Roads & Infrastructure magazine talks to Matt Goedert, Solutions Marketing Manager at John Deere on the brand’s automation journey thus far and the benefits the Grade Pro (GP) series and its automated features can offer the industry.
Ensuring a level project base is crucial for any infrastructure project. Uneven surfaces can blow budgets out of proportion and produce low-quality work. Traditional motor graders, however, can be difficult to manage by both new and seasoned operators with repetitive movements and multiple switches to manage.
American manufacturing company, John Deere, understands this plight, having just released two new enhancements in its GP series, designed to aid operators of any skill level.
A history of automation
“We launched what was the industry’s first mastless grade control system in John Deere’s motor graders back in 2019,” says Goedert.
“We were already using the same technology in our forestry and agriculture manufacturing equipment and realised we could re-apply it to our motor graders to allow customers to jump in and go to work.”
The innovation that John Deere used to facilitate this was their own encoded cylinder technology. While this enabled the GP’s cables to be stored away, improving safety levels and reducing set-up time, it also formed the base for John Deere’s later automation inventions.
From here, John Deere would continue to introduce automation features, including its two newest enhancements: The Auto-Pass and the Auto Shift Plus.
The Auto-Pass feature programs machine movements at the beginning and end of grading passes. The feature adjusts the speed of these movements and rotates the blade 180 degrees, simultaneously placing the blade on the ground while preparing for the next pass.
“When used in combination with our smart grade system, the Auto-Pass also enables the blade to automatically turn to a pre-set grade,” says Goedert.
The Auto-Shift Plus, meanwhile sees the GP functioning without an inching pedal, reducing one extra movement for the operator.
The GP series is designed to aid operators of any skill level. According to Goedert, this helps operators stop the motor grader completely, without stalling, allowing for smooth movement around obstacles.
These two features join the existing four enhancements: Auto Articulation, Blade Flip, Machine Pre-Sets and Machine Damage Avoidance.
As the name suggests, the Auto Articulation feature automatically articulates the blade when the machine is moving forwards or backwards and allows the operator to manually override the control for greater precision.
“The Blade Flip mirrors the blade angle so when you’re making a grading pass and you turn around, at the press of the button you can flip the blade,” explains Goedert.
Machine Pre-Sets enable the operator to pre-select settings for time saving. The operator can create a transport button, automatically stowing the blade and turning the hazard or beacon lights on.
“Machine damage avoidance really helps with newer operators as it automatically prevents the blade from ramming into steps or tyres,” says Goedert.
“Each of our automation features builds on the previous, and when you think about construction machines becoming fully autonomous, this is something that we have to take baby steps in, so it becomes less of a big jump,” says Goedert on the overall goal of these enhancements.
Goedert, however, asserts that automation is not removing skills from operators.
“All of these features are targeted at removing redundant features that all operators have to do regardless of skill level,” he explains.
To develop these automation features, John Deere relies on the opinion that matters most: the customers’.
“We interview what our customers’ pain points are, what they do or don’t like and something we constantly hear is that it’s difficult to find skilled operators,” says Goedert.
Designed for operators
“Our engineering focus is to make things easier for our operators so that the new guys coming in can be proficient without having had 30 years of experience. This is important to us as it’s part of consistently looking for ways to improve John Deere’s machines.”
Through greater automation and decreased operator movements, inexperienced operators can focus their attention on managing the material, resulting in a higher quality of work.
“When we talk about accuracy, and really the productivity, that’s where it’s going to benefit the inexperienced operator the most,” says Goedert.
“When an inexperienced operator is turning the machine, they are moving a lot of different functions at the same time, from articulating to steering the tyres to rotating in the opposite direction, a lot of the time they are doing it one step at a time.”
According to testing completed by John Deere, an inexperienced operator is 32 per cent faster at turning the machine around using the GP’s automated features.
For experienced operators, the GP series allows drivers to pick and choose the features they want to use, while improving their comfort and reducing repetitive movements.
“We found that utilising this technology reduces operator input by up to 50 per cent depending on the application of the machine, and the more inexperienced the operator is, the higher that number goes,” says Goedert.
While all six features are optional with the GP series, purchasing a smart grade control will automatically include all features.
Smart grade control
“Having this smart grade control with remote support is huge,” says Goedert. “It allows our dealers and operators to have remote display access, so if a customer has an issue and the machine is far away, they can have access to view the grade control monitor and troubleshoot the issues and fix it remotely.”
Files can also be remotely transferred, ensuring all site members have up-to-date plans. Another benefit is the ability to monitor, and provide support to new drivers while they are operating.
“An owner can be looking at the screen while operators are running it and if there’s a wrong setting or a more efficient way to move material, they can coach them through it,” says Goedert.
Having the smart control also acts as an assurance in the event of a breakdown. Being able to detect problems and correct them rather than having to wait for a repair man lowers the chance of incurring overbudget costs.
“When we looked at these features and combined it with the smart grade, we saw from our testing that there was a 15 per cent improvement in productivity for faster completion time,” says Goedert. “And that’s pretty amazing if you think about creating new roads and grading.”
Cross slope
Regardless of features or smart grade remote, machines in the GP series are also equipped with a John Deere Cross Slope – another automation innovation that allows the operator to dial a cross slope into the monitor. Once dialled in, this allows the operator to manually control the blade from one side, while the other side will automatically move to maintain the designated cross slope percentage
“This is a huge tool for operators; when we were conducting tests, we saw a 35 per cent rise in grade quality with road maintenance,” says Goedert.
With time marching on, these “30-year veterans” will soon be retiring, and with this shift comes changing expectations of equipment and technology.
“The young operators expect all this comfort and new technology, so giving them that is really what differentiates us in the marketplace,” says Goedert.
“We’re not done developing though, we continue to listen to our operators, new or seasoned, and what they need to do a good job.”
This article was originally published in the July edition of our magazine. To read the magazine, click here.
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