The most effective and most widely used type of earthmoving machines used for open-pit mining are excavators, the main movable element of which are active buckets of active action. Active buckets are more effective to use for the development of strong fractured rocks and similar rocks with a strength of about 80 MPa. Along with its main function - cutting the soil with the separation of chips, lifting and dumping it, active buckets facilitate this function - soften the soil, its loosening and crushing. The supply of buckets with special structural elements-strikers complicates their design, but if they are used correctly, they can reduce the required traction force applied by the excavator handle to the bucket, which reduces the energy costs for the operation of the corresponding excavator drives. Active buckets are energy consumers and include several devices consisting of an energy unit, a duty cycle control unit, a tool, a flow divider, and a power source for the basic excavator machine. The article deals with the problem of minimizing the energy consumption of active buckets, by optimal control of their operation modes in the development of soils.