Improving the Productivity and Fuel Efficiency of a Wheeled Excavator by Applying an Automatic Digging System and a Tiltrotator System

The current study presents results from experimental tests of productivity, fuel consumption, and fuel efficiency of a wheeled excavator Hyundai HW160A that were performed at a construction site in Sofia, Bulgaria. The experiments happened during the span of two consecutive days, and the feedback of the excavator’s operator was also taken into consideration. During the first day, the excavator operated as a conventional excavator only equipped with a bucket, while during the second day it also made use of a 3D semi-automatic digging system and a tiltrotator control system. The productivity was increased by 21.2%, the fuel consumption was decreased by 13.8%, and the fuel efficiency was increased by 32%, respectively, when applying the mentioned systems. The systems are briefly reviewed in this paper.