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Development and evaluation of advanced safety algorithms for excavators using virtual reality

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Abstract

This study focuses on the development and evaluation of advanced safety algorithms for excavators using virtual reality (VR). An excavator typically operates under a stationary state with its working parts rotating 360° in coordination with nearby workers. During excavation, a fatal accident can occur due to operator carelessness and work site blind spots. Accidents due to collisions with nearby workers have been increasing. Accordingly, we presented safety system algorithms to prevent collisions with surrounding objects and secure the maximum working area in this study. We also evaluated the performance of safety system algorithms using VR. For risk assessment, we calculated the predicted working area through a kinematic analysis of the excavator’s working parts and accordingly conducted target selection of risk factors. We used time-to-collision and warning indices as safety indices for the safety assessment of the selected target and divided the excavator’s working modes into three categories: Safe, warning, and emergency braking modes. Control inputs, such as alarms and braking, were appropriately defined for each working mode. Under warning mode, workers can avoid collisions because a safety system will alert them of dangerous situations through an alarm. Under emergency braking mode, an emergency braking input signal is dispatched with an alarm to automatically prevent collisions. The advanced safety algorithm proposed in the study was developed in MATLAB/Simulink environment. The VR application was developed using a physics engine. On the basis of this application, the performance evaluation of the safety system algorithms was conducted on the frequently occurring sticking scenario.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Hankyong National University, Gyeonggi-do, 17578, Korea

    Kwangseok Oh

  2. Division of Computer Science and Engineering, Chonbuk National University, Jeonju, Jellabuk-do, 54896, Korea

    Hyungki Kim

  3. Department of Automotive, Mechanical, and Manufacturing Engineering, University of Ontario Institute of Technology, Oshawa, L1H 7K4, Canada

    Jaho Seo

  4. Department of System Reliability, Korea Institute of Machinery & Materials, 156 Gajungbukno, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 34103, Korea

    Moohyun Cha & Geunho Lee

  5. School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul, 08826, Korea

    Kyong-Su Yi

Authors
  1. Kwangseok Oh
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  2. Hyungki Kim
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  3. Jaho Seo
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  4. Moohyun Cha
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  5. Geunho Lee
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  6. Kyong-Su Yi
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jaho Seo.

Additional information

Recommended by Associate Editor Hugo Rodrigue

Kwangseok Oh obtained his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Hanyang University in 2009 and M.S. in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Seoul National University, Korea in 2013. He is a Professor at the Department of Mechanical Engineering in Hankyong National University, Korea. His research interests include autonomous driving, fail-safe system, and driver modeling.

Hyungki Kim is an Assistant Professor at the Division of Computer Science and Engineering in the Chonbuk National University. He obtained his B.S. degree from the Department of Mathematical Science in the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) in 2009, his M.S. degree from the Department of Mechanical Engineering in KAIST in 2011 and, his Ph.D. degree from the Department of Mechanical Engineering in the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology in 2015. His current research interests include 3D urban modeling, computer vision, computer graphics, computer-aided design, and real-time visualization.

Jaho Seo obtained his B.S. in Agricultural Machinery and Process Engineering from Seoul National University in Seoul, Korea in 1999, M.E. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Quebec (Ecole de Technologie Superieure) in Montreal, Canada in 2006, and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Waterloo in Waterloo, Canada in 2011. He worked at the Department of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering of the University of Waterloo as a postdoctoral fellow in 2011, the Department of System Reliability of the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials as a Senior Researcher from 2012 to 2016, and the Department of Biosystems Machinery Engineering in Chungnam National University in Korea as an Assistant Professor from 2016 to 2017. Since 2017, he has been an Assistant Professor at the Department of Automotive, Mechanical, and Manufacturing Engineering in the University of Ontario Institute of Technology where he has been involved in research on the development of autonomous control systems for intelligent mobile machines.

Moohyun Cha obtained his B.S. and M.S. degrees from Pohang University of Science and Technology and the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, respectively. At present, he is a researcher at the Systems Engineering Research Division of the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials. His research interests include various virtual reality applications to engineering, training, computer graphics, and data processing for very large engineering datasets.

Geunho Lee obtained his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Hanyang University in Korea in 1984, Polytechnic University in New York, USA in 1991, and the University of Connecticut in Storrs in 1997, respectively. He was an officer (1984-1987) with the Republic of Korea Army. Since 1997, he has been a Principal Researcher at the Department of System Reliability in the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials in Daejeon, Korea, where he is involved in research and development on powertrain and mobile systems for excavators and industrial vehicles.

Kyongsu Yi obtained his B.S. and M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Seoul National University in Korea in 1985 and 1987, respectively, and his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California in Berkeley in 1992. Dr. Yi is a Professor at the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering in Seoul National University, Korea. He currently serves as a member of the editorial boards of KSME, IJAT, and ICROS journals. His research interests include control systems, driver assistant systems, and active safety systems of ground vehicles.

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Oh, K., Kim, H., Seo, J. et al. Development and evaluation of advanced safety algorithms for excavators using virtual reality. J Mech Sci Technol 33, 1381–1390 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-019-0239-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-019-0239-8

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