Komatsu’s Bulldozer Technology Eases Skilled Labor Needs

Japanese construction machinery maker Komatsu will showcase at this year’s CONEXPO two bulldozers with autonomous blade control that will enable operators to use machine control from “grass to grade,” in what the company says is an industry first.

The D51i-24 and the D61i-24 dozers use proactive control to record terrain data as they move around a site. Using the data, the system makes calculated decisions about whether it should cut and carry material, whether it should spread or fill that material, or whether it should be finish grading.

The system measures the surrounding ground and determines what has been done on the area being graded, then stores that data and information, according to the company. When the dozer prepares to go back over that area to cut or work it more, the system understands what it was like from its previous track and therefore, follows the existing terrain that was just created.