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Using an excavator system can increase the efficiency of an excavator significantly. To create a slope using one of the Xsite systems is simple, enter a slope and start excavating. In our example below we want to create a surface with a slope of 20% along one axis and 0% slope in the other direction.
As demonstrated, the excavator is in line with the slope. The system calculates the deviation from the bucket to the surface considering the entered slope value of 20%. But what happens if you rotate the excavator and keep on working? This will result in an error in the height/slope that you want to excavate. Since the slope is being dragged with you as you rotate and a cone will be built.
The error is greatest when you rotate the excavator 90 degrees. This 90-degree rotation creates a slope of 20%, although the desired slope should be only 0%.
In order to work with slopes while rotating the excavator we need to add an additional sensor (compass) to measure the rotation. There are two different compass technologies that can be used to measure the rotation.
Magnetic Compass
The idea is the same as in a handheld compass; it measures the deviation of the direction towards the magnetic poles. Using a magnetic compass as a sensor on excavators also has some disadvantages:
- 1.Low accuracy of the direction. The deeper the slope the bigger is the potential height error
- 2.Not very reliable i.e., can be influenced by e.g. movement of the boom
- 3.If a dumper passes by the measurement can be influenced
GNSS Compass
A GNSS Compass on the other hand does not use the magnetic field but uses GNSS technology (GPS and GLONASS) to measure the orientation.
Inside the housing you can find two GNSS Antennas measuring the relative position between each other.
If the compass starts rotating, the orientation between the two antennas changes; hence we can measure the rotation of the excavator.
If the compass starts rotating, the orientation between the two antennas changes, hence we can measure the rotation of the excavator. The GNSS Compass offers a very high accuracy of the heading and is not affected by magnetic influences. Compass function is available for the Xsite Pro system to enhance productivity when working on slopes.