Skip to main content

Kobelco Construction Machinery looks at remote excavator operation

Kobelco Construction Machinery is the latest machinery maker to join the growing number of firms looking at remote control excavator operation. Called the K-Dive concept, it is currently under development for use exclusively with the Japanese maker’s excavators.
April 25, 2018 Read time: 1 min
K-Dive concept offers remote operation of Kobelco excavators
2200 Kobelco Construction Machinery is the latest machinery maker to join the growing number of firms looking at remote control excavator operation. Called the K-Dive concept, it is currently under development for use exclusively with the Japanese maker’s excavators.


With K-Dive, Kobelco is looking to provide a means of remote machine control that enables an operator to sit in a replicated control platform, located in an office environment, and be able to see and control an excavator located anywhere in the world. The firm sees many advantages for such a system, including operation of equipment working in harsh or dangerous environments, and to manage operator shortages with the convenience of remote operation without having to travel to job sites.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Advanced earthmovers now available
    May 10, 2018
    The excavator and wheeled loader segments represent massive sales volumes for manufacturers, so new model development is prioritised - Mike Woof writes. The crawler excavator segment accounts for a substantial portion of total sales of construction machines. With this in mind, it is no surprise that this is a market segment for which manufacturers prioritise a significant proportion of their research and development budgets. Wheeled loaders, while not selling in quite such large numbers as crawler excava
  • Trimble machine control technology onsite
    June 3, 2022
    A construction firm in New Zealand is making good use of machine control technology from Trimble. The technology is helping to reduce costs and boost quality, while also addressing the issue of operator skills.
  • Machine guidance and asset management aid fleet utilisation
    July 16, 2012
    Integrating Caterpillar's latest machine guidance and asset management tools offers efficiency gains for contractors in a competitive market. Mike Woof reports Caterpillar has been a leader in the development of GPS machine control systems through its partnership with Trimble. The manufacturer has rolled out a series of AccuGrade packages for various machines in its line-up, starting with the dozers and graders and then spreading to other machines such as scrapers, excavators and soil compactors. Caterpilla
  • More satellites, more signals
    July 20, 2012
    Greater GPS accuracy suggests closer tolerances for surveying and machine control functions What happens in the future for GPS surveying and machine control could depend on satellite choice and signals. Right now there are around 30 satellites in orbit, largely built by the US, but by 2012 that could rise to 120 as Europe, China, India and Russia fully enter the market. A chequered history has faced the European's Galileo system. At long last, the finance appears to be in place and the European Commission a