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New MORE publication published in Robotics and Autonomous Systems

A new MORE publication has just been published titled “An exploratory study of software engineering in heavy-duty mobile machine automation” in Robotics and Autonomous Systems. The article is fully open access and can be read online: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921889023000635?via%3Dihub#d1e2742

Abstract

As the amount and complexity of software for automating heavy-duty mobile machinery is increasing, software engineering in this domain is becoming more important. To characterize the industry’s current state of software engineering and its issues to guide future research, we performed an empirical exploratory study. We interviewed 16 software engineering professionals from 13 different companies conducting business in heavy-duty mobile machines and their automation. The interviews were analyzed qualitatively, and quantification of the analysis results is presented. We first create an overview of software engineering in the heavy-duty mobile machinery industry. We then identify problem areas affecting software development and discuss some of the possible solutions found in literature. Our findings indicate that the major problem areas faced in the industry that require more research are its digital transformation, autonomous machine functional safety, low availability of workforce for developing software for robotic mobile machines and the lack of established software standards.

Second Future innovations and MORE newsletter published

Autonomous heavy-duty mobile machines: Why and how can we use them in construction sites?

From manual to automatic material flow based on machine productivity in construction sites

In this newsletter, we want to discuss how fleets of (semi)autonomous Heavy-Duty Mobile Machines (HDMMs) could be used not only to complete a construction project, but to accomplish that in an optimal way. Optimization is essential to improve productivity and efficiency and reduce cost and project time. Nowadays, manual methods are employed to allocate tasks to construction machines based on the experience of worksite managers and manual observation of operations. However, these methods are costly, error prone, and depend on few experts that must always be available. Automating task planning and assignment based on fleet productivity can be a promising solution for solving the above challenges and achieving optimality. Firstly, Amirmasoud will describe how to estimate the productivity of a fleet of HDMMs during earth-moving tasks; secondly, Paolo will focus on optimizing the performance of the fleet of autonomous machines by solving task planning, task assignment, motion planning, and coordination problems jointly.

Articles

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One open MORE PhD position

MORE is looking for a PhD student. The Early Stage Researcher (ESR) 7 position focuses on radar perception and will be hosted by Örebro University, Sweden for 6 months and seconded to Bosch Rexroth, Germany for 9 months and a further 9 months either at Örebro University, Sweden or TU Munich, Germany.

All details can be found online under Open Positions

Deadline for application: 9 March 2023.

First Future innovations and MORE newsletter published

Hot Topics for Heavy-Duty Mobile Machines

What’s going on and what can we expect?

In this newsletter, we want to have a closer look at the trends that define the current developments in the heavy-duty mobile machine (HDMM) sector. This way, you will get to know what is influencing as well as motivating our work in the MORE project. David will start by elaborating topical powertrain technology with a focus on construction machinery, and Tyrone will highlight some developments within automated and autonomous HDMMs.

Articles

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Watch Amirmasoud’s presentation at the ISARC 2022 online

Our MORE early stage researcher, Amirmasoud Molaei (ESR2) presented his research at the 39th International Symposium on Automation and Robotics in Construction (ISARC 2022), which was held in Bogotá, Colombia from 13-15 July 2022.

Over the course of the three-day event, a total of 89 papers from 291 authors/co-authors from 26 countries were presented related to digital construction, automation and robotics and their importance in the construction sector. This included Amirmasoud’s presentation on “An Approach for Estimation of Swing Angle and Digging Depth During Excavation Operation” which is available as a recording for those who missed it. Watch the video recording or read the conference proceedings which have both been made openly accessible online.