Satellite technology runs equipment

USA Today (Society for the Advancement of Education), June, 1995

Construction firms soon may be able to use satellite-based technology developed at Ohio State University to help save time and money when surveying and preparing building sites. Researchers have developed software that works with the Global Positioning System (GPS) - a U.S. navigation satellite system - to survey construction sites and determine blade positions for bulldozers during the grading process.

This will cut the time needed to map and stake a site by 60 to 70%, enabling companies to trim production costs and offer lower bids on projects, notes George Dedes, a research specialist at Ohio State's Center for Mapping. It also will allow crews to grade the land within a few centimeters of the project design and eventually could be able to complete the entire grading and staking process with the touch of a few computer buttons.

At the first stages of a project, a GPS receiver is mounted to a vehicle and an operator drives over the site to be leveled. Signals from the GPS are gathered by the receiver, and the information collected is used to formulate a map and construction plan.

Once grading has begun, the GPS monitors the progress of the bulldozers and other equipment and guides machine operators using a TV-like monitor in the vehicle's cab. GPS antennas are mounted on the blade of the construction equipment used in grading. This allows a computer operator to drive the equipment from a distance. "The ultimate aim of this effort is to feed signals from the processor directly to the vehicle's hydraulic controls to automate the earth cutting and filling function, much as an automated navigation system in an aircraft feeds course information into the aircraft's controls.

"It hasn't been determined yet at which point we will use the GPS inside the bulldozer. People will continue to do the rough grading the way they do now and GPS will be used to achieve the final grading. But if everything is well-equipped with GPS, I see no reason why any grading needs to be done manually.

"In the end, you will have a TV-like monitor, a computer and the GPS - the design will be entered into the computer memory and the driver of the earth-moving equipment or the remote operator will determine how much cutting and filling is needed to achieve the desired design."

Future plans for this GPS system include integrating it with an Inertial Navigation System, currently used in air lanes, thus allowing the GPS to operate in areas with obstructions, such as trees and tall buildings, that interfere with the GPS signals.