Digital innovations in excavators make way for more productive, reliable and efficient operations.

Digitisation is playing a crucial role in the construction equipment (CE) industry. And, the excavator segment is no exception. Digitisation of excavators has already opened up many avenues in terms of ease of fleet management as well increasing operational efficiency of the equipment at worksites.

Role of digitised excavators
Digitisation is making it possible for machines to be connected to each other as well as the owners and OEMs. This is further likely to create opportunities for OEMs to learn more about the actual working conditions, so that they can offer more customisations and improvements. The scope as well as potential for digitisation is enormous, says Anup Nair, Vice President and BU Head, Hyundai Construction Equipment India Pvt Ltd.

Volvo’s Co-Pilot offers a range of intelligent machine services including Dig Assist and Pave Assist – to help operators deliver higher quality outcomes, in less time and with less effort.

“The newer models in our D-series excavators are equipped with G4 work modes that optimise fuel efficiency and performance. These work modes — Idle (I), Fine (F), General (G), Heavy (H) and Power max (P) — are integrated within the throttle control, so that operators can easily select the best one for the task at hand. In addition, an ECO mode automatically switches off the engine, further reducing fuel consumption,” says Dimitrov Krishnan, Vice President and Head of Volvo CE India.

According to S K Jaruhar, Advisor – Support Services, Kobelco Construction Equipment (India) Pvt Ltd, digitisation in excavators started some years ago. However, the pace of development has been rather slow, more so in India, where prices continue to influence the level of technology adoption in the market. So far, most of the digitisation is limited to monitoring parameters like fuel consumption, machine utilisation, service schedule, etc. Of late, some operational or performance aspects, like excavation or cutting as per pre-fixed slope angle, are also being brought within the scope of digitisation.

“With the world going increasingly digital, customer wants to have information access about the machine that includes utilisation, servicing status, location of the machine and health. Therefore, digital integration through various brand names has been introduced by manufacturers that give the above status to the customer,” says Sandeep Singh, Managing Director, Tata Hitachi Construction Machinery Company Pvt Ltd.

Digitalisation is the need of the hour rapidly taking grip of every sector. Technology helps improve the quality of work, thereby leading to savings and profitability. At LiuGong, various features have already been incorporated to enable the user to take advantage of the digital empowerment like selection of the power mode, telematics to track machine working, self-diagnostic features, auto idle system, fuel-saving devices, variable speed selection, says Nischal Mehrotra, Director – Sales & Marketing, LiuGong India Pvt Ltd.

Better efficiency of on-site operations
Volvo CE offers CareTrack, a telematics system that gives equipment owners access to a wide range of machine monitoring information that can help save time and money. The system generates a wide range of reports with data on aspects such as fuel consumption, operational hours, geographical location and more. These reports are available via a web portal or can be received via SMS or email alerts.

CareTrack can also be used to manage machine servicing and wear parts. This allows fleet managers to reduce fuel costs, optimise machine and operator performance, as well as proactively manage service and maintenance to maximise uptime. CareTrack is offered not as a standard practice but as specialised packages designed to enhance customers’ businesses, says Krishnan.

Digitised excavators help in improving operating efficiencies. Future trends are expected to see better alignment and coordination with site requirements as well as other equipment working around it, says Jaruhar. For instance, if the site coordinates are available and the final finishing levels are clearly defined, the work can be executed far more efficiently with least wastage of resources including time.

IoT offers the power of knowledge about the various parameters of the machine at the touch of a button at the time and place of the customers’ convenience. “Realising the enormous power this data places in the hands of our customer and us, we have taken the bold step of making it a standard offering in all our machines in India,” says Sandeep.

Hyundai’s Computer Aided Power Optimisation (CAPO) system allows the operator to set their own preferences for boom and swing priority and power mode to suit the requirement of the job. This system interfaces with multiple sensors placed throughout the hydraulic system as well as the electronically controlled engine to provide the optimum level of engine power and hydraulic flow. This further ensures that the machine is working at optimum efficiency. Hyundai excavators are equipped with display clusters that have self-diagnostic as well as maintenance management features. In case the machine malfunctions, the display cluster highlights the same. It also shows vital information such as engine RPM, battery voltage, hydraulic temperature and the status of electric switches allows the operator to know exact operating conditions of the machine. This makes it easier to troubleshoot any problems that occur.

Furthermore, this feature keeps a record of scheduled time interval for each maintenance area. It also keeps a real-time update of the time duration left for the next scheduled maintenance for each and every maintenance area. This feature ensures maintenance of the machine by keeping the operator updated at all times, say Nair.

Additionally, Hyundai offers Hi-Mate, machine management system that helps its customers with live monitoring of their machines including working hours, idling hours and fuel consumption. Hi-Mate also allows geo tracking as well as geo fencing for added security. Nair says, “We want our customers to enjoy peace of mind and Hi-Mate ensures that by making the most vital machine data available to them wherever they are.”

Customers today evaluate products based on total lifecycle costs, LiuGong’s machines are packed with lot of technology. Mehrotra says, “Smartrax provides real-time data on the machine; location, performance, fuel consumption and self diagnosis thereby lowering the downtime and enhancing productivity.”

Digitalised excavators
Volvo EX2 – fully-electric compact excavator
Volvo CE unveiled the world’s first fully-electric compact excavator, the EX2, which is equipped with electric drive systems and electromechanical linear actuators. While it is too early to say if there will eventually be a shift towards electric engines in the market, Volvo CE believes that going electric is the future of our industry. The EX2 prototype shows our determination to provide zero-emissions machines in the future which will have the same power and force as conventional equipment, says Krishnan.
Volvo CE is delivering on its commitment of ‘Building Tomorrow’ with the unveiling of its first commercial zero-emissions electric compact excavator and wheel loader at the recent bauma Munich 2019. The machines, which are the first to be shown from a new electric range of Volvo branded compact excavators and compact wheel loaders, deliver zero exhaust emissions, significantly lower noise levels, reduced energy costs, improved efficiency and less maintenance requirements, compared to their conventional counterparts.

Generation10 series for performance and reliability
Kobelco Generation-10 series of several models of hydraulic excavators brings in several innovative features which improve the overall performance and reliability. For example, all filtration systems (for fuel, air and hydraulic or engine oil) have been improved considering the challenging site conditions. There are alerts and alarms for choked filters so that no damage takes place. In a country like India, the altitude of many places in the hills could pose a serious challenge to the engine. In Kobelco, this is reset automatically. Also, there is a Auto-Idle-Stop (AIS) system, which reduces the engine RPM to idle mode if the actuators are not used for 5 seconds and remain in that state till the levers are again used or the engine is switched off by the operator, Kobelco excavators will automatically shut off the engine if the machine is idle for a total of 60 seconds after sounding a beep at 55 seconds of idling, according to Jaruhar.

ZAXIS GI series excavators
“Our ZAXIS GI series excavators are equipped with Global e-Service, an offering based on the platform developed by Hitachi, Japan. On this is layered a premium offering called ConSite, which we offer as a standard with all our GI machines,” say Sandeep.
ConSite uses years of experience, comparative data of similar class machines operating in the region and provides insightful advice and recommendations to improve operations. There is also an alarm service which uses machine events and is an intelligent filter to communicate machine breakdown and raise caution alarms with due recommendation to the customer and to the dealer for appropriate action. Sandeep says, “Our consultative approach to examining and advising customers on the health of their machines is a major value-added support to our customers.”

InSite is the company’s home grown IoT solution that provides key operational, maintenance, location and health data of the machine to the customers and Tata Hitachi. It is available in EX Super + series of hydraulic excavators, wheel loader (TL340H) and new backhoe loader; Shinrai.

Digitisation is making possible for the machines to be connected to each other as well as the owners and OEMs.
Anup Nair, Vice President and BU Head, Hyundai Construction Equipment India Pvt Ltd

The newer models in our D-series excavators are equipped with G4 work modes that optimise fuel efficiency and performance.
Dimitrov Krishnan, Vice President and Head of Volvo CE India

Digitised excavators help in improving operational efficiencies.
S K Jaruhar, Advisor – Support Services, Kobelco Construction Equipment (India) Pvt Ltd

Our consultative approach to examining & advising customers on the health of their machines is a major value-added support to our customers.
Sandeep Singh, Managing Director, Tata Hitachi Construction Machinery Company Pvt Ltd

Smartrax provides real-time data on the machine; location, performance, fuel consumption and self diagnosis thereby lowering the downtime & enhancing productivity.
Nischal Mehrotra, Director – Sales & Marketing, LiuGong India Pvt Ltd