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Topcon MC-Mobile: Portable 3-in-1 Machine Control for Compact Equipment

In order to increase efficiency and easily digitise the way you work on site, Topcon have combined their key innovations and technologies from surveying and machine control to give you the MC-Mobile.

This new development will not only speed up the way you work, but will also reduce your staffing needs for small to mid-sized projects by tripling the effectiveness of your compact equipment operators.

Read more to find out how the MC-Mobile will give you the competitive edge you’ve been looking for.

The MC-Mobile 3-1 System

Layout is made simple with the LN-150 layout navigator, which takes away the need for paper plans and tape measures, and replaces it with digital layout and construction verification workflows. This layout navigator has more than 80 years of optical innovation and was designed for the specific positioning needs of contractors in both an indoor and outdoor setting.

The LN-150 has a simple self-levelling setup, and automatically locks onto the prism for real-time positioning wherever you need it. The device has the ability to achieve precise 3D positioning at up to a 130m working radius and workflows can be integrated seamlessly with a number of popular design software applications.

Once layout and design have been achieved, the rugged Android tablet is completely portable and can be moved from the range pole to the cab of the machine. From here, a single operator is able to move material according to the design specifications within a seriously short period of time.

Machine control is accomplished using the same LN-150 and tablet, connected to the TS-i4 inertial sensors on the excavator to accurately measure slope and rotation, combined with the MC-X1 machine guidance controller. The same power of machine control that has been utilised on bigger dozers and excavators is now available on smaller machines with the same high level of reliability.

From here, single operators are able to self-perform their inspection and validation for as-built and grade-checking, before leaving the site and moving on to the next job. This allows the contractor to get the job done right the first time, with a much lower risk of rework or unnecessary delays.

The Ideal Solution for a Multitude of Jobs

The MC-Mobile solution is geared towards compact equipment like compact track loaders and mini excavators of 10 tons or less, with the ability to work with a number of different attachments. Mark Jones, business development manager at Topcon, said in a press release that he’d like sensors to be used on motor grader blades, box blades, six-way dozer blades, and even some flat-bottom buckets.

“Now these compact machines can move around a job site with the precision of traditional machine control that’s typically geared to heavy machines.” - Mark Jones

This cutting-edge solution brings the comprehensive abilities of machine control and simplifies it to be more accessible and affordable for smaller operations, without compromising quality and reliability. For this reason, the technology is ideal for small earth-moving and contracting, landscaping, indoor and underground earth-moving, sports facilities, ditch digging, curbing, driveway construction, concrete work and much more.

Workflows Made Simple

Let’s go through a typical process of how this compact 3-1 solution will work on site, to give you an idea of how easy it is to achieve maximum efficiency and accuracy during a project.

1. Site-Survey and Layout

First, the LN-150 is set up to identify the elevation reference, and with one click the device is automatically levelled. The laser is then locked into the prism which is located in a known control point on the jobsite, and once elevation is identified, layout can be achieved without the need for outsourced surveyors or the need to manually pull tape or stake out the area.

2. Design and Execution

The Android tablet then works as a data-collection tool working in tandem with the layout navigator (LN-150) - and once the data has been collected, the operator can take the tablet to create designs on the fly based on the precise layout of the area. Using this data, the elevation can be moved around for the work that needs to be done by the excavator.

The tablet is then moved into the excavator to be used as a control box to execute the design that was established earlier - cutting to the exact grade that it needs to be using the machine control application from the tablet.

3. Inspection and Validation

Once the work is done, all the operator needs to do is lock back onto the prism to precisely capture the new layout, and verify that the job has been completed with maximum accuracy. All that’s left to do from here is create the invoice and move onto the next project!

Check out the video below:

Mark Jones sums it up perfectly by saying, “MC-Mobile enables contractors to get jobs done faster and more accurately - eliminating costly rework and allowing them to reallocate resources to other tasks on the job site.”

By using the same set of equipment to go from the commissioning stage of the project, all the way through to inspection and validation, smaller operators can achieve far more work in a shorter period of time. By eliminating delays from outsourcing, as well as the cost of potential rework, contractors are able to scale their operation to accommodate more clients and get more work done without the need to hire more staff.

The MC-Mobile solution is affordable, easy to operate, and most importantly, highly accurate and ultimately reliable. Get in touch with the team if you’d like to see this innovation on your next project using the contact button below.

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