Dragline with robotic bucket for dredging and excavating

Abstract

An excavation system may include a base unit, a boom mounted on the base unit, a pair of drag ropes coupled with the boom, and a robotic bucket mechanism attached to the pair of drag ropes. The robotic bucket mechanism may include an undercarriage drive, a chassis mounted on the undercarriage drive, an excavating bucket mounted on the chassis, a pair of hydraulic lift actuators coupled between the chassis and the excavating bucket at pivot points on both sides of the excavating bucket, and a hydraulic tilt actuator mounted between the chassis and a rear side of the excavating bucket.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An excavation system, comprising:
 a base unit;   a boom mounted on the base unit;   a pair of drag ropes coupled with the boom; and   a robotic bucket mechanism attached to the pair of drag ropes, the robotic bucket mechanism comprising:
 an undercarriage drive; 
 a chassis mounted on the undercarriage drive; 
 an excavating bucket mounted on the chassis, the excavating bucket comprising an outwardly convex back panel enclosed on both sides by spaced parallel side panels and an open front with a lower cutting edge, each drag rope of the pair of drag ropes attached to a respective side of the open front; 
 a pair of hydraulic lift actuators coupled between the chassis and the spaced parallel side panels on opposite sides of the excavating bucket at pivot points on respective spaced parallel side panels, the pivot points aligned with each other along normal axes of the spaced parallel side panels, each hydraulic lift actuator of the pair of hydraulic lift actuators extendable along an axis perpendicular to the normal axes of the spaced parallel side panels; and 
 a hydraulic tilt actuator mounted between the chassis and the outwardly convex back panel, the tilt hydraulic actuator configured to tilt the excavating bucket about a pivot axis defined by the aligned pivot points. 
   
     
     
         2 . The excavation system of  claim 1 , wherein the base unit comprises a mobile flat bed, wherein the robotic bucket mechanism is moveable to a transportation position, the transportation position corresponding to the robotic bucket mechanism positioned and supported on a top flat surface of the mobile flat bed and moveable with the mobile flat bed. 
     
     
         3 . The excavation system of  claim 2 , wherein the base unit further comprises a retractable ramp, the retractable ramp comprising an elongated support member, a first end of the elongated support member pivotally coupled with a first edge of the flat bed, the elongated support member pivotable about an axis parallel with the first edge from an upright position to a lowered position, the elongated support member configured to provide a ramp between a ground surface and the mobile flat bed in the lowered position. 
     
     
         4 . The excavation system of  claim 3 , wherein the upright position corresponds to the elongated support member perpendicular to a plane of the mobile flat bed and the lowered position corresponds to a second opposite end of the elongated support member positioned on the ground surface. 
     
     
         5 . The excavation system of  claim 3 , wherein the base unit further comprises a drive mechanism driven by a motor, the drive mechanism comprising one of a plurality of wheels and a pair of track assemblies, the mobile flatbed mounted on the drive mechanism. 
     
     
         6 . The excavation system of  claim 2 , wherein the boom comprises:
 a first pair of parallel elongated poles, a first end of each elongated pole of the first pair of parallel elongated poles pivotally coupled with the top flat surface of the mobile flatbed;   a second pair of parallel elongated poles, a first end of each elongated pole of the second pair of parallel elongated poles pivotally coupled with a second end of each corresponding elongated pole of the first pair of parallel elongated poles; and   a first pair of linear actuators, each linear actuator of the first pair of linear actuators coupled between the top flat surface and a respective elongated pole of the first pair of elongated poles, the first pair of linear actuators configured to actuate a rotational movement of the first pair of elongated pole relative to the top flat surface; and   a second pair of linear actuators, each linear actuator of the second pair of linear actuators coupled between each elongated pole of the second pair of parallel elongated poles and a respective elongated pole of the first pair of elongated poles, the second pair of linear actuators configured to actuate a rotational movement of the second pair of elongated poles relative to the first pair of elongated poles.   
     
     
         7 . The excavation system of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 a pair of cable drums mounted on both sides of the base unit, each cable drum of the pair of cable drums configured to wind/unwind a respective drag rope of the pair of drag ropes; and   a pair of boom sheaves, each boom sheave of the pair of boom sheaves mounted on a respective second end of each corresponding elongated pole of the first pair of parallel elongated poles, each boom sheave of the pair of boom sheaves configured to support a corresponding drag rope of the pair of drag ropes and change a direction of the corresponding drag rope movement.   
     
     
         8 . The excavation system of  claim 1 , wherein the outwardly curved convex back panel comprises a convex apex formed on the excavating bucket on an opposite side of the open front of the excavating bucket, the hydraulic tilt actuator coupled between the chassis and the convex apex. 
     
     
         9 . The excavation system of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 an air reservoir mounted on the chassis, the air reservoir equipped with an air release valve; and   a pair of propellers mounted on both sides of the air reservoir, the pair of propellers driven by electric motors coupled with each respective propeller of the pair of propellers.