Review on control systems and control strategies for excavators

The product performance of excavators continuously improves with industrial development. However, unsighted improvements in the performance of excavators cannot meet the emission standards. Therefore, considerable research on energy conservation, high efficiency, and accurate control strategy should be conducted. At present, power matching research is performed because of the inconvenience of energy transmission. The technical advantages of hybrid power provide a better research direction for the energy-saving research of excavators. Intelligent control algorithms, such as sliding mode control and time-delay control, are added to the control system to improve the trajectory accuracy in excavator trajectory control. The intelligent operation of excavators reduces the requirements of the operating environment and improves operation economy in remote, complex, and dangerous operation spaces. The research statuses of excavators in power matching, hybrid control, trajectory control, and intelligent autonomous operation are reviewed. Finally, six conclusions about the current research status are drawn.