Truck & Off-Highway Engineering - February 2023 - 25

CONNECTIVITY FEATURE
Caterpillar has more
than doubled its network of connected
assets in the past five years, building an ecosystem
that leverages data from more than 20 sources.
" There's an immense amount of data that's created
throughout the course of a construction project, " said
Patrick Stevenson, VP of product management and
platform at Trimble. " Jobsite connectivity is making
sure that information is transferring to the right individuals
at the right moment in time so that they can
more effectively do their job. "
What's needed is a connective tissue that integrates
fully with all pieces of information, creating a living, adaptive
body of data. " It's providing a digital overview of
what's happening on the site so everyone can easily make
decisions, " said Kenneth Veys, portfolio manager, uptime
and connectivity at Volvo Construction Equipment.
Technology provides a boost
Overall technology infrastructure advancements such
as 5G networks, lidar scanning, GNSS (global navigation
satellite systems) and edge computing are laying
the foundation for more-effectual jobsite connectivity.
" I've been on jobsites in the past where at 2:30 in
the afternoon you were going to lose connectivity
based on satellite positioning, " said Lonnie Fritz, senior
market professional at Caterpillar. " You could set
your watch to it. GNSS alone has really driven improvement
in accuracy and reliability. "
One of the biggest shifts is development of openarchitecture
software so that data from different
sources can be more easily integrated. " That's allowing
a lot of contractors to embrace the concept of automating
their processes, " Topcon's Juroff said.
TRUCK & OFF-HIGHWAY ENGINEERING
" We've seen a big jump in adoption
of connectivity solutions, especially
now that we can push a design
update out to a machine remotely. "
- Elwyn McLachlan, VP of Trimble's civil solutions division
While jobs in more remote areas still face connectivity issues, the
amount of data that now can be transmitted has grown exponentially
in the world at-large. There's a wealth of data that's waiting to
be mined in a connected way, from machine telematics to design
data to labor apps, said Jason Anetsberger, Komatsu's director of
customer solutions. Connected machines now can receive updated
design data, report back their productivity and the shape of the terrain
as they create it.
Severino Trucking of Candia, New Hampshire, went to a cloudbased
model to reduce redundancy and disconnect, said Pat
L'Heureux, project manager. " We have some crews that will take a
project 80% of the way and then another group takes over. Everyone
needs to have the same information. " Going to the cloud has been a
" huge time-saver, " L'Heureux added. " I can now troubleshoot an issue
in five minutes, where sometimes in the past it could take me
three hours because of travel time. "
And it's not just machines and production schedules that are part
of the data mix. Trackers, specialized hardhats and smart glasses
are adding location, fall alerts and biometrics information on construction
workers, leading to increases in safety and labor management
capabilities.
February 2023 25
CATERPILLAR
Truck & Off-Highway Engineering - February 2023

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