Robotic autonomous systems for earthmoving in military applications Articles uri icon

publication date

  • November 2019

start page

  • 1

end page

  • 19

issue

  • 102934

volume

  • 107

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

  • 0926-5805

Electronic International Standard Serial Number (EISSN)

  • 1872-7891

abstract

  • Along with increasing innovations in frontier engineering sciences, the advancement in Robotic AutonomousSystems (RAS) has brought about a new horizon in earthmoving processes for construction. In the militarydomain, there is also an increasing interest in utilising RAS technologies. In particular, ground-based forces arefrequently called upon to conduct earthmoving tasks as part of military operations, tasks which could be par-tially or fully aided by the employment of RAS technologies. There have been rapid developments in militaryconstruction automation using high-mobility ground-based platforms, human-machine and machine-machineinterfaces, teleoperation and control systems, data transmission systems, machine perception and manipulationcapabilities, as well as advances in networked robotics and cyberphysical systems. Given these developments it istimely to undertake a comprehensive overview on the topic of interest to the research community and theauthority. This paper presents an overview of the RAS development for platform-centric earthworks togetherwith an analysis of the technical feasibility, maturity, key technical challenges, and future directions for theapplication of RAS technologies to earthmoving tasks of interest to the army.

keywords

  • military earthmoving; mode of control; robotic autonomous systems; technology/system readiness