Remote control of backhoe at construction site with a pneumatic robot system

In this paper, remote control of backhoes is achieved at construction sites with a pneumatic robotic system we have developed. The system mainly consists of pneumatic robot arms actuated by pneumatic rubber muscles (PARM), CCD cameras and a control box containing power source, PC and wireless LAN boards. The remote control system was applied to two types of backhoe, one small with bucket size of 0.025 [m(3)] and another medium-sized bucket with 0.28 [m(3)]. Field tests were conducted at local construction sites to confirm the effectiveness of the system. The remote control operations were achieved with the working efficiency of more than 50% compared with that of the direct operation. The effectiveness of the system has been determined. (c) 2008 Published by Elsevier B.V.