Robotic autonomous systems for earthmoving in military applications.

Along with increasing innovations in frontier engineering sciences, the advancement in Robotic Autonomous Systems (RAS) has brought about a new horizon in earthmoving processes for construction. In the military domain, there is also an increasing interest in utilising RAS technologies. In particular, ground-based forces are frequently called upon to conduct earthmoving tasks as part of military operations, tasks which could be partially or fully aided by the employment of RAS technologies. There have been rapid developments in military construction automation using high-mobility ground-based platforms, human-machine and machine-machine interfaces, teleoperation and control systems, data transmission systems, machine perception and manipulation capabilities, as well as advances in networked robotics and cyberphysical systems. Given these developments it is timely to undertake a comprehensive overview on the topic of interest to the research community and the authority. This paper presents an overview of the RAS development for platform-centric earthworks together with an analysis of the technical feasibility, maturity, key technical challenges, and future directions for the application of RAS technologies to earthmoving tasks of interest to the army. Core technologies for autonomous operation of construction machinery. Development of semi-autonomous and autonomous excavators. Projection of the future development of multi-platform cooperation. Unlabelled Image • Analysis of the development of RAS for platform-centric earthworks. • Application to selected military earthmoving tasks • Technology maturity evaluation of the RAS-based earthmoving development to date • RAS projection for army earthmoving via modes of control • Platform teaming and coordination trends in military earthworks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]