Path planning for autonomous bulldozers

Komatsu Ltd. is reinforcing the R&D of automation technology for our earth-movers. Based on this trend, a path planning methodology for autonomous bulldozers is proposed and developed. This methodology autonomously plans an efficient path depending on a given material profile. Conventionally, existing path planning algorithms are versatile so they can be applied to any application, typically by using a grid-based map. However, in reality, a substantial effort is still required when applying to specific industry products. In contrast to this trend, the aim of this work is to develop a path planning algorithm specifically suitable for bulldozers, from the theory development phase. The novel planning methodology was developed by incorporating industry feedback, and has successfully resolved the issues which occurred when attempting to apply the existing planning methodologies. As a result of this work, the developed methodology provides an efficient path that lets bulldozers complete given tasks with minimal operation time, without a human operator on-board, and can be applied to commercial machines immediately.