Komatsu adds Smart Construction Drone and Smart Construction Field to its Suite of Job Site Solutions

Michele Catinari — Tue, 07 Dec 2021 18:00:06 +0000

Analyze data throughout each project phase to track production and billing

Contractors know that accurate numbers to track job site activity and topography can mean the difference between completing a project on time and on budget. With the addition of Smart Construction Field and Smart Construction Drone to Komatsu’s suite of job site technologies, contractors have two new tools to better manage projects.

“When the Smart Construction group came in, they integrated everything together, and the transition felt seamless. Now, we can take the data, transfer it to the machines, get data back from the machines to the office, and utilize all of that information across the board forbidding, customer reference and billing,”

said Kevin Hawkinson, vice president of operations, A.W. Oakes & Son.

Smart Construction Field

Using data to track spending allows contractors to analyze those numbers quickly and find cost-effective ways to manage and resource projects. Komatsu has partnered with Moovila, an experienced provider of project management software, to develop Smart Construction Field, a mobile app that allows contractors to easily record job site activity and analyze operational efficiencies in near real-time.

Reports generated by Smart Construction Field can track daily job site conditions, and task progress can be broken down by labor, equipment, and materials, including machine utilization and fuel distribution, receipts, time cards, and subcontractor work. Regardless of equipment brand, Smart Construction Field can collect machine data from an entire fleet.

Smart Construction Drone

Collecting accurate topography is easy with Komatsu’s Smart Construction Drone survey technology. This drone solution captures quantities for production tracking and billing, without personnel walking the job site to do a manual survey.

Contractors can gather and analyze data throughout each project phase with topographic surveys that incorporate hundreds of thousands of data points. With the capability to take still photos from up to 400 feet above ground level or under bridge decks, Smart Construction Drone can be used as pre-job verification or to keep stakeholders up to date.

Smart Construction Drone pairs very well with Smart Construction Dashboard. Built to combine data from multiple sources into one comprehensive picture, Smart Construction Dashboard combines 3D design data with aerial mapping and intelligent machine data, to let contractors confirm quantities and visualize job site progress. Smart Construction Dashboard is powered by the 3D visualization power and geospatial accuracy of Cesium, a leading platform to visualize, analyze and share 3D data.

Both Smart Construction Drone and Smart Construction Field are part of Komatsu’s Smart Construction solutions, an umbrella of smart applications created to help construction customers optimize their business remotely, and in near-real-time.

The post Komatsu adds Smart Construction Drone and Smart Construction Field to its Suite of Job Site Solutions appeared first on North America FarmQuip Magazine.

Ponsse Solutions for Thinning Sites

newsroom — Thu, 14 Oct 2021 16:00:23 +0000

Growing a productive forest requires hard work and commitment. Correctly timed thinning improves the forest’s growth conditions and makes trees grow sturdier more quickly. Thinning supports forest biodiversity when part of the forest is always in the growth phase.

“Thinning can also be called improvement felling, as it ensures the productivity of the forest and the high quality and health of trees. The better a forest grows, the better it sequesters carbon. Thinning ensures that trees can be processed into high-quality products that sequester carbon for dozens or even hundreds of years,”

says Tuomo Moilanen, forest specialist at Ponsse.

In cut-to-length (CTL) harvesting, trees are already processed up to the intended length in the forest, enabling thinning to be ecological. When the harvester operator plans trails so that they can also be driven by the forwarder, trees can be both felled and transported without needing to move around unnecessarily in the forest.

“At thinning sites, the distance between trails is roughly 20 meters, and trees remaining by the side of the trail will grow in Finnish conditions 20–25 percent more quickly, because they will have room to grow, both above and below,”

Moilanen says.

Ponsse’s harvesters, forwarders, and harvester heads have also been designed for thinning sites

The six-wheeled Ponsse Beaver and the eight-wheeled Ponsse Fox, Ponsse’s harvesters in the smaller size category, are ideal solutions for first thinning. Ponsse Fox is an excellent choice, especially when operating in soft terrain. High-flotation tracks should be selected as optional equipment for softer terrain to prevent surface damage.

At heavier thinning sites, the Ponsse Cobra and Scorpion harvesters, combined with the H5 or H6 harvester head, are the best choices in terms of productivity. In Ponsse Scorpion, the unobstructed visibility in all directions, together with cabin and crane leveling, makes working smooth even at dense thinning sites. As eight-wheeler machines, both models are also excellent in soft terrain.

While Elk and Wisent are the most popular Ponsse forwarders for thinning sites, Buffalo is also an excellent choice, especially when distances are longer, and the aim is to improve productivity. The forwarder can easily pick up trees from thinning sites when trails are properly protected (with branches) and as straight as possible; the fewer sharp bends there are, the less surface damage is caused.

At thinning sites, the harvester head should be selected according to the dominant tree species. However, it should be considered that damaged trees and other trees in poor condition must also be removed from thinning sites, calling for sawing and feed forces from the harvester head. The harvester head must be reliable at thinning sites because a large number of trees are produced quickly during each shift.

At thinning sites, much rests on the forest machine operator – the operator decides what trees are removed and what are left standing. The forest owner hands over their assets to a professional forest machine operator to receive the highest possible profit, also in the future.