Tag: technology: Page 26

Construction Equipment

Telematics 101: How to drink from the fire hose of heavy equipment data

Editor’s Note: This is the second part in our ongoing Telematics 101 series of articles. To view the other articles in this series Click here. Contractors sometimes complain that reading telematics data is like trying to take a drink from a fire hose – too much information, too fast. True, OEM and third party telematics […]

April 1, 2016

Roadbuilding

Topcon launches SmoothRide system for mapping road surfaces at highway speeds

Topcon has launched a vehicle-mounted system for mapping road surfaces for road construction work that allows scanning at highway speeds. The information collected can be used to enhance work for pavers or milling machines for machine control using GNSS with sonic tracer sensor guidance, the company says. Because the SmoothRide system can scan at high […]

March 29, 2016

Roadbuilding

AASHTO survey finds increase in state DOT drone use for inspections, data collection

State departments of transportation are increasing their use of drones for inspections and data collection, providing a direct bottom line result of cost savings, according to a recent report by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO). AASHTO found that 17 state transportation agencies have studied the use of drones, while 16 […]

March 29, 2016

Roadbuilding

Caltrans demos its souped-up $1 million surveying SUV

The California Department of Transportation has released a new video in its News Flash series, and in it, you can watch as a Caltrans worker uses the department’s “revolutionary” surveying vehicle. “Some call it a Google car on steroids, at Caltrans we call it Mobile Terrestrial Laser Scanner,” spokesman Gilbert Mohtes-Chan said. Caltrans said in a press release […]

March 23, 2016

Construction Equipment

Caterpillar intros 815K soil compactor with improved cab and controls

During a press event last week at the company’s headquarters in Peoria, Illinois, Caterpillar unveiled a new soil compactor with an improved cab and increased productivity. Powered by a Cat C7.1 ACERT engine, the new 815K soil compactor is rated at 248 net horsepower and weighs in at 49,353 pounds. Cat says the 815K meets […]

March 22, 2016

Roadbuilding

Highways 2.0: Transportation’s future holds drastic changes for road builders

The Eisenhower Interstate System was a bold plan. It supercharged our economy and provided good, middle class jobs to millions of Americans for more than 40 years. It changed the face and character of America. That’s what we’re calling Highways 1.0. What followed in the footsteps of these big thinkers and world-class builders? Stasis, neglect and […]

March 11, 2016

Construction Equipment

Wheel loader as a lower-cost finish-grader? With Trimble’s new GPS system, it’s possible

Say again? GPS on a wheel loader? That was our first reaction too, but after talking to Jeff Drake, business area manager, Trimble Machine Control Systems, we discovered there’s a lot to recommend in it. While dozers and motor graders are the machines most people enhance with GPS/GNSS machine control, until Trimble brought out its […]

March 8, 2016

Roadbuilding

Google’s autonomous car (sort of) causes its first fender bender

For likely the first time in history, an autonomous car has caused a traffic accident. Well, it’s at least partially at fault. According to Forbes, a Lexus model Google car was driving in Mountain View, California on a public street when it approached a intersection that had some sandbags near a storm drain. The Google car switched lanes […]

March 3, 2016

Roadbuilding

Topcon unveils robotic LPS concrete paving system

Topcon Positioning Group has introduced a local positioning system for concrete paving for use when GNSS signals aren’t available. The company says the LPS system uses multiple Topcon PS series robotic total stations with tracking prisms mounted on the paver for steering and elevation control. The LPS system uses an MC-i4 receiver with LongLink for robot-to-robot communication, and the […]

March 1, 2016

Construction Equipment

Caterpillar unveils the S60: the first phone with a built-in FLIR thermal camera is Cat’s most powerful yet

When Caterpillar launched its first Android smartphone, the B15, back in 2013, it was unclear just what the company expected out of a product so foreign to its traditional yellow iron segments. Was it simply a stab at a licensing success (such as Cat boots and apparel), meant to gauge demand for that CAT logo […]

February 19, 2016

Technology

The SiteWatch 700 is a solar-powered, streaming jobsite surveillance system with any-device access

Thanks to advances in cameras and the reliability of wireless networks in recent years mobile surveillance towers are officially a growing industry within construction. And while there are companies like Cameras Onsite that will rent these towers, which capture high quality footage of intruders and even call the police, to contractors, those firms interested in […]

February 18, 2016

Technology

Preco VideoLink II adds audible, radar object detection to in-cab camera backup camera systems

Backup cameras are good. Radar object detection systems are even better when it comes to preventing accidents. At the World of Concrete last week, Preco announced its newest product the PreView VideoLink II—a radar-based object detection system that integrates with existing in-cab rear-vision and backup cameras. With a camera-only system an operator does not know […]

February 12, 2016