EARTH: Excavation Autonomy with Resilient Traversability and Handling

Excavators, earth-movers, and large construction vehicles have been instrumental in propelling human civilization forward at an unprecedented pace. Recent breakthroughs in computing power, algorithms, and learning architectures have ushered in a new era of autonomy in robotics, now enabling these machines to operate independently. To this end, we introduce EARTH (Excavation Autonomy with Resilient Traversability and Handling), a groundbreaking framework for autonomous excavators and earth-movers. EARTH integrates several novel perception, planning, and hydraulic control components that work synergistically to empower embodied autonomy in these massive machines. This three-year project, funded by MOOG and undertaken in collaboration with the Center for Embodied Autonomy and Robotics (CEAR), represents a significant leap forward in the field of construction robotics.