Komatsu Europe International has made the first worldwide sale of its new D61PXi-23 bulldozer equipped with Komatsu’s latest system for intelligent machine control, a technology developed jointly with Topcon Corporation. The medium-sized Komatsu dozer was sold by BIA, Komatsu’s distributor for Belgium, to the Verhelst Group, located in Oostende, Belgium. The intelligent machine control system featured on the D61PXi-23 is factory integrated and offers full auto-blade control and blade load control. It is des
Komatsu Europe International has made the first worldwide sale of its new D61PXi-23 bulldozer equipped with Komatsu’s latest system for intelligent machine control, a technology developed jointly with Topcon Corporation.
The medium-sized Komatsu dozer was sold by BIA, Komatsu’s distributor for Belgium, to the Verhelst Group, located in Oostende, Belgium.
The intelligent machine control system featured on the D61PXi-23 is factory integrated and offers full auto-blade control and blade load control. It is designed to help Komatsu customers enhance their productivity, reduce costs of operations and improve job site safety.
The Verhelst Group specialises in activities such as road building, demolition and recycling, and already includes ten Komatsu bulldozers in its fleet.
Johan Verhelst, the head of the group, has a keen interest in new and reliable technologies.
“Our mission in the construction industry is to be pioneers and a sustainable company,” says Verhest.
In 2012, Topmix, a company part of the Verhelst Group, were the first customers in Belgium to acquire a HB215LC-1, Komatsu’s ground-breaking Hybrid excavator.
Komatsu’s intelligent machine control system was unveiled in April 2013 at the Bauma fair in Munich, Germany. When installed on a dozer, it offers from rough to finish grading performance through the use of a highly durable and accurate off-blade sensor package, validated to Komatsu’s rigid quality and durability standards.
The complete system includes an improved GNSS receiver and control box, and a GNSS antenna. For improved safety and efficiency, the antenna, mast pole and cables were removed from the blade were they were usually located, and are now fully integrated to the machine.
The antenna is on the top of the cab and provides accurate data collection, regardless actual blade position.
With Sitelink3D, Topcon’s advanced communications management system, dozing progress is sent to the site manager in a remote office, and updated design data can be sent from there to the dozer in the field quickly and efficiently, without the need to dispatch personnel.
