EMBRACING SMART MACHINE TECHNOLOGY

The off-highway sector is currently embracing an infusion of smart technology. In-keeping pace with trends primarily associated with the commercial vehicle industry, technologies including smart HMIs, connectivity, telematics, advanced analytics and hazard perception systems are being implemented as standard in the development of the next generation of smarter off-highway vehicles.

In what has primarily been a sector slow to embrace technological change, it appears OEMs and construction companies now recognise the benefits of smart technology within rugged application environments. DSE has an advanced range of M-Series programmable controllers and displays that provide OEMs and system integrators high-level machine integration.

“Construction Equipment is a Serious On-Site Hazard. Smart Technology Improves Operator and Site-Worker Safety”

Technology has the power to transform. Not just transform the machinery it is installed on but the power to transform operating environments and worker safety. If technology is utilised correctly, it has a big impact on increasing efficiencies, minimising accidents and reducing ongoing costs.

Let’s look at how the adoption of technology can shape the off-highway landscape over the next few years.

AUTOMATION

Automating off-highway machinery is a huge step forward for the industry. It provides a platform to significantly improve the capabilities of off-highway machinery and deliver increased benefits to businesses. Automation increases efficiency and productivity, whilst reducing fuel consumption, which also provides sustainability benefits.

VEHICLE SAFETY

Safety is crucial for the multiple industries that use off-highway vehicles. Automation & assistance functions make off-highway machinery much safer by detecting and avoiding hazards. This is of the most benefit in construction site environments. Around a third of all accidents on construction sites are because of poor visibility.

DIGITALISATION

The digitalisation process transforms the way off-highway vehicles operate, communicate and perform. By connecting mobile machinery to IoT, data can be exchanged, monitored and analysed, giving the option to enhance performance and productivity. Digital systems can also improve energy consumption and help to reduce costs. Improved sustainability is another benefit of digitalisation. It can support fuel savings, waste reduction, remote access and vehicle condition monitoring.

HAZARD PERCEPTION

Perception technologies allow off-highway machines to sense the physical environment around them. There are multiple causes of incidents including pedestrian collisions, poor visibility, operator distraction and equipment failures. The introduction of 360 degree cameras and radar sensors on vehicles allow operators to take proactive steps to avoid these incidents taking place. Object detection and identification can now take place in real time, giving operators levels of control within their environments that have not been achievable in the past. Audible and visual warnings can be configured to warn an operator where the hazard is situated and when it is safe to continue operation.

CONNECTIVITY

IoT has created a vast amount of connectivity options for mobile machines. Global development of 5G and on-site private networks is enabling intelligent, smart products to be utilised within construction environments on a regular basis. Provisioning machinery with the capability to communicate with other equipment on construction sites is paramount to increasing safety and improving productivity.

DATA

Access to real-time data is essential in driving profitability and safety and ensuring machine maintenance is conducted at optimal times to avoid wasted time spent on construction sites. Data can be relayed back to operational hubs that can monitor multiple sites simultaneously and allow preventative measures to be put in place to avoid unnecessary downtime, when previously this would have been unavoidable.

POWERFUL TECHNOLOGY PLATFORMS

DSE is in the heart of North Yorkshire and has been manufacturing leading electronic control systems for fifty years. In-house design excellence combined with market-leading automated production techniques, ensures DSE gives customers access to products that can be relied upon within the most rugged application environments.

Understanding the direction the off-highway vehicle market is heading in terms of technology adoption is a key part of DSEs development strategy as it ensures technology platforms the company manufacturers meet long-term industry demands.

Offering a range of programmable displays with screens from 3.5” to 12” ensures machines can be fitted with the right equipment to deliver exactly what the operator needs. Powerful on-board processors ensure DSE displays do what they need to in real-time, further enhancing on-site safety by delivering data when the machine operator needs it most.

DSE displays can be used alongside DSE programmable controllers to deliver high powered performance for the most complex vehicle types. On-board CAN networks ensure seamless communication, with the increased I/O delivering the ability for off-highway machines to become smarter through on-board functionality and globally accessible with remote monitoring capabilities 24/7.

SMARTER AS STANDARD

Machine operators require smart technology integration more today than ever before. Whether monitoring tyre pressures, tracking safe operating gradients to ensure a vehicle is not at risk of tipping, 360 cameras combined with radar sensors to create safe zones around vehicles, adding audible warnings to machinery to provide pedestrian warnings of what a machine is about to do or relaying engine data to remote monitoring hubs, including RPM, temperature, fuel levels or fault conditions, DSE technologies support all this functionality.

TECHNOLOGY DRIVEN

The latest product about to roll off the DSE manufacturing line in Q4, 2024 is the DSEM810, a 10.1” programmable display that combines robustness, intelligence and reliability. The display can be mounted into a vehicle dashboard or onto a RAM mount (portrait or landscape) and offers an optically bonded 10.1” colour screen inside an IP67/NEMA 6 rated enclosure with a 1280 x 800 viewing area. The NXP i.MX 8 DualXPlus processor with GPU offers outstanding levels of power. The display is available in two variants, a 12-button configurable display with capacitive touchscreen or capacitive touchscreen only. Both options are glove-friendly, allowing operators complete interaction, whatever the conditions.