Participants had access to the trench design and Earthworks interface but did not have any automatic machine control.ĭuring the last trial, participants excavated using Trimble Earthworks’ “Automatics” functionality. In the second trial, participants excavated the same sized trench using the guidance only function of Trimble Earthworks Grade Control Platform.
The trench was considered complete when a participant indicated that they had finished excavating.
At intervals of the operator’s choosing, the moderator checked excavated elevations using an SPS986 receiver, providing indications of the required cut and fill values at certain locations. Researchers asked 16 operators to perform the simple but common task of digging a 1m wide x 15m long by 0.5m deep trench to an accuracy of plus/minus 3cm using Komatsu PC228-10 and Hyundai HX220-L excavators.īefore each trial, participants were given the same warm-up period to familiarise themselves with the machine (e.g., practicing with the controls, digging in a test trench, interacting with the Trimble Earthworks interface).ĭuring the first trial, participants used conventional excavation methods-no design or external grade control. So, we carried out a study to compare the performance of operators of varying skills – novice, intermediate, and expert – using a) conventional, b) guidance-only and c) fully machine guided excavators. Trimble wanted to test whether this technology in earthmoving equipment could raise productivity. Over the years, positioning-technology innovators and construction equipment manufacturers have integrated grade control technology on excavators, dozers, motor graders, skid-steers, milling machines, pavers and other earthmoving equipment. Overall, the CCI report states, nearly half of the contractors plan to not raise spending on tools and equipment in the next quarter. While adoption has been steady over the years, many construction professionals are still hesitant to invest in technology, unsure of the benefit-to-cost value. One way to tackle the shortage of skilled labour is to use supporting technology used on the job site. 83% of respondents had asked their skilled crew members to do more work, and 71% reported struggling to meet schedule requirements. The latest quarterly Commercial Construction Index (CCI) report from the US Chamber of Commerce shows construction companies still struggling to find skilled workers.ÂĨ3% respondents reported moderate to high difficulty in finding them, with 87% expressing a moderate to high degree of concern about workers having adequate skill levels. So is their a way to tell the controller to not draw lines across the screen or create an open line that will auto add any points I measure until I close it?ĥ) I created an alignment in the map screen and it auto added chainages to the points, can I turn off the chainages being displayed on my map screen?Ħ) How do I turn on a clock display on the controller?ħ) What is the difference between measured points and staked out points that are measured? I've been told by the qc guys that there is a difference but they don't trust them.Trimble tested the speed and accuracy of novice, intermediate and expert operators using conventional and machine guided excavators, and found the latter led to big improvements across the board. They do include a tag for beg and end but the control doesn't recognize this and draws lines all across my screen.
Currently right now I have to switch between lines and keep doing it until I find the point where both lines are at the desired offset.ģ) Create a line that contains more than two points? Is this something that the alignment program normal handles? I'm not sureĤ)The company I'm working for uses an attribute library to define features (which makes sense) but for some of these features they have the a line drawn between points which works great as long as you're not picking up multiple areas with the same point code. If I have 4 point and I want to determine the intersection point of the two bearings but offset either left or right by x amount I should be able to without having to calc out dummy points but I cannot seem to find itĢ) Determine a point in the field when staking out a line at a particular offset. I'm transitioning over to Trimble from Leica and cannot seem to find ways of doing the following:ġ)Offsets when calcing a bearing bearing or bearing dist.