When an unsuspecting bystander at this year鈥檚 World of Concrete show in Las Vegas wanders past the machine, he is visible from head to toe on the operator鈥檚 screen. The bucket, on the other hand, has all but disappeared.

鈥淲e call that our transparent bucket,鈥� Bill Zak, a product manager for the South Korean manufacturer in the US tells International Construction.

The DL280, which is a small/medium-sized machine in the company鈥檚 7 series line, boasts two cameras. 鈥淚f you look above the axle, there are two galvanised bolts, and there鈥檚 a little black circle between them. That鈥檚 a camera,鈥� says Zak, as he points to another lens on top of the cabin near the machine鈥檚 bucket.

Develon鈥檚 Bill Zak points out the vision capabilities of the company鈥檚 7-Series loaders at the recent World of Concrete show in Las Vegas, US (Photo: 必赢体育 Group)

Depending on the position of the 2.8 cubic-metre-capacity bucket, it can block one of the two cameras. But combine images from the two, and the machine pieces together a full image of whatever is in front of the machine.

鈥淭he theme here is visibility. Visibility leading to safety. We鈥檙e doing the same thing as cars and trucks, but we鈥檙e looking beyond the bucket,鈥� Zak explains, noting the orientation of the front-facing cameras acts like the human eye: it can fill in the contextual gaps caused by visual blockages. Develon鈥檚 camera system can also identify hazards on-screen in the shape of a red hazard triangle and subsequent light alarms. And the technology is improving year on year, he notes.

In fact, it鈥檚 just one example of the transformation small- to medium-sized earthmoving equipment (whether that鈥檚 dozers, dump trucks, wheeled loaders, or excavators) is undergoing, as more technology gets added into it.

Tech making machines safer

Enhanced visibility is one part of a raft of new advanced safety tech endowing earthmoving machines.

Volvo Construction Equipment (Volvo CE) released what it called a 鈥榝irst-of-a-kind鈥� avoidance technology in 2023 (named the Collision Mitigation System), but dozens of OEMs have been chasing a similar feature: a machine that can stop and react to obstacles to avoid accidents.

鈥淲ith wheel loaders spending an average of 40-50% of their time being driven in reverse, the Collision Mitigation System is a valuable solution for operators and site managers,鈥� says Volvo CE.

Not meant to replace operators, the system first slows the machine, giving the worker time to take evasive action.

鈥淚t works by identifying when there is a risk of collision and responding by automatically activating the brakes for two to three seconds to slow the machine down prior to impact or bring it to a stop to avoid it.

鈥淭his initiation of the braking alerts the operator to intervene,鈥� adds Volvo CE.

Machine control moving towards wider adoption

Then there鈥檚 machine control technology, which Topcon Positioning Systems senior vice president Luc Le Maire tells International Construction presents 鈥渁n immediate and powerful solution to help contractors meet demand.鈥�

(Photo: John Deere)

Le Maire says, 鈥淯sing a combination of layout navigation solutions, GNSS technology, inertial sensors, and machine control technology, the operator can create or update a project plan, stake out or measure key points, and seamlessly move data directly to the machine.

鈥淭his data can then be used to dig exactly according to plan and can easily be adapted for layout and verification tasks, too.鈥�

Autonomy and machine control lend themselves to the dirt-moving segments, but why haven鈥檛 we witnessed full adoption from the smallest up to the largest operations?

鈥淲e found that only 42% of large contractors in Europe were using automated systems, and this plummeted to just 22% when looking at smaller companies,鈥� Le Maire adds.

鈥淭his highlights just how far we still have to go in digitalising construction 鈥� across the sector as a whole, yes 鈥� but especially when it comes to smaller projects, which make up a significant proportion of output.鈥�

Cost remains the biggest impediment for smaller projects and contractors, but another issue is access to technology for compact equipment.

Implementation improving

However, the implementation of autonomous and machine-control solutions for the compact sizes of loaders, dozers and excavators has been improving in recent years.

Case Construction Equipment, for example, released a new compact track loader 鈥� the TV620B 鈥� in 2021. It includes the company鈥檚 SiteConnect Module, remote connectivity capabilities and access to the Case Uptime Center, which promotes collaborative fleet management between the company, dealers and equipment owners.

George MacIntyre, product manager, Case Construction Equipment, adds, 鈥淭he TV620B is built to simplify heavy work such as mulching, heavy material handling, and loading high-sided trucks.鈥�

Luc Le Maire, Topcon Position Systems (Photo: Topcon)

John Deere has added big tech to its compact machines, as well. In October 2024, the company announced its next-gen SmartGrade technology onto its line of P-Tier small dozers.

Matt Costello, product marketing manager at John Deere, says, 鈥淎s we build upon this technology with the rollout of the next generation of SmartGrade, starting with our small dozer line-up, customers will benefit from improved and expanded capabilities that help increase user confidence and productivity.鈥�

Deere adds that the integration requires no daily set-up or calibration, and machines can also come with advanced solutions like, 鈥淓Z Grade with electro-hydraulic (EH) controls, Slope Control, SmartGrade-Ready with 2D grade control or 3D SmartGrade with Topcon or Leica.

鈥淭hese options not only provide the customer with the capability to increase performance, but can also be upgraded to a more enhanced grade management solution.鈥�

Construction will always need machines for moving the earth. While, with each passing year, there鈥檚 vast improvements in sensing, grading, machine control, and remote operations, men and women are not expected to be removed completely from the construction site. Nonetheless, technology should make it possible to remove them from the most dangerous aspects of machine operations.