LASER or GPS?

[Rvjimd]

Has anybody put laser or GPS control on a dozer blade yet? That is going to happen if not already. I suppose you could also put a gyro on the lift servo and get that sort of function.

Any volunteers?

I can't wait to see it in action! If you are sitting on this project, please post some pictures and video?

Jim

[pigeonfarmboy]

Soon as I get my hands on a dozer I'm going to try it. It would take a good amount of time to tune the gyro gain to match the speed of the blade cylinders/actuators.

[Rvjimd]

Ya, I don't doubt it will require some tinkering, but boy won't it be stinking COOL?

Jim

[lee.means]

hey him i was so bored one day and i made this

[doodlebug]

I run laser on my skid steer loader with an LR 21 receiver and a GL742 laser, both Trimble.
I use both on my mini x with the Ocala excavision. Gps is expensive for a one horse outfit!
Cheer's, Neil.

[JensR]

I've thought about this a lot, for my model grader.

Gyros will be very difficult, since the drift of electromechanical-mini-gyros is going to be difficult to compensate for. At the very least you'd need to combine their data with that from acceleration sensors. Or maybe you could live with correcting the drift manually via the stick.

GPS is going to be virtually impossible at our scales.

Laser would be possible, I guess. My thought was a camera-based system, though.

Another problem is that you need data to feed into the system. How are you going to generate the data describing the desired shape of the terrain? It's not impossible, but another step you'd need to cover.

What I want to do is a simple blade (mouldboard) level control in the sense of an electronic water-level, for the roll and pitch movements of the mouldboard.

[doodlebug]

Something like this inclinometer sensor? http://www.asm-sensor.com/asm/pdf/pro/ptam27_us.pdf
Cheer's, Neil.

[JensR]

Was thinking something like these, cheaper options exist, too:
https://www.sparkfun.com/products/10736

[D8R]

Looks like some fun ideas, guess a dozer should have this. Mine has (so far ) only mockups but get a lot of attention from visitors.

Will follow this closely, Don't know how a gyro works but it will probably not control the height like the asm sensor. A sensor does not need to sit on pole, could be mounted on backside of blade.
/Dan

[apfubar]

Hi,

My 2 cents...

If you just wanted a level I think the laser side should be doable. I should be possible to use an arduino on the model and work out if the tool is high or low.

For slopes and curved surfaces that would take some more doing. The problem is adding the other two co-ordinates in space. You may have to be sneaky and put a laser sender on the model, the receiver stationary and connected to a pc, which does the calcs(where is the model, what height should it be at, what controls to move to get it to the target height), then send the instructions back to the model. Also this way the battery power for the model isn't sucked up in computing cycles.

The last part should be easy, either with another TX and receiver, or a trainer style system, with the pc being the trainee.

It would be a cool project... Either way.

Cheers,
AP
P.s. one last word, I don't know how the real ones work, how much they are, or if they are being minaturised at all. But obviously if there is something commercially available that may be easier.

[apfubar]

Just thought about the laser sender on the model... Not sure if that would work either, getting bumped and moved about may not be the best..
Ap

[Rvjimd]

I love all the brainstorming ideas!

If I had a typical size dozer like some of you I think I would have simply tried an RC car gyro. You guys can tell me why it ought not work, but my thought process would be this...

If the guys that run the drifting tuner cars are using a gyro to help control the steering servo, why can't I put the same gyro on my blade servo and orient it in the vertical plane instead of the yaw like it must be on a car?

And, my goal was simple (to me anyhow), I just would want the blade to react to the uneven ground as the dozer moves forward.

In a lot of the videos you see of dozers, they get stuck for just a bit when the blade digs too much. As soon as the operator raises it a bit you are back moving again. If this was assisted by a gyro, wouldn't it help minimize that issue?

I'm not trying to lay out a parking lot with grade to all the drains. Although that would be cool, I don't think I'd expect anything like that.

Really cool discussion!

PS. Really cool looking dozer D8R!


Jim

[JensR]

Yes, I guess it would help - you would have to make corrections, though.

Regarding the "digging too deep" issue - that might occur independently from the level - if you are digging into a hill, then you are biting off more than you can chew, in that instance you'd have to raise the blade and do several passes.

[doodlebug]

Originally Posted by JensR

Was thinking something like these, cheaper options exist, too:
https://www.sparkfun.com/products/10736

Go for it!
Cheers, Neil.

[lee.means]

my 2 cents

i have a rc drifting car tc4 and i have tried drifting gyro on my bruder d5g and i hate it on on my cat and the dozer if your going to try one the esky Gyro the same thing as the drifting one and thing about $19.00 dollars hope it helps