Expert system for equipment selection for earth-moving operations

Proper earth-moving equipment selection is a major factor when trying to satisfy a project's budget and schedule requirements. The selection of the equipment is best performed by personnel with experience in earth-moving operations. In this research project, a rule-based expert system (i.e., VP-Expert) was used to develop a system for selecting earth-moving equipment. The system, with 930 rules, interprets information concerning a particular project's soil conditions, operator performance, and required earth-moving operations. The knowledge for the development of the expert system was obtained from several experts working for two contractors, an equipment rental company, equipment manufacturers' sales representatives (e.g., Caterpillar, Case) and several geotechnical engineers. The system was tested, using the requirements for an actual project, by three contractors. The contractors' selections compared favorably with the developed expert system with regard to the size and type of equipment needed to perform the various tasks.