Aiming at the hot topic of automatic control of excavator, a hydraulic excavator is retrofitted in this paper. Electro-hydraulic proportional valves are installed. The feedback control and intelligent monitoring system is designed based on CAN bus. The motion control model of excavator’s working unit is deduced. According to the characteristics such as nonlinearity, parameter uncertainties and external disturbance of electro-hydraulic control system, this paper presents a fuzzy controller to deal with the motion control system. The simulation results demonstrate that fuzzy controller is good for excavator’s motion control, this provides a frame of reference for homologous works.