Komatsu expands Smart Construction range with retrofit kit

Komatsu’s new retrofit kit brings 3D machine guidance to the worksite, and can currently be installed on any conventional Komatsu excavator.

In the future, Komatsu plans to make the kit available for users of other machinery brands.

With the 3D machine guidance retrofit kit, operators need not have lasers or survey pegs on the site every time they operate, as the kit uses GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) to determine where equipment is on the job site and where it should dig, for example.

The technology essentially allows workers to operate the machine with confidence without potentially digging too deep or making mistakes.

“For example, the operator can touch the ground and set that at zero and then dig to, say, 2m below that in order to put a culvert or a pipe in at that particular grade,” said Komatsu Australia’s Smart Construction National Business Development Manager, Tony Clear.

“We’ve included everything we possibly can into the kit such as a UHF radio, modem installations, and also payload, which is a very exciting thing for us to release into our standard machine guidance product.”

The 3D machine guidance retrofit kit’s payload monitoring system lets operators monitor exactly how much load has been dug up and loaded into the truck, so as to maximise the truck load while at the same time not overdoing it.

As-built and payload data can then be collected and accessed in the office via Smart Construction applications.  

Komatsu’s Smart Construction 3D machine guidance retrofit kit is available for sale now.