Determining the weight of material in an excavator bucket.

[minethat]

I work in the IT department for a small mining company and recently discovered during some product research that one can determine the weight of material in the bucket when given the following:

The angle of the boom
The angle of the arm
The orientation of the chassis
The hydraulic pressure on the boom and arm

Unfortunately I have a very limited knowledge of physics so thought this would be a great place to get some advice.

Any help or a push in the right direction would be greatly appreciated.

 

[A.T.]

If the excavator has the sensors that measure all those values, chances are it already computes the load. Also it seems you would need the masses of the arm segments as well.

Pressure and cross-section gives you the force in the pneumatic cylinders. Geometry gives you the torques that the load counters in the hinges and the lever arm of the load. From this you get the load.