Industry News
Hitachi RBT Series Excavators
2024-09-09
Hitachi Construction Machinery, Ltd. (Executive President: Masaaki Saki/hereinafter referred to as Hitachi Construction Machinery) will release the "RBT Series" hydraulic excavators that support remote operation solutions in Japan in May 2024.
RBT series hydraulic excavator ZX200A-7 remote operation diagram
The "RBT" series product name means "READY TO BE ROBOT", which means robots that can be operated without the operator on the vehicle. By adding remote operation solutions to its product lineup, Hitachi Construction Machinery is promoting the introduction of remote operation to construction sites, helping customers solve difficult problems such as improving safety and improving the working environment.
Recently, the training of skilled personnel due to the improvement of safety, productivity, working environment and labor shortage has become a problem at construction sites. As one of the solutions, customers have high expectations for remote operation and unmanned driving of construction machinery.
To meet these needs, Hitachi Construction Machinery developed the system platform "ZCORE" for autonomous construction machinery in August 2020, and announced the development of hydraulic excavators that support remote operation and unmanned driving solutions based on the ZCORE platform in May 2023. After that, by conducting empirical tests such as actual operation by customers, we have been striving for excellence while reflecting various needs on site, and finally launched the "RBT Series" products this time.
Currently, remote operation of construction machinery is performed in specific scenarios and industries, such as at post-disaster reconstruction sites or in environments where people cannot enter. In order to remotely control hydraulic excavators, it is necessary to significantly change product specifications, and the time and effort required for introduction have become a problem.
In the future, we will provide "RBT series" hydraulic excavators that support remote solutions to general construction and civil engineering customers, with the goal of improving the working environment at construction sites, improving safety and productivity, and strengthening human resource training, and promote further cooperation with customers.
Main Features
Remote operation using RBT remote controller
Remote operation of the RBT series hydraulic excavator is performed by operating the joystick or switch of the RBT remote controller. In addition, since the vehicle body and the RBT remote controller are in two-way communication, the vehicle body information required for hydraulic excavator operation (angle of the vehicle body and crawler track, engine cooling water temperature, fuel remaining amount, etc.) can be confirmed through the monitor in the remote controller. In addition, by switching the switch in the hydraulic excavator cab, the operator can also ride and operate the hydraulic excavator.
RBT remote control body
RBT remote control monitor diagram
Support remote operation through area control function and ICT construction
In remote operation, it is sometimes difficult to grasp the surrounding conditions of construction machinery. In such cases, the operator needs to carefully operate the machine while confirming that the machine cannot collide with or touch objects in other imaging systems. This not only hinders the improvement of work efficiency, but also increases the burden on the operator.
RBT series hydraulic excavators can use the area control function to limit the range of motion of the hydraulic excavator in advance, even in situations where it is difficult to grasp the surrounding information of the machine. During remote operation, as the hydraulic excavator approaches the set boundary, the movement will slow down until it stops. This can reduce the burden on the operator.
In addition, RBT series hydraulic excavators also support ICT construction. During remote operation, the machine control function can also be used for effective construction.