New machine control and guidance technology is turning any operator into a earth moving expert.
A Komatsu intelligent machine control system, iMC, is the latest generation of technology that has evolved over the past decade to control blade and bucket movements on dozers and excavators and ensure an operator with even modest capability could build earthworks to design.
The Komatsu technology trumps current systems as it actually adjusts the blade or bucket digging in real time when it goes outside the design, whereas other technology generally only provides the parameters on in-cab displays, meaning the operator has to monitor a screen and adjust the machine to work within the targeted design.
The new tech is available factory installed on one excavator and four dozers from the Japanese manufacturer, and makes it simple for a novice operator to make a good fist of simple designs in next to no time.
For professional operators it delivers another level of performance while for earth moving businesses it can help in managing skill shortages.
Komatsu’s technology solutions manager, Aaron Marsh said the need for increased productivity from sometimes limited resources, and project management pressures, was behind the development of iMC technology..
“We are constantly working toward enhancing and improving productivity, including meeting the challenge of the ever growing demand for skilled machine operators.”
Victorian operator, Travis Ryan of Cable Logging, West Gippsland said he was pushing material in two passes and achieving high accuracy with a D61EXi dozer fitted with the iMC technology compared to taking many more moves in the past - and without the need to bring in a grader to finish the job.
“I can just do it [grade] myself with the dozer using its auto back-blade feature.
“Basically everything I’m doing is automated from the bulk pushing out to the final trim,” he said.