Effective production and automated processes in road construction

Abstract: This is a bachelor thesis in the course Industrial Automation, PPU301, commissioned by Volvo Construction Equipment in Eskilstuna. This thesis treats how we can increase the effectiveness of production in roadside construction through automation. The report presents different concepts of automation and in the end of the report you can read about the concept I recommend and why. The work has been divided into different stages. In the first stage I have collected information by reading articles and by site visits. The black top process has been identified though a storyboard. The focus is on which machine that would benefit the most from automation. After identifying the process and the customer’s needs, I get a clear view of what the machines should be able to do. After studying both the paver and compactor, I decided to focus on the compactor. There are significant potential for further development of the compactors in regards of automation. I will present a concept of a totally autonomous compactor. The compactor must, among other things, be able to position and identify objects, like machines, workers and other road users. The compactor needs to get a clear signal when the road piece is finished with compaction. The packing operation is automatic controlled depending on the type of mix of asphalt, thickness and speed. There are different solutions to make the compactor autonomous. In the report, I have detailed the different concepts and the sensors needed to realize an autonomous machine.