Komatsu’s Smart plan to digitise sites

Japanese construction equipment manufacturer Komatsu has launched four new IoT devices and eight new applications within its Smart Construction range.

The company said the developments – to be rolled out in Europe and the US – demonstrate its ongoing commitment to digital transformation.

Where the earlier version of Smart Construction involved vertical digitisation (digitising only the construction process), the new IoT devices and applications cover the entire process, including worksite safety, productivity and environmental performance (horizontal digitisation).

The new innovations in the Smart Construction range include: Design, an application and service designed to generate 3D data tailored to earthmoving operations; AR (augmented reality), an application that overlays planned terrain data to the ‘as is’ data, for visualisation of worksite operation progress, using electronic worksite stakes and viewable on a tablet or smartphone; and Retrofit, an IoT device aimed at making all onsite equipment digitally compatible.

Komatsu says the Retrofit kit can be connected to conventional equipment, enabling it to use ICT functions, such as 3D machine guidance and payload measurement. The company adds that Retrofit can be added on not only Komatsu-made models but also other makes, as long as they are hydraulic excavators - giving customers the opportunity of connecting multiple excavators on a site, regardless of the manufacturer.