LIVERMORE, Calif. –  “You’re not going to believe it!”  

Murray Lodge, vice president of construction for Topcon Positioning Systems (TPS), is talking about the job site results of Topcon’s 3D-MC2, the one-of-a-kind dozer machine control technology. Some of the top construction companies are using Topcon Positioning Systems’ 3D-MC2 system and reporting productivity gains more than twice that of regular 3D machine control systems.

Comparisons of machine operation at construction job sites from Florida to Illinois pinpoint increases in productivity of up to four times that of dozers not using 3D machine control technology.

Additionally, those firms operating dozers at twice normal grading speed are reporting “incredible accuracy and smoothness” in a variety of applications.

“We’re talking about a unique technological innovation. Think of a countdown for a rocket launch,” he said: “4 – Four times faster than a standard dozer; 3 – three times smoother than any machine control; 2 – two times the speed of any 3D dozer system, and; 1 – one dozer doing the work equal to two 3D dozers.”

The technology driving 3D-MC2 combines cutting-edge hydraulic control software, the latest in inertial sensor technology and the industry’s leading GNSS receivers to provide more than 100 blade position checks per second (about five times higher than the industry machine control average).

Lodge said, “This is not a technology that just any company can do. Any company can use sensors and think of the concept of getting a dozer to go faster with increased accuracy. What’s different here is that Topcon used the combination of proper algorithms, satellite signal filters, revised arithmetic formulas and the scientists and engineers at Topcon’s global technology centers, working together, to accomplish yet another world’s first construction development.”

Lodge said, “Topcon was the first company offering contractors the option of going stakeless at every phase of the job with 3D GPS machine control systems. It now is the first company to combine the best science and engineering has to offer to break through the last barrier of construction productivity – speed.”

He said, “With Topcon’s GPS + GLONASS technology, productivity was dramatically increased due to precise positioning and accuracy. Now, with 3D-MC2, increasing the dozer speed and improving the accuracy and grade smoothness adds additional savings in time and money on every job.

“Just think about it:  A single 3D dozer doing the heavy work of two 3D dozers; a dozer making a cut that compares favorably to the speed and smoothness of a grader. Think about the savings in time and equipment alone on every job. 3D-MC2 guarantees that a contractor saves time and money on every job, on every pass.”

The technology “literally changes the way contractors will look at the finish grading process,” Lodge said.

 “3D-MC2 is what it says: Three-dimensional positioning at twice the speed and twice the accuracy over any machine control system today.”

More work in less time is what 3D-MC2 delivers, he said, “That means less wear and tear on the machine, less operating time on individual jobs, less fuel usage, and most importantly, more time to spend working in other areas to complete jobs ahead of schedule.”

The primary benefit of having the option of being able to grade twice as fast as normal gives contractors an “incredible competitive edge,” Lodge said. “If a contractor can use a single dozer on a job instead of two and do the same amount or more in less time…that is true savings that’s easy to measure.”