Friday, November 14, 2014

Utilization Of GPS Machine Control Files For Construction Work

By Mayra Pierce


GPS or Global Positioning System has now been included in the earthmoving industries. Heavy equipment manufacturers are now applying this technology in their procedures. These are for land grading, roads, causeways, railway beds, levees, dams, berms, and canals.

A lot of advances in technology had led to modifications and innovations to provide efficiency and cost effective production which is why these developments are being made. The utilization of GPS machine control files is one of these developments and applications for earthwork. It reduces a lot of cost for production and fastens the pace for work.

A lot of heavy equipment corporations have been dominating this market sector and has been advancing this technology for quite a while already since the late 1990s. The system for machine control simply compared the position of the blade with the current location of the equipment. It can indicate the difference or can make adjustments automatically. This is where the role of the GPS takes place.

3D and 2D software are now being utilized, developed, and being upgraded even further to help with this sort of procedure. The topography map of the area is imported to these software for it to let the operator have a better visualization for the whole area. Leading companies are actually making their own software and constantly making revisions and upgrades to give higher accuracy in the process.

The system has two types that can be distinguished further with their advantages. They are fully utilized by the heavy equipment industry for their procedures in earthmoving. These are Fully Automatic and Indicate Only. These two types in the system can have one or also two receivers. Although with only one of the receiver, it cannot give enough information of the surroundings of the location of the machine. That is why two receivers can allow it to give the angle of the machines as well.

In order to get higher accuracy for the topography of the area, it should be as detailed as possible. These files can be taken from the hired engineering firm and would then be utilized by the GPS display. Guidance systems can also define and make changes with the angle and elevations of the grades in the area.

Examples of heavy equipment that can be installed with a guidance system are Motor Graders, Hydraulic Excavators, Scrapers, and Compactors. It would help greatly for these machines in accuracy, efficiency, time, and cost effectivity. It also provides less on site manual management by field workers.

The cost for one machine would start about a hundred million dollars. And when this is used at its full potential, it can give about thirty percent above the efficiency and productivity rate compared to traditional methods. Because of high accuracy, there is not much cost on materials and resources. This is the reason why a lot of construction projects are using the aid of GPS as a requirement for them to cut expenses.

Although it has limitations to its effectivity due to the environment since it utilizes signals to work. So this should be taken into consideration in the project site where it is located and what are some obstructions that are nearby. Roofs of buildings or any structure close to the site may create a dead zone for the satellite. Although overall Global Position System used in Earthmoving has been the most efficient and productive method and can be also developed even further.




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