9410158 Lever It is apparent that intelligent techniques necessary to control machine / environment interactions for autonomous excavation operations at complex rock excavation sites require further investigation. The first objective of the proposed research is to mount sensors, actuators and a control CPU on a real mini-excavator arm. collect bucket force/torque sensor data during actual excavation tasks, and then develop sensor data reduction techniques needed for its intelligent control. The second objective is to develop and implement a new intelligent control approach that utilizes fuzzy behaviorq with fuzzy strategies to control bucket motions for autonomous excavation tasks. This approach uses feedback from bucket mounted force sensors to control excavation motions by sensing and reacting to interactions with rock particles during excavation task. ***
