IP Library › Granted Patent US 12,571,183
Granted Patent B2
US 12,571,183 · App. 17/448,411 · Granted Mar 10, 2026

Excavator

Inventor: Ryota Kurosawa (Chiba, JP)
Assignee: SUMITOMO CONSTRUCTION MACHINERY CO., LTD.
E02F9/2025E02F3/435E02F9/2004E02F9/261E02F9/2232E02F9/2285E02F9/2292E02F9/2296
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,571,183
App. No.
17/448,411
Granted
Mar 10, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

An excavator includes a lower traveling body; an upper turning body turnably mounted to the lower traveling body; an acquisition device mounted to the upper turning body and configured to acquire information including a status around the excavator; and a control device configured to recognize a reference object that is in a stopped state or at a fixed position around the excavator based on the information acquired by the acquisition device, and to estimate a turning angle of the upper turning body based on a change in a position of the reference object as viewed from the upper turning body.

Claims (51)

1 . An excavator comprising:

a lower traveling body;

an upper turning body turnably mounted to the lower traveling body;

a sensor mounted to the upper turning body and configured to acquire information including a status around the excavator; and

processing circuitry configured to

detect one or more objects around the excavator based on the information acquired by the sensor,

obtain position information of the detected one or more objects,

generate map information representing a positional relationship between the excavator and the detected one or more objects, the map information including the obtained position information of the detected one or more objects,

recognize a plurality of reference objects based on the generated map information, the plurality of reference objects each being in a stopped state or at a fixed position around the excavator,

determine a first reference object as a reference and a second reference object as a reference among the recognized plurality of reference objects, and

calculate a turning angle of the upper turning body required for the upper turning body to face the determined first reference object using a change in a position of the determined first reference object due to turning of the upper turning body and a change in a position of the determined second reference object due to the turning of the upper turning body as viewed from the upper turning body.

2 . The excavator according to claim 1 , wherein the processing circuitry is configured to control a turning motion of the upper turning body to face the determined first reference object, based on the calculated turning angle.

3 . The excavator according to claim 2 , wherein information relating to the first reference object is included in work information.

4 . The excavator according to claim 2 , further comprising:

an input device configured to accept an operation input of a selection of the first reference object and the second reference object from among the recognized plurality of reference objects.

5 . The excavator according to claim 4 , wherein the processing circuitry is configured to cause the upper turning body to face the first reference object while calculating the turning angle of the upper turning body.

6 . The excavator according to claim 1 , wherein

the sensor includes a plurality of sensors, and

the processing circuitry is configured to recognize a change in a position of one of the plurality of reference objects, based on output information of two or more of the plurality of sensors configured to acquire information relating to the one of the plurality of reference objects.

7 . An excavator comprising:

a lower traveling body;

an upper turning body turnably mounted to the lower traveling body;

a sensor mounted to the upper turning body and configured to acquire information including a status around the excavator; and

processing circuitry configured to recognize a plurality of objects around the excavator based on the information acquired by the sensor, and identify a position of the excavator relative to an object serving as a reference among the plurality of objects based on the plurality of objects recognized based on the information acquired by the sensor.

8 . The excavator according to claim 7 , wherein the processing circuitry is configured to generate and hold map information representing the position of the excavator relative to the object.

9 . The excavator according to claim 8 , wherein the processing circuitry is configured to update the map information based on information relating to the object acquired by the sensor, the information relating to the object acquired by the sensor being more accurate with respect to a position of the object around the excavator than the map information currently held by the processing circuitry.

10 . The excavator according to claim 7 , wherein the processing circuitry is configured to generate and hold information associating the position of the excavator relative to the object with a position of an aim of work corresponding to work information.

11 . The excavator according to claim 7 , wherein the processing circuitry is configured to generate and hold information associating the position of the excavator relative to the object with a position of a predetermined work target.

12 . The excavator according to claim 7 , wherein

the sensor includes

a first sensor configured to acquire an image of an area around the excavator, and

a second sensor configured to acquire distance information representing a distance to the object within an imaging range of the first sensor, and wherein

the processing circuitry is configured to recognize the plurality of objects around the excavator and identify the position of the excavator relative to the object, based on the image and the distance information.

13 . The excavator according to claim 7 , wherein

the processing circuitry is further configured to

detect one or more objects around the excavator based on the information acquired by the sensor,

obtain position information of the detected one or more objects,

generate map information representing a positional relationship between the excavator and the detected one or more objects, without using information on absolute positions of the excavator and the one or more objects around the excavator in a worksite, the map information including the obtained position information of the detected one or more objects, and

recognize the plurality of objects around the excavator and identify the position of the excavator relative to the object, based on the generated map information.

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

a display,

wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to display the generated map information on the display and determine an object selected on the displayed map information as one of the plurality of reference objects.

15 . The excavator according to claim 1 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to

estimate a first turning angle of the upper turning body relative to the determined first reference object using the change in the position of the determined first reference object due to the turning of the upper turning body as viewed from the upper tuning body and estimate a second turning angle of the upper turning body relative to the determined second reference object using the change in the position of the determined second reference object due to the turning of the upper turning body as viewed from the upper turning body, and

calculate the turning angle of the upper turning body required for the upper turning body to face the determined first reference object, using the estimated first turning angle and the estimated second turning angle.

16 . The excavator according to claim 13 , wherein

each of the plurality of reference objects is in a stopped state or at a fixed position around the excavator, and

the processing circuitry is further configured to

determine a first reference object as a reference and a second reference object as a reference among the recognized plurality of reference objects,

estimate a first turning angle of the upper turning body relative to the determined first reference object using a change in a position of the determined first reference object due to turning of the upper turning body as viewed from the upper tuning body and estimate a second turning angle of the upper turning body relative to the determined second reference object using a change in a position of the determined second reference object due to the turning of the upper turning body as viewed from the upper turning body, and

calculate a turning angle of the upper turning body required for the upper turning body to face the determined first reference object, using the estimated first turning angle and the estimated second turning angle.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Aug 31, 2022
From: KUROSAWA, RYOTA
To: SUMITOMO CONSTRUCTION MACHINERY CO., LTD.
Reel/Frame 060945/0145 →
Priority Claims (2)
JP 2019-061772 · Mar 27, 2019 · national
JP 2019-061773 · Mar 27, 2019 · national
Continuity (2)
Continuation PCTJP2020014353 · Mar 27, 2020
Related Publication 20220002970A1 · Jan 6, 2022
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