Skip to main content

Locating underground utilities accurately with Trimble

A highly advanced prototype system Trimble is working on is based on the Earthworks package and is intended to reduce the risk of contractors hitting buried utilities when carrying out digging operations. Scott Crozier is general manager of Trimble’s general construction division. He said that this mixed reality solution is an emerging technology that will be available in the near future. The package is integrated into the machine display and provides a visual reference for the operator where buried utiliti
December 11, 2018 Read time: 1 min

A highly advanced prototype system 2122 Trimble is working on is based on the Earthworks package and is intended to reduce the risk of contractors hitting buried utilities when carrying out digging operations. Scott Crozier is general manager of Trimble’s general construction division. He said that this mixed reality solution is an emerging technology that will be available in the near future. The package is integrated into the machine display and provides a visual reference for the operator where buried utilities lie. An object avoidance system that physically limits the machine from digging further to prevent hitting a utility line is slightly further away however.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • A novel compact grading solution
    October 16, 2012
    One of the interesting developments at the recent Hillhead quarry show in the UK, was of a rather more compact machine than usually seen at the exhibition. A UK equipment rental firm, CLS Selfdrive, revealed a US-manufactured compact grader equipped with machine control equipment. This is of note seeing that such machine control technologies are usually fitted to much larger machines. The increasing proliferation of the systems and the reduction in costs in real terms however means that this technology is n
  • The future of autonomy
    January 13, 2023
    The panel of experts from Trimble and Dynapac discussed where the construction industry is on the path to autonomy at present, where it is heading, and Trimble’s overall corporate vision for the future. Trimble’s philosophy is that machine autonomy is about more than just controlling the machine. To move the industry forward, autonomy solutions must also turn real-time data into real-time information to optimise and coordinate the jobsite of the future according to Trimble. Providing full access to that data presents a challenge, but can be achieved.
  • ERIC 2016: What shape the ‘Smart Road’?
    February 7, 2017
    Optimism about the future of highways worldwide abounded at the inaugural European Road Infrastructure Conference (ERIC) in Leeds, UK Around 500 delegates passed through the varied sessions during the three-day event at the Royal Armouries Museum in the northern English city of Leeds. They came away with many visions of what a motorway and road could look like. But what speakers at the event - co-organised by the Brussels-based European Union Road Federation (ERF) and the UK’s Road Safety Markings Ass
  • Advanced site safety systems are offered by Leica Geosystems
    March 16, 2023
    Leica Geosystems has added further functionality to its site safety package. The firm has partnered with Xwatch to offer a new collision avoidance package that can boost working safety on construction sites.