Just be careful with those things ... it's a real short trip from automated bulldozers ... to THIS ....
Posted on 09/22/2006 9:10:35 AM PDT by janetjanet998
MOSSVILLE, Ill., Sept 21 (Reuters) - Mark Pflederer dreams of dancing bulldozers.
Pflederer, the chief technology officer at heavy machinery maker Caterpillar Inc. (CAT.N: Quote, Profile, Research), believes that, within a few years, his company's earthmovers will be able to operate without drivers, spinning around each other on worksites like dancers in a robotic ballet choreographed by onboard computers and satellite-based navigation systems.
"Ten or 15 years down the road," he says, "it's not too much of a stretch to think that we could run multiple bulldozers, wheel loaders or trucks on a site and move the operators to a remote location."
Developing the technology to make the automated worksite a reality is just one of the things Caterpillar researchers are working on as the company goes on its most sustained R&D spending spree in its history.
In all, the Peoria, Illinois-based company expects to pump $1.3 billion into R&D this year, nearly 30 percent more than in 2005 and double what it spent four years ago.
In the first six months of the year, Caterpillar has outspent rivals Deere & Co. (DE.N: Quote, Profile, Research), CNH Global NV (CNH.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and Cummins Inc. (CMI.N: Quote, Profile, Research) 2-to-1, 3.5-to-1 and 4-to-1, respectively, on R&D.
Scott Burns, an analyst at Morningstar, says Caterpillar has plowed between 3 and 3.7 percent of its non-finance revenue back into research over the last decade.
That, Burns says, has permitted the company to stay ahead of rivals like Komatsu Ltd. (6301.T: Quote, NEWS, Research), which 15 years ago looked like it would do to Caterpillar what Toyota, Honda and Nissan have subsequently done to the Detroit automakers -- knocking it on the ropes by out-innovating, outperforming and ultimately outselling it
In the process, Caterpillar has transformed itself from a money-losing, dividend-slashing, old-line manufacturer into a company that is No. 1 or No. 2 in almost every market it serves and has more in common with General Electric Co. (GE.N: Quote, Profile, Research) than General Motors Corp. (GM.N: Quote, Profile, Research)
"Their investment in R&D has paid off," Burns says. "When Caterpillar was on the precipice, they could either go the GM route or the GE route. It's clear they went the GE route."
HYDROGEN FUEL CELLS, VIRTUAL REALITY
Much of Caterpillar's research happens in this hamlet just north of its headquarters, where 1,700 employees -- 1,400 of them engineers -- work.
In recent years, a good chunk of the unit's time, and about 40 percent of its budget, have been spent re-engineering Caterpillar's diesel engines to bring them in compliance with clean-air rules.
The Mossville campus is also home to a virtual reality lab that has created software significantly reducing the time it takes to turn concepts into finished products.
Galen Faidley, the engineer who runs the lab, says the computer code Caterpillar's developed allows engineers to see "how every single component of the machine interacts with every other component in the machine as it's moving."
That helps them to rectify design flaws before they go through the expensive process of prototyping using real iron. It also gives the design team license to experiment and innovate.
"It's so low-risk to test a new concept in the virtual reality lab that some concepts that in the past may never have gotten the green light get it," Faidley says
For five years now, researchers here have been developing the world's first hydrogen fuel cell-powered underground mining truck. Bryan Brown, a research engineer working on the project, says the team expects to be putting the proof-of-concept vehicle through its paces next spring -- and have it operating in a mine by next summer.
Production is decades off. Still, the project has been more than an academic exercise. Squeezing all the components needed onto the old chassis that serves as the vehicle's base has forced engineers to develop small, highly efficient propulsion and hydraulic subsystems -- and those breakthroughs are "the near-term payoffs," Brown says.
AUTOMATION THE 'DREAM'
The longer-term payoff Pflederer sees coming out of the research is partial -- or full-scale -- automation of customer worksites, integrating electronic controls on Caterpillar's machines with GPS navigation systems from companies like Trimble Navigation Ltd. (TRMB.O: Quote, Profile, Research)
"Maybe it's just remote control. Maybe it's completely autonomous," he says. "Automation is our long-term dream."
Eli Lustgarten, an analyst at Longbow Research, says the technology will be embraced because demographic changes are posing a challenge to contractors.
"Customers are going to require it because of the retirement of the bay boomer generation," he says.
Burns at Morningstar says another factor will push the industry toward automation.
"The easy mines have all been found and exploited," he says, "so we really are going to start pushing the boundaries in terms of weather and geology and environment. And in a place like Siberia, would people rather be sitting indoors, somewhere warm, remote-controlling, or operating machines out there in the cold?"
Excellent! So when you run over a traitorous ISM scum, you don't to smell the entrails that are slicking up the treads.
IRBL announced that it has completed the sale of its first remotely controlled Caterpillar D9 bulldozer.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has a special robotics unit of its engineering corps that is responsible for the operation of InRob Tech's D9 bulldozer. The remotely controlled armored D9 is being used in sensitive operations and border locations where human lives are in danger, for such tasks as clearing landmines, mounting sand barriers, building fortifications, and opening routes to armored fighting vehicles and infantry.
Ben Tsur Joseph, InRob Tech's CEO, says ``We are pleased to have completed our first sale of the remote control system for D9 after finishing the trials. It is a vote of confidence of the IDF in our capabilities to produce superb quality in such a complex application. Having made this sale to the IDF gives us the endorsement we need to market the D9 bulldozer to militaries around the world.''
How will Cat equipments work on the moon? They won't be diesel.
Central Illinois Natives, Construction Technologies Company Help NASA Settle Moon. Caterpillar, Inc., a construction and mining technologies company based in Peoria IL, has been selected by a project team recently awarded a US$4M, 4-year contract by NASA to research what type of heavy machinery would be needed to move and mine lunar soil.
Caterpillar will be considering bulldozers, conveyor belts and other machinery to 'live off the land' on the Moon, including making fuel, air and water from the elements in the Moon's rocks and soil. While this is Caterpillar's first NASA-funded project, the company does have a business history with the US government and military
Since it appears there is zilch hydrogen on the moon the fuel cells will need fuel imported from earth. I would have no problem with nuclear powered Cats, but some will, so it will probably be electric from solar cells or active solar engines.
Great! Without workers present, we can go through road construction projects at a higher speed.
Just be careful with those things ... it's a real short trip from automated bulldozers ... to THIS ....
And worth every penny!
I bought some of their boots...they sucked..
I suppose you could condense the water vapor exhaust from the fuel cells and re-use it to make the fuel.
But I think the big problem with any system is getting rid of waste heat on the moon with no atmosphere to carry it away. Even with solar powered electric motors, you will need to have some system to cool the motors -- big clumsy heat directional radiators or somehow storing the heat in some fluid.
Cooling fins won't do much good, but maybe they don't need to do much good. Even if efficiency is very high there will be waste heat. Internal combustion engines have to be kept within a practical temperature range, but these won't be used on the moon. How does the ISS propose to deal with waste heat once all its solar panels are up and running?
and it will last more than a couple hours or the first ditch in permafrost whichever comes first.
LOL! Buy Georgia Boots or Wolverines.
My company uses equipment every day that is probably older than you. It's all caterpillar. Cat last twice as long every other competitor.
There's a reason they cot 50% more than the comepetion, it's worth it!
If your farm town is running out of people, import some Amish like they are doing in Manitoba or upstate New York. They grow cattle, crops and nice people. They don't need no smart iron and they don't make trouble.
Probably the same way the shuttle does. The very first thing they do after the shuttle gets into orbit is to open the cargo bay doors. The inside of the doors function as a radiator to get rid of waste heat. If those doors don't open, they have to come down right away.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.