Trimble Construction Boot Camp

Trimble, a leading innovator of Global Positioning System (GPS) technology, unveiled its latest products at the Trimble Construction Boot Camp 2005 in Dayton, Ohio. A large international contingent of dealer representatives and others attending the Boot Camp — held recently at the Ohio Operating

The Boot Camp featured a number of training stations. Each station focused on a specific Trimble Construction solution feature or capability. Trimble is focused on the development of technology and solutions for the earthmoving, general and interior construction contractor. In addition to providing advanced GPS components, Trimble augments GPS with other positioning technologies as well as wireless communications and software to create complete customer solutions.

At the Boot Camp, Trimble highlighted the new version of its next-generation 3D Grade Control System. The enhanced Trimble GCS900 Grade Control System has the flexibility to be used on dozers, motor graders, excavators, and scrapers. The GCS900 allows contractors to use a common platform across their entire fleet for all phases of earthmoving and to significantly improve their productivity — from mass excavation to finished grading.

According to Trimble, the GCS900 Grade Control System is a cutting-edge 3-D earthmoving grade control system that puts design surfaces, grades and alignments inside the cab. The expanded GCS900 Grade Control System provides the contractor with the option to select from GPS, GPS and laser, or advanced total station technology to accurately position the blade or bucket in real time. This significantly reduces material coverages and dramatically improves the contractor's productivity and profitability.

The GCS900 Grade Control System allows contractors to use a common platform across their entire fleet, while at the same time selecting the best option for the machine and the application or task. Designed for earthmoving contractors using a range of machines, the GCS900 system can be installed on excavators for mass excavation, dozers or scrapers for bulk earthworks, or motor graders for finished grading. And with its CAN-based design, the GCS900 can be moved easily from machine to machine, as needed.

In addition, the GCS900 Grade Control System can be installed in a variety of configurations for different machine types. For dozers it can be configured as a dual antenna GPS system and a dual antenna GPS system with laser augmentation. For motor graders, it can be configured as a robotic total station based system, a dual antenna GPS system, and a single or dual antenna GPS system with laser augmentation. For excavators, it can be configured as a dual antenna GPS system, and for scrapers it can be configured as a single or dual antenna GPS system.

Using the Trimble GCS900 Grade Control System, contractors can reduce rework, improve material yields and lower their operating costs. The system can be purchased as a stand-alone system or as an upgrade from a Trimble conventional Grade Control System. The GCS900 Grade Control System Version 6.0 is available now from Trimble's Construction Division dealer network.

Contributed by Tom Hale, editor, Construction Digest