Improvement of the horizontal directional drilling method by using an autonomous land vehicle with a radio direction finding system

This article discusses the improvement in the horizontal directional drilli ng method (HDD) by using an autonomous land vehicle (ALV) with a radio dire ctional finding (RDF) system. The ALV with an RDF system carrying a receive r can locate a moving or static underground drill head and track it. Not li mited to a pre-determined track or path, the ALV system utilizes its on boa rd RDF system instantaneously to seek and to track a moving or static drill head. Compared to conventional systems, the system reduces the number of o perators, minimizes labor costs, prevents accidents. and enhances the degre e of automation. The design of the RDF system and how to locate a target are considered in t his article. To overcome the difficulty in obtaining the precise dynamic mo del of the ALV with the RDF system, a "fuzzy logic controller" is designed to control such a system and make the system capable of tracking a target. Experimental results verify that such an RDF ALV system can track a moving or static target. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.