576 · May 24, 2017
Provisional Application 62514341 · Jun 2, 2017