A Novel Approach for Road Construction using an Automated Paving Robot

Abstract

Conventional concrete paving construction machinery has insufficient automation for safe and efficient pavement construction.This paper describes an autonomous robot that in practice could be an alternative to conventional paving systems.The current proposed robot, RoboPaver, is a 1:20 scale model of the intended field version.It combines all the operations of a conventional paving system into one robot.The paving robot incorporates a novel design that allows for minimal human labor in paving operations.Mechanism design, control algorithms, and sensors assist in automating the concrete paving process.Several kinematics, dynamics, sensors, and controller issues have been addressed for the proposed paving robot.This thesis presents a design of a fully autonomous robot that could be used for concrete pavement construction.It is envisioned that with the aid of an autonomous paving robot, pavement construction can be conducted safer, faster, and with higher levels of productivity.