the path planning soil compacting device 3 is brought by the operator to the surface 1 to be compacted or to the vicinity of this surface manually e g with the aid of input device 9 at the beginning of the compacting work motion controller 8 a in remote control device 5 or alternative motion controller 8 b on soil compacting device 3 obtains on the one hand the data representing the predetermined travel path 4 from path planning device 7 and obtains on the other hand signals from position detection device 18 which informs motion controller 8 a 8 b concerning the current position of soil compacting device 3 via travel regulation device 15 motion controller 8 a 8 b then introduces the corresponding measures to move soil compacting device 3 on the course determined by path planning device 7 if soil compacting device 3 deviates from the predetermined travel path 4 motion controller 8 a 8 b provides corresponding counter regulation in order to compensate the deviation in this way an automatic compacting of surface 1 is possible without requiring the operator to intervene in order to control the travel manually input device 9 is available to the operator for emergency cases or for particular obstacles this input device 9 in the manner of a classic remote control device influences the travel behavior of soil compacting device 3.