Trimble grading systems enhanced

Trimble has unveiled its latest GCS900 grade control system - version 12.7 - at Intermat, which claims grading performance improvements of up to 40% over previous releases.

According to the company, the new system uses a GS420 inertia measurement unit (IMU) sensor to detect rates of acceleration and changes in orientation. It has been developed to increase the rate at which the system drives the valves of the dozer, aiming to deliver smoother, more consistent machine control.

The latest GCS900 also has GradeMax Plus, which is said by the company to allow operators to grade a wider range of complex surfaces, such as rotating dozer blades during operation on steep slopes, while maintaining constant grading speeds.

Ryan Kunisch, marketing director for Trimble Heavy Civil Construction, said, “With this latest version of the system we are taking machine control to a new level.

“GradeMax Plus technology allows contractors to grade between 35 and 40% faster on average, depending on the dozer type and the material being used.”

The company has also released its CCS900 compaction control system, developed to improve machine-to-machine communication. This is said to give machine operators the ability to share site mapping information between equipment working on a site at the same time.

Another key launch for Trimble at Intermat in Paris is its Sitepulse site positioning software, which has targeted the civil engineering sector. The company said the system aims to provide site managers with same highly-detailed 3D digital maps of construction projects used by surveyors and machine operators.

The software has been designed to operate with the new Trimble SPS585 GNSS Smart Antenna. This has been designed to enable site managers to take photographs tagged with GNSS position, date and time, to create an audited account of daily construction site activities.

Elwyn McLachlan, business area director for Trimble, said, “Trimble now gives supervisors the ability to access the same digital model their field crews use, at a lower price point and with less complexity,”

McLachlan added, “With up-to-the-minute data, field managers can make more informed decisions, more quickly, and also provide better documentation for audit purposes."