The need: Construction equipment using laser-control technology cannot perform curves on a road construction project. The guiding of road construction equipment in curving contours requires references such as hubs, staking, or elevated string lines. This limits productivity because their installation is slow and subject to human errors, and requires skilled operators to steer the machine accurately using rudimentary control methods. Attempts to guide equipment in curves using radio communication have been tried but the solution is still slow and unreliable. The main benefit of 3D machine control is the significant gain of productivity and operational cost efficiency.The technology: A 3D machine-control system uses three modules to control the piece of equipment:The survey plans are uploaded in a total station using a computer notebook. The total station converts the digital information into an infrared laser beam.A receiver, mounted on the blade of the equipment, intercepts the laser beam emitted by the total station and continuously determines (20 upgrades per second) the blade’s current position and grade with respect to the theoretical ones defined by the designer’s plans.The interface between the positioning information and the actual steering of the equipment is performed through the use of a control system device, which converts the digital data into machine hydraulic valve pulses.
