On the Study of an Autonavigation System for Discharge-Type Microtunneling Machines

Abstract

On the operation for discharge-type microtunneling machines equipped with laser target positioning system, how to perform direction control of thedriving machine based on the obtained sensing data largely depends upon the skill of operators. In this paper, a direction control model which represents the dynamic behavior of the driving machine for head angle control is introduced and an on-line estimation method is adopted to estimate the posture of the driving machine and the model parameters matching the soil condition of the ground, for which direct observation is almost impossible. The direction control model to predict the behavior of the driving machine makes it possible to give an optimal control of the head angle. A prototype of auto navigation system with machine state estimator and optimal direction controller is designed and experimentally applied to an actual construction site, and validity of the navigation system to maintain sound control performance is confirmed.