Mystring=2650000000 The limit pressure set for the counterbalance valve must be
approx. 20 30% higher than the maximum
advantage of hydraulic piloting is that the piloting and the directional control valve can be physically advantage of hydraulic piloting is that the piloting and the directional control valve can be physically advantage of hydraulic piloting is that the piloting and the directional control valve can be physically is not programmable. Traditional manual levers reflect some forces from the line pressures due to their direct coupling to the hydraulic system. Both manual leve rs and electronic joysticks have some haptic feedback from a restoring spring force whi ch is directly related to their displacement and the commanded velocity of the manipul ator. In the case of electronic joysticks this haptic feedback is inherently decoupled from the system being controlled. This means that the human-machine interface is unilater al since information signals are only flowing from the human to the remote manipula tor. This requires the operators to rely on other cues such as vibrations, manipulato r slowdown/stall and audibles such as engine speed and lug. If a haptic display is used, the human machine interface becomes bilateral and information can also flow back to the operator from the end-effector via haptic feedback. Typical valves for valve manifolds are: Proportional directional control valve (6) The proportional directional control valve controls both the direction and quantity of the volumetric flow. The load- sensing connection allows the pump controller to provide the right pressure. Shock and replenishing valve (7) This valve has two functions: A pressure relief valve protects the outlet against excessive pressures. Each outlet is protected individually according to its maximum value. The position of the valve ensures that this function will remain operative even with the directional control valve in its mid-position. A non-return valve ensures that vacuum (cavitation) cannot occur at the outlet. There is no actual replenishing action. The pressure in th e tank line provides pre-tensioning for the non-return valves. The pressure in t he tank line provides pretensioning of the non-return valves. The goal of this research is to explore how haptic feedback can be applied to control cost effective hydraulic systems. For smaller backhoes and mini-excavato rs advantage of hydraulic piloting is that the piloting and the directional control valve can be physically advantage of hydraulic piloting is that the piloting and the directional control valve can be physically advantage of hydraulic piloting is that the piloting and the directional control valve can be physically o acknowledge officemates Amir Shenouda and Scott Driscoll for allowing me to vent during the more frustrating periods of my Ph.D. journey. Lastly, I would like to thank all of the friends during my years at Georgia Tech who supplied the ridiculous moments Supplying haptic or force feedback to operators using hydraulic machinery such as excavators has the potential to increase operator capabilities. Haptic, robot ic, human-machine interfaces enable several enhancing features including coordinated motion control and programmable haptic feedback. Coordinated or resolved motion control supplies a more intuitive means of specifying the equipment s motion. Hapt ic feedback is used to relay meaningful information back to the user in the form of force signals about digging force acting on the bucket, programmable virtual con straints and system limitations imposed by the mechanism, maximum pressure or maximum flow. In order to make this technology economically viable, the benefits must offset the additional cost associated with implementation. One way to minim ize this cost is to not use high-end hydraulic components. For smaller backhoes and mini-excavators this means that the hydraulic systems are comprised of a constan t displacement pump and proportional direction control valves. Hydraulic and hapti c control techniques suitable for backhoes/excavators are developed and tested on a small backhoe test-bed. A virtual backhoe simulator is created for controller de sign and human evaluation. Not only is the virtual simulator modeled after the test-b ed, but the control algorithm used in the simulator is the same as the actual backho e test-bed. Data from human subject tests are presented that evaluate the control strategies on both the real and virtual backhoe. The end goal of this project is to incorporate coordinated haptic control algorithms that work with low-cost system s The word haptics means of or relating to the sense of touch or tactile. The addi tion of haptic feedback to human operated hydraulic machinery can improve productivit y and dexterity by relaying information back to the user. Using a robotic humanmac hine interface allows the haptic feedback to be programmed to display meaningful forces to the operator. These signals could be used to reflect the limitations o f the machinery or the forces acting on the end effector. Electronic joysticks and man ual levers are the standard methods used to manipulate mobile hydraulic machinery su ch as excavators. Both of these incorporate haptic feedback; however, it is limited and is not programmable. Traditional manual levers reflect some forces from the line pressures due to their direct coupling to the hydraulic system. Both manual leve rs and electronic joysticks have some haptic feedback from a restoring spring force whi ch is directly related to their displacement and the commanded velocity of the manipul ator. In the case of electronic joysticks this haptic feedback is inherently decoupled from the system being controlled. This means that the human-machine interface is unilater al since information signals are only flowing from the human to the remote manipula tor. This requires the operators to rely on other cues such as vibrations, manipulato r slowdown/stall and audibles such as engine speed and lug. If a haptic display is used, the human machine interface becomes bilateral and information can also flow back to the operator from the end-effector via haptic feedback. The goal of this research is to explore how haptic feedback can be applied to control cost effective hydraulic systems. For smaller backhoes and mini-excavato rs advantage of hydraulic piloting is that the piloting and the directional control valve can be physically advantage of hydraulic piloting is that the piloting and the directional control valve can be physically loadMy first acknowledge needs to go to my advisor, Wayne Book, whose guidance, support and encouragement has been invaluable. Working in your research group has been a joy and privilege. Thanks to Nader Sadegh, Kok-Meng Lee, Amy Pritchett and Mark Evans for serving on my thesis committee. Thank to James Huggins for help developing the backhoe test-bed. You have also been a valuable sounding boa rd for numerous ideas. Thanks to HUSCO International, John Deere and other supporting companies of the Fluid Power and Motion Control Center of Georgia Tech for supporting this wo rk. A special thank to John Deere for donating the tractor, backhoe and numerous spa re parts in additional to monetary support. A thanks is due to technical advice given by Shraham Tafazoli, Derek Eagles, Mark Evans, Bob Koski, Randy Bobbitt, Maria Cristina Herrera and Simon DiMaio. Thanks to expert operators Ron Faber, Gert Ploeg and Michael Bryson for taking the time to talk about backhoe/excavator operation. Your perspective was extreme ly valuable. I would also like to acknowledge comments and suggestions from anonymo us reviewers who have critiqued some of the work presented in this document. I would like to acknowledge my mentors: Rod Heisler (Walla Walla College), Emmanuel Nwadiogbu (Honeywell) and Jeff Kuehn (Caterpillar). Thanks to all of my undergraduate engineering professors at Walla Walla College (Walla Walla University as of September 1, 2007) for encouraging me to pursue gr aduate school and for preparing me to do so. Thanks to all my teachers at the Lincoln City SDA School who taught me from third grade to my senior year of high school. Special thank to my parents who encouraged me to develop my strengths and work hard on my weaknesses. A special thanks is also due to my fiancee, Maria Cristina, for encouragement and for supplying incentive to finish. Since she has already completed her Ph.D., I am one of the few Ph.D. students who can say that his(her) girlfriend/fiancee/wife (boyfriend/fiance/husband) truly has empathy for the Ph.D. process. Laurel Dovich (WallaWalla College (University as of Sep 1, 2007) Civil/Structura l Engineering Professor), you guided me from Civil Engineering with a structural e mphasis to Mechanical Engineering the first week of my junior year. Andrew Alleyne (UIUC Professor), you helped me to choose Dr. Book as my advisor and then less than two years later you helped me make the decision to stay for my Ph.D studies . Probably neither of you real =2650000000 The limit pressure set for the counterbalance valve must be approx. 20 30% higher than the maximum advantage of hydraulic piloting is that the piloting and the directional control valve can be physically advantage of hydraulic piloting is that the piloting and the directional control valve can be physically advantage of hydraulic piloting is that the piloting and the directional control valve can be physically is not programmable. Traditional manual levers reflect some forces from the line pressures due to their direct coupling to the hydraulic system. Both manual leve rs and electronic joysticks have some haptic feedback from a restoring spring force whi ch is directly related to their displacement and the commanded velocity of the manipul ator. In the case of electronic joysticks this haptic feedback is inherently decoupled from the system being controlled. This means that the human-machine interface is unilater al since information signals are only flowing from the human to the remote manipula tor. This requires the operators to rely on other cues such as vibrations, manipulato r slowdown/stall and audibles such as engine speed and lug. If a haptic display is used, the human machine interface becomes bilateral and information can also flow back to the operator from the end-effector via haptic feedback. Typical valves for valve manifolds are: Proportional directional control valve (6) The proportional directional control valve controls both the direction and quantity of the volumetric flow. The load- sensing connection allows the pump controller to provide the right pressure. Shock and replenishing valve (7) This valve has two functions: A pressure relief valve protects the outlet against excessive pressures. Each outlet is protected individually according to its maximum value. The position of the valve ensures that this function will remain operative even with the directional control valve in its mid-position. A non-return valve ensures that vacuum (cavitation) cannot occur at the outlet. There is no actual replenishing action. The pressure in th e tank line provides pre-tensioning for the non-return valves. The pressure in t he tank line provides pretensioning of the non-return valves. The goal of this research is to explore how haptic feedback can be applied to control cost effective hydraulic systems. For smaller backhoes and mini-excavato rs advantage of hydraulic piloting is that the piloting and the directional control valve can be physically advantage of hydraulic piloting is that the piloting and the directional control valve can be physically advantage of hydraulic piloting is that the piloting and the directional control valve can be physically o acknowledge officemates Amir Shenouda and Scott Driscoll for allowing me to vent during the more frustrating periods of my Ph.D. journey. Lastly, I would like to thank all of the friends during my years at Georgia Tech izes the positive and important roles you played in these decisions. Thanks to all of my lab mates in the Intelligent Machines Dynamics Laboratory. It has been a pleasure working with all of you. Special thanks is due to Davin Swanson, L.J. Tognetti and Young Joon Lee for helping to teach me the ropes when I first started graduate school. A special acknowledge is also due to Joe Franke l. The quality and quantity of the work you put into your master s thesis has been a real asset to my Ph.D. work. It was a pleasure working with you. In addition, I would like to acknowledge officemates Amir Shenouda and Scott Driscoll for allowing me to vent during the more frustrating periods of my Ph.D. journey. Lastly, I would like to thank all of the friends during my years at Georgia Tech who supplied the ridiculous moments Supplying haptic or force feedback to operators using hydraulic machinery such as excavators has the potential to increase operator capabilities. Haptic, robot ic, human-machine interfaces enable several enhancing features including coordinated motion control and programmable haptic feedback. Coordinated or resolved motion control supplies a more intuitive means of specifying the equipment s motion. Hapt ic feedback is used to relay meaningful information back to the user in the form of force signals about digging force acting on the bucket, programmable virtual con straints and system limitations imposed by the mechanism, maximum pressure or maximum flow. In order to make this technology economically viable, the benefits must offset the additional cost associated with implementation. One way to minim ize this cost is to not use high-end hydraulic components. For smaller backhoes and mini-excavators this means that the hydraulic systems are comprised of a constan t displacement pump and proportional direction control valves. Hydraulic and hapti c control techniques suitable for backhoes/excavators are developed and tested on a small backhoe test-bed. A virtual backhoe simulator is created for controller de sign and human evaluation. Not only is the virtual simulator modeled after the test-b ed, but the control algorithm used in the simulator is the same as the actual backho e test-bed. Data from human subject tests are presented that evaluate the control strategies on both the real and virtual backhoe. The end goal of this project is to incorporate coordinated haptic control algorithms that work with low-cost system s The word haptics means of or relating to the sense of touch or tactile. The addi tion of haptic feedback to human operated hydraulic machinery can improve productivit y and dexterity by relaying information back to the user. Using a robotic humanmac hine interface allows the haptic feedback to be programmed to display meaningful forces to the operator. These signals could be used to reflect the limitations o f the machinery or the forces acting on the end effector. Electronic joysticks and man ual levers are the standard methods used to manipulate mobile hydraulic machinery su ch as excavators. Both of these incorporate haptic feedback; however, it is limited and is not programmable. Traditional manual levers reflect some forces from the line pressures due to their direct coupling to the hydraulic system. Both manual leve rs and electronic joysticks have some haptic feedback from a restoring spring force whi ch is directly related to their displacement and the commanded velocity of the manipul ator. In the case of electronic joysticks this haptic feedback is inherently decoupled from the system being controlled. This means that the human-machine interface is unilater al since information signals are only flowing from the human to the remote manipula tor. This requires the operators to rely on other cues such as vibrations, manipulato r slowdown/stall and audibles such as engine speed and lug. If a haptic display is used, the human machine interface becomes bilateral and information can also flow back to the operator from the end-effector via haptic feedback. Typical valves for valve manifolds are: Proportional directional control valve (6) The proportional directional control valve controls both the direction and quantity of the volumetric flow. The load- sensing connection allows the pump controller to provide the right pressure. Shock and replenishing valve (7) This valve has two functions: A pressure relief valve protects the outlet against excessive pressures. Each outlet is protected individually according to its maximum value. The position of the valve ensures that this function will remain operative even with the directional control valve in its mid-position. A non-return valve ensures that vacuum (cavitation) cannot occur at the outlet. There is no actual replenishing action. The pressure in th e tank line provides pre-tensioning for the non-return valves. The pressure in t he tank line provides pretensioning of the non-return valves. The goal of this research is to explore how haptic feedback can be applied to control cost effective hydraulic systems. For smaller backhoes and mini-excavato rs this means that the hydraulic systems are comprised of a constant displacement p ump