Cat technology was the focal point in Malaga

Thu 11 Feb 2016

Cat technology was the focal point in Malaga

With the Bauma Trade Fair looming ever closer on the horizon many of us were hoping for a sneak preview of some new products that might be appearing at the German machinery fest, but on this occasion that was not to be the case, with Caterpillar putting the emphasis on in cab machine technology and its collaboration with Redbird Drones. Much of this technology will be featured in Earthmovers Magazine so in this blog post I will just bring a small taster of the machines that were demonstrated during our visit.

Cat Production Measurement is Caterpillar’s fully integrated on-board payload weighing system, this was initially demonstrated by a Cat 336F machine loading a Cat 730C ADT while the demonstration operator talked us through the operation. This system enables the operator to know exactly how much he has loaded and offers management an insight into how productive the machine is being.

Most of this technology is being driven by the skills shortage as company’s report difficulty in sourcing skilled operators especially on machines like dozers and excavators. The Cat D6T was demonstrated with Cat Grade Control and Slope Assist. According to Cat, dozer operators will soon be able to enjoy even more productivity and ease of operation with the addition of Cat Slope Assist as standard equipment. Cat Slope Assist, helps operators reach target slope fast by automatically maintaining the dozerblade’s established blade angles. Finish up to 39 percent faster, with up to 68 percent better surface quality and using up to 82 percent less operator effort.

Slope Assist is a GRADE for dozers feature that is part of the broad suite of Cat Connect technologies. GRADE technology helps control the blade so operators can get more quality work done in less time. Experienced operators can work more productively and less experienced operators can achieve better quality results more quickly. Slope Assist is standard on the D6T and integrated right into the machine at the factory – no additional hardware or software is required. Slope Assist will be available mid-2016, starting with LGP, LGP VPAT and XW VPAT configurations. The added technology is complemented by a new color Liquid Crystal Display (LCD), which shows Slope Assist values, in real time machine mainfall/cross slope, and a variety of machine operating information and functions.

Watch this video from Cat which explains basic operation of the system. [youtube width="725" height="344"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfcEYb9CP-Y[/youtube] Cat are also offering Grade Control with Assist functions on some of their excavators, I spent some time in the seat of a Cat 323E which was fitted with the system and I will report in more detail about my experience in a future edition of Earthmovers Magazine. RS25853_DSC_0180

Check out this video from Cat which gives a basic overview of the Grade with Assist system. [youtube width="725" height="344"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LD16cCZOZio[/youtube] Too many of us this will appear to be a bit like a “dumbing down” of skills but in fact this technology is going to have to be widely embraced in the coming years as older operators with a lifetime of experience under their belts retire and take the skills with them.

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