John Deere’s agricultural machinery helped plant the seed to develop autonomous road paving.
At this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Wirtgen showcased an autonomous paver, which is made possible thanks to Deere’s tech stack.
“One of the biggest benefits of the Wirtgen Group becoming part of John Deere back in 2017 was our ability to take advantage of a lot of the precision technology that already exists in the organization,” said Matthew Graves, Director of Marketing for the Wirtgen Group.
Wirtgen’s autonomous paver was displayed alongside a John Deere self-driving combine harvester.
Autonomous farming shares many technological requirements with an autonomous paver. Both machine categories require GPS positioning that is precise enough to navigate a predetermined path and apply consumables, like a pesticide.
“With road construction, you have a consumable, which is hot asphalt. Using that technology, you can better predict how much asphalt you’re going to need.” Graves said. “You have a better understanding of what your consumables are going to be. You also can put them down more precisely, so that you have less waste.”
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In roadbuilding, however, an operator is still required onboard the machine to ensure safety.
“You have the travelling public going on around you and everything else, so it can’t be fully autonomous,” Graves said. “It’s kind of like not having autonomous cars yet. You still have to have a driver that touches the wheel every now and again.”
Vögele’s Dash 5 pavers can automate numerous control functions to help users increase work safety and boost efficiency.
AutoTrac automatic steering and width control system includes the Edge Control stringline follower, the fixed screed width, the new Edge Detection edge follower and Steering Control automatic steering system.
Using various sensors and physical references, users can automatically control width and direction.
Vögele’s latest introduction, Smart Pave, represents the next level of automation. The integrated system controls the paving width, position and direction of the paver fully automatically using virtual references.
Smart Pave uses verified installation geometries that have been stored in the digital platform, the John Deere Operations Center.
The StarFire-Dual Antenna System determines the exact position of the paver, ensuring highly accurate control.
The autonomous tech was tested and proven in Europe. The system is now available for the North American market.
“We have several contractors that are now running it,” Graves said.
The autonomous paver at CES marked the Wirtgen Group’s third appearance at technology show. All three of the company’s displays have highlighted its advancements in automating roadbuilding.
“It’s really kind of neat, because all these innovations that are bringing us forward are a direct result of the feedback that we’re getting from our customers,” Graves said.
