Design and construction of a scale robotic excavator work-cell to test automated excavation algorithms

The development and initial testing of a scale robotic excavator work-cell is presented. The workcell consists of an industrial robot with a dipper attached as the end effector, to allow it to perform excavation of soil in a bin. A previously developed multiple level of detail task planning algorithm is implemented on the platform. The only operator input is the initial definition of the digital elevation model of the desired terrain. The scale excavator is then able to complete excavation tasks in the soil bin fully autonomously.