[1] ZAXIS350LC-7 hydraulic excavator that meets European Stage V Standards
ZAXIS-7 is a series of 24-to-87-t class hydraulic excavators that comply with the new European emissions regulations (Stage V Standards) that began in 2019. The main features of ZAXIS-7 series are as follows: piston pump motor
(Hitachi Construction Machinery Co., Ltd.)
ZCORE is a system platform developed to provide a cooperative construction machinery hub that combines advanced autonomous operation with cooperative safety (an approach to improving the safety and productivity of a construction site as a whole through collaboration between people and machinery).
Faced with dwindling working-age populations and aging pool of experienced technicians, developed countries’ construction industries are looking for ways of saving labor to boost productivity. Developing autonomously operated construction machinery is being seen as one promising solution, but the safety of the human workers around the machinery needs to be ensured.
Operators of standard construction machinery recognize and make judgments on construction site conditions, and then execute the required operations with safety in mind. With ZCORE, the machinery system can recognize, make judgments, and execute. It makes it easy to implement the sensors and information systems needed for these processes, enabling a combination of cooperative safety and advanced autonomous operation. It also provides a standardized interface to support general-purpose sensors, enabling easy function expansion or customization tailored to user needs.
Hitachi is planning to use ZCORE with hydraulic excavators, wheel loaders, rigid dump trucks, and other autonomous construction machinery it has developed.
(Hitachi Construction Machinery Co., Ltd.)
[2] Concept of ZCORE autonomous construction machinery platform
EX2600-7 and EX5600-7 are two mining excavator models recently released. The new models have improved on previous models in the areas of fuel efficiency, reliability, safety, operability, serviceability, and interior features. A number of different engine types are available to meet the local emissions regulations applicable in each region. The main features are as follows:
(Hitachi Construction Machinery Co., Ltd.)
[3] Mining excavator models EX2600-7 (left) and EX5600-7 (right)
Ensuring welds of adequate quality requires training to learn how to properly adjust the arc by setting the current and voltage, and to learn the right way to move the torch while examining the state of the weld. Meanwhile, Japan’s shrinking pool of skilled technicians is making it increasingly difficult to provide effective training for skills such as specialized construction machinery welding expertise.
Hitachi has responded by developing a measurement technology that measures the work of a technician using equipment such as cameras or motion capture devices, and creates visualizations of the work from quantitative data. The technology has been used to start demonstration testing to enable the development of a training system that can compare the work of trainees to proper welding work conditions derived from correlations between skilled technician data and weld quality. The system will provide visual and quantitative information to show trainees how they are improving, and will give instructors the data they need to provide specific guidance. It will be designed to eliminate individual differences in learning level by letting both instructors and trainees share the same visual model to enable effective training.
Hitachi is planning to enhance its future human resources development by using the system in the skills training programs it provides at its domestic and overseas manufacturing centers.
(Hitachi Construction Machinery Co., Ltd.)
[4] Welding work being measured, and how work standards are created
The construction machinery industry is very concerned with improving productivity and reducing lifecycle costs, so servicing machinery to prevent breakdowns and repairing it at just the right time are key requirements for maintenance services.
Meanwhile, Japan’s dramatically shrinking pool of skilled construction workers and shortage of replacements for retiring workers are making it difficult to find service technicians who can provide advanced diagnostics. The amount of time needed to train new workers is a serious issue facing the country that industry needs to work on.
Hitachi Construction Machinery’s ConSite development unit has addressed this issue by examining the advanced diagnostic methods of service technicians to create a tool that distills their expertise into an app called ConSite Health Check.
(Hitachi Construction Machinery Co., Ltd.)
[5] Overview of ConSite Health Check app
Hitachi Construction Machinery is developing ConSite Mine, an app that helps solve problems at mining sites by providing remote round-the-clock monitoring of mining machinery and displaying operation conditions and analysis results on a dashboard accessible by a web browser or smartphone. The main features are as follows:
hydraulic motor pump assembly (Hitachi Construction Machinery Co., Ltd.)