Machine Automation Solutions- Motor Graders

Topcon Sokkia India Pvt. Ltd

 Company Profile
*as of End / Mar 2022

1$≒138

$1.27B (30% Japanese)

(Consolidated)
Head office at the time of establishment Previously “Tokyo Optical
Co., Ltd. ” Present
Corporate Identity

Topcon contributes to
enrich human life by
solving the societal
challenges within
Healthcare, Agriculture
and Infrastructure.
Sales Ratio
Chart Title
By
Healthcare Region
30%
Ttl
$1.27B
70%
Infrastructure
Agriculture
Global Network
 Topcon Sokkia India Pvt Ltd (TSI)
 Year of establishment: 2010
 100% Subsidiary of Topcon Corporation-Japan
 Number of employees: 40 TSI HO

Office Locations in India:

 Gurugram, Haryana (Head Office)
 Kolkata, West Bengal
 Hyderabad, Telangana
Kolkata
Branch Office
Business Domain:
 Sales and Support of Precision Measuring 3D Hyderabad
Branch Office

solutions in :
 Geopositioning segment
 Construction segment
 Agriculture segment
 TSI Survey equipment Sales & Service Network

Gurugram

Noida
TSI
- SOKKIA Dealer Ahmedabad Kolkata
TOPCON Dealer Indore
Nagpur Raipur
Mumbai

Hyderabad

Bengaluru Vijayawada

Chennai
 Topcon’s Solutions (Infrastructure & Agriculture)
Geo-Positioning IT Agriculture IT Agriculture
Geo-Positioning

On-the-go Crop Canopy Sensors

GNSS Receiver Farm Management Solution
Total Station

Geo-Positioning IT Agriculture

3D Laser Scanner Agricultural Auto-Steering System

Geo-Positioning
Geo-Positioning 2D/3D Machine Control

Mobile Mapping System High-Accuracy Aerial Mapping Machine Control System RDMC Solution
 Topcon’s History
Established(1932) ～
1970’s-80’s 1990’s 2000’s ～
1960’s
Pioneer of domestic optical A series of hit products with Expanding business Acceleration of global
instruments optomechatronics with overseas’ M&A investments
technology strategies

Over 25 Years
Experience

At
At the
the request
request from
from the
the former
former Imperial
Imperial
Army
Army Ministry,
Ministry,
K.Hattori
K.Hattori & & Co.(now
Co.(now Seiko
Seiko Holdings
Holdings
Corp.)
Corp.) established
established Topcon
Topcon in
in 1932
1932
to
to achieve domestic production of
achieve domestic production of
surveying
surveying instruments
instruments
 1.Why MC System?
2.What is MC system ?
3.Benefits of 3DMC system
Today’s Agenda 4.Types of MC MC/MG, 2D/3D
5.Component of 3DMC system
6.Comparison Conventional vs 3DMC
7.3DMC’s Control Mechanism
8.Compaction Solution
9. Paving Solution
Why MC System?
Why-MC system ?
What is MC system
 What is MC system
MC = Machine Control, Consists of On Machine and Off Machine Guidance system. Heavy
machine’s blade/bucket are automatically controlled with using
HIGH-PRECISION position information measured by survey equipment.

Survey Equipment Heavy Machine

Laser / RTK-GNSS / Robotic TS...

Hydraulic control System

Computer/Tilt Sensor/Hydraulic valve...

 What is MC system

What are controlled?

Elevation and Slope of blade/bucket are controlled.
*In case motor grader, Blade rotation and slide work are manually operated.

Ex. Blade (Bulldozer, Motor grader)

Elevation Slope Control

Control

3DMC controls the blade

automatically to cut/fill the
ground to designed level .

Design surface
Current Ground
 Topcon’s MC History

1994 Over 25 years

AGTEK
Acquisition experience
1995
2DMC

1998
3D-MC
From 2D⇒ ３ D

2004
Release
mmGPS 2010
Release 2016
3D-MC2 Release
3D-MCMAX
Benefits of 3DMC system
 Benefit of 3DMC system

Conventional Style 3DMC

- Manual- - Automation -
Automation of construction
Blade movement depends on his skills.
work
Operate
Blade

Repeat
Check with your eyes
Operation

 No Stakes, High quality regardless of operator skill.

 Spend much time & Man hour for Surveying & Setup Stakes Increase productivity & Reduce construction cost
 Need skill of operator.  Work machine only in field.
 Need work together with field personnel. Increase safety.
 Increase Production

Road Construction case

Conventional 3DMC System

Stake out by coordinate As-build by Auto Level Surface control

(TS or GNSS)

H=…

N=…
E=…
H=…
25m
(Curve area:12.5m)

Set up finishing level for Heavy machine operator Reduce much number of stakes, As-
Heavy machine operator cannot work during As-built build survey, etc…
surveying Better flatness…
 Benefit of 3DMC system

Increase Production
・ Increase levels of accuracy with greater precision over conventional
construction methods
(Blade/Bucket position is controlled by high precision survey equipment)

・ Decrease the time of Cut / Fill work.

(Pass count of machine, Stake out and checking As-built time can be reduced.)

・ Decrease the margin of error.

(Blade/Bucket can be controlled following the design without operator’s skill & marks.)

・ Increase the calculation accuracy for quality assurance and quantity

calculations.
(Site can be managed by surface control.)
 Benefits of 3DMC system

Reduce Construction Costs

・ Increase work productivity
(Increased machine productivity, reduced time for survey and stake out.)

・ Decrease Material Costs.

(High accurate Cut / Fill work & surface management.)

・ Lower operating costs.

(NO need high-skilled operator. Overtime work wages can be reduced.)

・ Decrease machine’s maintenance and fuel costs

(Machine operating time can be reduced)

Additional
cost

Tolerance
Design
 Benefits of 3DMC system

Increase safety (Environmentally Friendly)

• In conventional method. Field personnel exposed to heavy equipment and
potential back-over/run-over incidents.

• Greener construction with less fuel spent.

 Types of MC
MC/MG, 2D/3D
 Type of MC system
There are separated by 2D or 3D.
Machine Guidance is also provided.
(Total 4 types) 2D
Level or Level + *Slope
Machine Guidance (MG) *In case of straight area
Manual machine operating
by guidance
3D
Level +Slope
(Anywhere in 3D design)

2D
Level or Level + *Slope
Machine Control (MC) *In case of straight area
Semi-Auto machine operating
(Blade, bucket etc…)
3D
Level +Slope
(Anywhere in 3D design)
Component of 3DMC system
 3DMC system overview
3DMC system has 4 main component groups
3D positioning
Tilt Sensors
Console ( w / 3D design data)
Hydraulics

3D positioning Tilt Sensors / IMU

3D design data Console

(User interface) Hydraulics
 3D Positioning
Survey equipment obtain current target position (N, E, H) in real time.

N…
E…
H…

RTK GNSS N…
Base E…
H…

Robotic TS
Tracking
Console receives
Prism / RTK GNSS Rover’s positon
 Comparison (GNSS vs TS)

Element RTK-GNSS method Robotic TS method

・ Bulldozer ・ Bulldozer
・ Motor grader ・ Motor grader
Heavy Equipment ・ Excavator ・ Excavator
・ Paver (mmGPS) ・ Paver
・ Roller ・ Roller
Accuracy (N,E ≒±1.5cm H ＝ ±2.5cm) (N,E=±5mm H ＝ ±7mm)

2km from base if the radio

Projects Range 150 - 200 m from TS
transmission is stable

Weather Anytime Depends on the visibility

Base setup and localization of 2 know points for Occ and

Preparations the coordinate system is Backsight or 2 know points for
required. resection
Size of projects Large / middle Projects Middle / small projects
Multiple Rovers Multiple connection Single connection
*Based on our past experience at site in Japan
 Based on site conditions

GNSS Total Station

 Mountain
 Open Sky
 High Accuracy
 Large projects
 No Sky
 mmGPS system

GNSS + Zone Lazer System → Compensate GNSS H accuacy

Area : Up to 120m (Radius ） ±5m height from Laser Transmitter
Multiple machines can run off 1 Laser.
Up to 4 Laser Transmitters can be joined to cover 960m.

10m

Lazer
Transmitter
120m 30m
Measure the Level of Sensor LZ-T5

GNSS Receiver
+
Lazer Receiver PZS-MC
 Tilt Sensors

To calculate implements exact coordinate (N, E, H), these Sensors are needed.

1. Current Targets (RTK GNSS Rover / Prism) position

is acquired
Offset value (blade with etc..)

2. Console calculates
position (N, E, H) of
blade edges with using
Tilt Sensors angle

Tilt sensors
 Tilt Sensors

Blade Slope Sensor

 Tilt Sensors

Rotation Sensor (Motor grader)

 Tilt Sensors

Mainfall Sensor (Motor grader)

 Hydraulics

Topcon’s hydraulic system for MC, which interrupts Existing hydraulic circuit, is
installed to control Cylinders (Raise / Lower).

To Cylinder of To Cylinder of
Blade/Bucket Blade/Bucket
Original 3DMC
Topcon Hydraulic
Oil pressure

Machine’s
Hydraulic
Machine’s
Hydraulic
 Hydraulics

Some heavy machine’s Cylinders can be controlled by CAN-Bus communication.

In this case,
Hydraulic valve for MC is NOT needed to install.
Just connecting Topcon’s cable with CAN-Bus
connecter originally installed in heavy machine.
 Console
Indicates Heavy machine’s position, 3D design at site, Blade’s slope, Elevation
gap between As-built and design..
Current Grader’s position
Current Station :ST 0 ＋ 98.948 Design (3D)

Elevation gap
(Design vs Blade reference point Designed Slope (%)
) (Blade reference point )
 Auto / Manual Switch
3DMC system has Auto / Manual changeable switch.
*Blade/Bucket is automatically controlled while its elevation is within ±10cm from
designed level.

Can be used as “Guidance system”

while system is NOT used by Auto-control.
 3D design data (Road Construction)

• Usually, 3D design data for 3DMC system is converted by MAGNET Office or 3D

Office software.
• Some 3rd party CAD software also can convert directly.

Ex.) AutoCAD, MicroStation Point data (.txt / .csv)

TIN data (.tn3)

LandXML (.xml)
DXF (.dxf)
DWG (.dwg)

3D Office
Topcon File (TP3)

3D design data
MAGNET Office
 Comparison
Conventional vs 3DMC
 Conventional vs 3DMC

Measured working time of both conventional and 3DMC at same evaluation area.

Work flow Conventional 3DMC

Stakeout Total station None
Adjust elevation Auto level None
Grading Manual Control Automatic Control

Evaluation area
(450m2: width 9m, length 50m)
 Stake out (Horizontal location)

Staked out horizontal location of marks (Red points at below figure)

by conventional TS.
No.7 No.8 No.9
5 points / No.
No.6
No.1~No.9
No.5 Straight area: 10m span
Curve area: 5m span
No.4
40m 50m Stake out total 45 points
No.3 30m
r ve
Cu
20m

No.2

10m
ght
i
Stra

No.1

0ｍ
 Stake out (Elevation Adjustment)

Adjusted elevation of marks (Red points at below figure) to designed by

Auto Level.
No.8 No.9
No.7
3 points / No.
No.6
No.1~No.9
No.5 Straight area: 10m span
Curve area: 5m span
No.4
40m 50m Adjusted elevation of marks
No.3 30m total 27 points
r ve
Cu
20m

No.2

10m
ght
i
Stra

No.1

0ｍ
 Comparison movie (Conventional VS 3DMC)

Observation points for 3DMC

☞ No reference marker
☞ Traveling speed
3DMC ☞ Nobody around Motor Grader

Observation points for Conventional

☞ Recover reference markers
☞ Waiting times
☞ Workers around Motor Grader
 Comparison movie (Conventional vs 3DMC)

3DMC
 Comparison movie (Conventional vs 3DMC)

3DMC
 Comparison Result (Conventional vs 3DMC)
Work flow Conventional 3DMC

Stakeout 65 min / 4 workers NO need

Adjust elevation 53 min / 5 workers NO need
Make (& Check)
Surface 57 min / 6 workers 30 min / 2 workers
Total working time 175 min 30 min

Conventional 57 53 65

3DMC 30 82% reduced

min

0 30 60 90 120 150 180

3DMC’s Control Mechanism
 Software

MC/MG system GNSS / MDTS Project / Machine

Operation Operation Management

Cabin Field Office

 Control mechanism (3DMC)
GNSS / Total station positioning can determine where the implements on
jobsite

I am here
X=100, Y=100, Z=9.440
 Control mechanism (3DMC)

If the location on the worksite is known, the job plans

determine the design elevation at that location

Design Elevation 9.457m

(X=100, Y=100)

I am here
X=100, Y=100, Z=9.440
 Control mechanism (3DMC)

 Determines the
design elevation from the
3D design data.

 Measures the blade edge

elevation. Blade edge elevation =9.440m
Design elevation
=9.457m
 Calculates the amount of
Cut or Fill.
9.457m
 Commands the hydraulic 9.440m
control valve to position
= 0.017m fill
the blade edge at
designed level.
 3D design data

Alignment data
 3D design data

TIN data
 3D design data

Alignment data
View 3D simulation

TIN data
View 3D simulation
 3D design data

3D design data for 3DMC system is usually from major 3D CAD like
AutoCAD through 3D-Office or MAGNET-Office
 3D design data

AutoCAD DWG data can be imported directly into GX-55.

 Software User Interface

MC/MG system
Operation

 User-friendly Interface
 Universal Software
 Console
Indicates Heavy machine’s position, 3D design at site,
Implement’s slope, Elevation gap between As-built and
design.. Current Grader’s position Plan map
Current Station :ST 0 ＋ (3D Design)
98.948

Elevation gap Designed Slope (%)

 Console

Indication Pattern
(Cross) Section View

Blade Edge Elevation

Blade Edge Elevation
(Right)
(Left)
Distance from Center Line
(6.038m Left from Center
Line)
 Console
On-Grade & Elevation Offset
Can be managed by each layer

+0.000m
-0.200m
-0.400m
-0.600m
-0.800m
Elevation Offset

Grade Indicator
 Console
As built Mode
Operator can know current situation by color

Cut

OK

Fill
 Auto / Manual Switch

Basically 3DMC system has Auto / Manual changeable switch.

*Implement is automatically controlled while its elevation is within ±10cm from designed level.

Can be used as “Guidance system”

while system is NOT used by Auto-control.
 Software User Interface

GNSS / MDTS
Operation
 User-friendly Interface
 Create TP3 data on site
Sitelink
Sitelink
Why??
Product Features
What does Topcon provide?
Click icon to add picture
 Performance
 Designed with features to increase speed and
efficiency
 Simplicity
 Designed Easy-to-Use, with operators in mind
 Compatibility
 Designed to be backwards compatible with
previous systems
 Designed to be easily updated for future
innovations
 Reliability
 Designed rugged and tough to withstand the
harsh construction jobsite conditions
Benefits of Machine Control – Return on Investment

Increase Productivity and Efficiency

Control Costly Import Materials

Reduce Engineering Costs

Improve Jobsite Safety

 Summary

 Topcon have over 25Y experience of MC technology

 MC system assist contractor’s improvement of productivity consumption of

material and safety Questions?
 mmGPS system is an ONLY Topcon’s solution

 Site Management system support contractor site from Office

TOPCON i-CONSTRUCTION – https://youtu.be/gSfl1J-BFhA

Thank You