International Conference on Information Science and Technology
March 26-28, 2011 Nanjing, Jiangsu, China
Research on Inteligent Control Technique of the Paver’s Traveling
System
Xiujie Yin , Xun Yan , Weidong Chen and Jijun Wu
Abstract- In order to improve the performance of crawler
paver’s traveling, a new control plan of paver’s traveling
system was proposed. In the control plan, the left wheel
control method adopted velocity closed loop control in
order to keep constant-Speed Moving of the paver. The
right wheel control method adopted the series structure of
fuzzy control and PID control in which the fuzzy controller
slightly adjusted the right wheel set-point of PID controller
according to the distance difference variable and velocity
differences variable of paver’s left wheel and rignt wheel.
The experiment results show that a new control plan made
the paver’ distance difference index when running straight
50m reduce from 2% to 0.5%.
I. INTRODUCTION
T he traveling control technology is one of the core
control technologies for a crawler paver. With the
development of the technology, users are increasingly
paying more attention to the operating performance of
the paver. The straightness of traveling is an important
indicator of the operating performance of the paver.
Currently, the paver traveling system mostly features a
double-pump and double-motor driven system. The
hardware of the control system of this system uses using
the electronic constant speed control system with the
PLC at the core, which consists of PLC (used as the
controllers), sensors (mounted on the motor output
Set value of left wheel speed
左轮左左轮左轮
PID
Controller
控控感
Set value of right wheel speed
右轮左左轮左轮
PID
Controller
控控感
Fig 1. Original Control Plan of Paver Traveling System
Manuscript received January 15, 2011.
Xiujie Yin is with the Xuzhou Hirschmann Electronics Co.,Ltd,
Xuzhou ,China (corresponding author to provide phone: 86-516-87885792;
fax: 86-516-87793971; e-mail: ldyinxiujie@ 163.com).
Xun Yan is with the Xuzhou Hirschmann Electronics Co.,Ltd.
Weidong Chen is with the Xuzhou Hirschmann Electronics Co.,Ltd,
Xuzhou ,China.
Jijun Wu is with the Xuzhou Hirschmann Electronics Co.,Ltd,
Xuzhou ,China.
978-1-4244-9442-2/11/$26.00 ©2011 IEEE
shafts), solenoid proportioning valves (used as the
actuators to control the pump flow) and so on. In general,
the control scheme which is shown in Figure 1 mostly
uses the constant-speed closed-loop control to control the
left and right wheels, respectively. This has been
designed to compare the rotating speeds of the left and
right motors with the set values and to use the PID
control scheme to eliminate the bias for the purpose of
the constant-speed control [1]. The PID control algorithm
is easy and simple, with good robustness and high
reliability, and independent on the accurate math model
of the controlled object. A proper PID control formula
can be used based on various situations and use of
different functions of proportional, integral and
differential links[2]-[6]. However, before the paver
leaving the factory, the improper adjustment of the PID
parameters of the paver traveling control system and the
inappropriate minimum current calibration of the
potential device and solenoid valves of the left and right
wheels can very easily result in swing and deflection. It is
necessary to debug and calibrate repeatedly the minimum
currents of the potential device and the solenoid valves of
the right and left wheels respectively so that the paver can
be controlled to operate steadily and accord with the
factory requirements.
左轮
Left 左左
wheel 轮
speed
Left wheel pump
左轮轮、 马达 sensor
感感
and motor
Right wheel pump Right
右 轮左左 wheel
轮
右轮轮、 马达 speed sensor
and motor 感感
II. CONTROL SCHEME
This paper proposes a new control plan of the control
system for the paver traveling system in order to effectively
solve the plug and play problem of the paver and the
controller of the paver traveling system, to avoid numerous
debugging and to improve its productivity and traveling
performance. This control system consists of the hardware,
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i.e. PLC controllers, and the software structure which is
composed of the left wheel speed controller, the right wheel
speed controller and the right wheel correction controller. The
periphery devices involve the left and right wheel sensors, the
steering potential device, the potential devices for the input of
the set-points of speed and other. The steering potential
device, the potential devices for the input of the set-points of
speed and the left and right wheel sensors will input the
steering signal, the signal of the set-points of speed and the
actual values of the left and right wheel speeds to the PLC
controllers to constitute the left and right wheel closed-loop
control.
This control plan is shown in Figure 2. The left wheel
uses the single closed-loop control to achieve the left wheel
constant-speed control and ensure the traveling speed of the
complete paver. The right wheel uses the fuzzy PID control
plan. When the paver is in the straight paving operation, the
speed difference between the left and right wheels can be
obtained from the subtraction of the actual speeds of the left
and right wheels, and the traveling distance difference
between the left and right wheels can also achieved through
integral. Based on the two input variables of the speed
difference and the distance difference, the fuzzy controller
can determine the correction amount of the set-points of the
left and right wheel speeds through the fuzzy rules. The
correction amount of the set-points will superimpose the
set-point of the input end of the set-point of the right wheel.
The superimposition amount will be used as the set value of
the right wheel closed-loop control to manage the operating
of the pump and motor of the right wheel hydraulic system
through the output of the PID controller. When the paver is in
Set value of left wheel speed
左轮左左轮左轮
PID
Controller
控控感
Distance
积difference
Fuzzy
模模模模
algorithm
by integral
Set value of right wheel speed
右轮左左轮左轮
Fig 2. New Control Plan of Paver’ Travelling System
III. TEST
This paper validates the influences on the paver traveling
performance imposed by the new control plan and the
original one through testing and compares the controller with
a plug and play technology with the adjusted original
controller in terms of performance indices such as straight
running deviation and overshoot swing in the process of
traveling. In the process of testing, the new controller will be
installed directly without any debugging but the original one
must be adjusted well.
the non-linear paving operation (such as paving while
steering), the paver will travel along the preset arc trace. It is
necessary to ensure the left and right wheels to keep a
constant speed difference. The difference between the actual
speed and the preset speed of the right wheel can be obtained
from the subtraction of the actual speed difference and the
preset speed difference between the left and right wheels and
the difference between the actual traveling distance and the
preset distance of the right wheel can also be achieved
through the integral link. The difference between the actual
speed and the preset speed and the difference between the
actual traveling distance and the preset distance will be used
as the two input variables and the correction amount of the
set-point of the right wheel speed as the output of the fuzzy
controller. The fuzzy controller can determine the correction
amount of the set-point of the right wheel speed through the
fuzzy rules. The correction amount of the set-point will
superimpose the set-point of the input end of the set-point of
the right wheel. The superimposition amount will be used as
the set value of the right wheel closed-loop control to manage
the operating of the pump and motor of the right wheel
hydraulic system through the output of the PID controller.
Based on the two control variables of the speed difference
between the actual speed and the preset speed of the right
wheel and the distance difference between the actual traveling
distance and the preset distance of the right wheel, the fuzzy
controller can fine-tune the traveling speed of the right wheel
so as to ensure the paver to travel along the preset trace in a
real time manner, to eliminate the adverse factors resulting
from non-calibration or debugging and to achieve the plug
and play function of the controllers.
左Left
轮左左 wheel
轮
Left wheel pump
左轮轮、 马达 speed
感感 sensor
and motor
分相相 Speed difference by
相相相相
subtracting
距距速
左左速
PID Right
右 轮左左 wheel
轮
Right wheel
右轮轮、 马达
pump and motor speed sensor
Controller
控控感 感感
A. Test methods
A 50m measuring range shall be established on the
runway to line out the horizontal starting-end and terminal
lines and the vertical centerline. The paver will enter into the
measuring range from the starting-end line with the center
line of the paver parallel to the centerline of the runway to
the full. The paver will travel at the operating speed and pass
through the experiment area without the adjustment of the
steering control mechanism. The drip device will be fixed to
the paver. The trace formed on the road surface by the water
droplets is just the paver traveling trace. The distance
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between the trace line and the centerline of the runway shall
be measured every 3m.
B. Test step
1) Test the controller with the new control scheme and the
controller with the original control scheme on the XCMG
RP951 paver in accordance with the methods stated in
Section A, observing whether any swing oscillation
phenomenon occurs or not.
2) Measure and record the distance between the paver
traveling trace line and the runway centerline every 3m.
3) Plot the measured data into the curves in Excel and line
out the original trace tangent of the traveling trace line.
Measure the track running deviation at the end of the side
line based on the extended line of the original track trace
tangent.
4) Test the controller with the new control scheme and the
controller with the original control scheme on the XCMG
RP951 paver in accordance with the methods stated in
Section A. Before starting the paver, place a forklift truck in
front of the left track with a distance about 3m. Load the
truck with 3-ton iron blocks, with the truck’s deadweight of
3 tons, the total weight shall reach 6 tons. Put the iron blocks
onto the ground to add the friction. Press down the brake to
add the traveling resistance of the left track. Drive the paver
to push the forklift truck to move a distance of 1m. After the
truck backing, the paver will continue traveling without any
stop. Observe the control capabilities of the new and original
controllers when there is any change in the traveling
resistance of the left track of the paver. Repeat Step 2), Step
3).
C. Analysis of the test results
In the original control scheme, the straight running
deviation of the paver occurs at two stages. First, at the
starting stage, the main factors resulting in the straight
running deviation include difference between the minimum
currents of the left and right wheel solenoid valves, low and
significant difference between the volumetric efficiencies of
the pumps and motors of the left and right wheels under the
small flow, difference between the external loads of the left
and right tracks, difference between the sliding rate of the
left and right wheels and so on. Secondly, at the
constant-speed traveling stage, the main factors include
difference between the external loads of the left and right
tracks, difference between the volumetric efficiencies,
manufacturing errors of hydraulic system, difference
Traveling
原方案的行驶轨迹 trace of original plan
Traveling
新方案的行驶轨迹 trace of new plan
400
400
running deviation (Cm)
350
350
cm
300
300
250
250
200
200
150
150 0 10
0 10
Running
between the wheel sliding rate of the left and right tracks and
other factors. Especially, at the initial stage, once the
deflection has been formed, the error will be magnified after
traveling a certain distance. In the new plan, the deflection
formed by other factors can be monitored and controlled
through the variable of the distance difference traveled by
the left and right tracks and can be eventually eliminated
through the correction of the set-points of the traveling
speeds of the right wheel track except the different wheel
sliding rate between the left and right sides. As shown in
Figure 3, the straight running deviation of the paver with the
new control scheme is about 14cm in 50m, and that of the
paver with the original control scheme is about 89cm in 50m.
In addition, as viewed from the test results shown in Figure
3, in terms of the RP951 paver, the above-mentioned factors
can result in a linear deviation of about 89cm in the distance
of 50m, and the different wheel sliding rate can cause a
deviation of about 14cm, accounting for about 15.7 %.
Therefore, the use of the new control plan can improve the
50m straight running deviation of the RP951 paver by about
84.3%. It is noted that the deviation caused by the different
wheel sliding rate will become larger if the center of gravity
of the paver shifts more.
As shown in Figure 4, under the control of the new and old
controllers, the paver’s left track will travel a distance of 1m
after contact with the forklift truck, and then the forklift
truck will be removed. Under the control of the new
controller, the straight running deviation is about 9.16cm
when the paver traveling a distance of 50m. However, under
the control of the adjusted old controller, that one is about
141cm when the paver traveling a distance of 50m. This is
because the deflection resulting from other factors except the
different wheel sliding rates can be eliminated under the
control of the new controller. As a result, in this test, the
straight running deviation of about 9.16cm is mainly caused
by the different wheel sliding rates of the left and right
tracks. At the initial stage of traveling in this test, the change
in the external traveling resistance of the left wheel results in
a significant deflection which cannot be corrected in the old
control plan so that the eventual straight running deviation
reaches 141cm due to the amplified errors after traveling
50m. The straight running deviation of 141cm shall contain
the deflection of 9.16cm caused by the wheel sliding rate
because all testing conditions are same. This test shows that
the new control plan has a greater anti-interference ability.
Original trace tangent of original plan
原方案的初始轨迹切线
Original trace tangent of new plan
新方案的初始轨迹切线
20 30 40 50 m
20 distance30
(m) 40 50 60
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 Fig 3. Travelling Straight Experiments of New Controller and Old Controller

Traveling trace of original plan

原方案的行驶轨迹 Original trace tangent of original plan
原方案的初始轨迹切线
新方案的行驶轨迹
Traveling trace of new plan 新方案的初始轨迹切线
Original trace tangent of new plan
50
running deviation (Cm)

0 m
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 Running distance (m)
-50
cm

-100

-150

-200

Fig 4. crossing obstacle Experiments of New Controller and Old Controller

[6] Tang Xin-xing;,Zhao Ding-xuan, Huang Hai-dong. Three-stage with
geometric ratios hydrostatic-mechanical compound transmission for
IV. CONCLUSION construction vehicle[J]. Changchun; Journal of Jilin University (Engineering
This paper proposes a new control plan which suggests that and Technology Edition).,2006,S2.
the single closed-loop constant-speed control shall be applied
to the left wheel to ensure the traveling speed of the complete
paver and the fuzzy algorithm shall be applied to the right
wheel to fine-tune the set value of the speed of the right wheel
based on the distance difference and speed difference of the
left and right wheels so as to ensure the paver to travel along
the preset trace in a real time manner instead of the simple
guarantee of the constant speed of the right wheel. A real time
automatic correction can be achieved once the paver deviates
the preset trace. The test results show that in the new control
scheme, the deviations of the parameters of the solenoid
valves and the software are permitted. The new control
scheme can effectively reduce the running deviation of the
paver traveling and achieve the plug and play function of the
controller. In addition, the new scheme can effectively
prevent the swing and oscillation of the paver and optimize
the control performance of the control device so that the
factory index of the straight running deviation of the paver
can be improved from 2% to 0.5% or less. The test results
show that the new control plan has a greater anti-interference
ability”

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