On February 26, 2014, the Hunan Provincial Science and Technology Award Conference was held in Changsha. Xu Shousheng, Secretary of the Hunan Provincial Party Committee and Director of the Standing Committee of the Provincial People's Congress, attended the conference and presented awards to the winning representatives. Du Jiahao, Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee and Governor, delivered a speech. At the conference, the project "Key Technologies and Applications of Intelligent Excavators" of Sunward Intelligent Equipment Group won the First Prize of Hunan Provincial Science and Technology Progress Award. Postdoctoral researcher Zhang Daqing, a main completer of the project, attended the conference on behalf of Sunward.

    According to China Construction Machinery Brand Network, the main achievements of the project "Key Technologies and Applications of Intelligent Excavators" of Sunward Intelligent Equipment Group are as follows: ① Four intelligent excavator models, including SWE-17E and SWE230-S, have been developed. Appraised by the Hunan Provincial Department of Science and Technology, the overall technology of the intelligent excavators has reached the international advanced level, among which the intelligent control technology of small excavators and the energy-saving technology of hybrid excavators are at the international leading level. ② The project has good portability, and its core key technologies have been fully or partially applied in batch to Sunward's series of excavator products and military products. ③ It has promoted the transformation of excavator construction modes, expanded the application fields of excavators, led the development of the industry, and established a new image for a national brand.

    Since 2003, the Sunward intelligent excavator project team has focused on tackling core technologies and basic platforms such as "local autonomous operation technology based on online self-learning strategies," "remote operation technology with on-site perception," "energy-saving technology based on energy recovery of transient large loads," and "electro-hydraulic control system and its development platform based on a three-level architecture" for intelligent construction machinery. The project has received support from seven national and provincial/ministerial projects, including the 863 Program project "Mechatronics and Manufacturing Informatization of Excavators" (2003AA430200) and "Research and Application of Key Common Technologies for Intelligent Excavators" (2013BAF07B02). It has obtained 9 authorized invention patents and 3 software copyrights, and published 38 academic papers in core journals (indexed by SCI/EI). After ten years of dedicated effort, the team has achieved a series of core technologies with independent intellectual property rights, promoting the development of intelligent technology in China's construction machinery industry.