Equipment World Digital Magazine
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/726012
September 2016 | EquipmentWorld.com 46 "We just don't have enough machine control or survey guys who can take the technology and run with it," Momrow says. "We're trying, but we can't find them. We need guys with real life, everyday experience out in the field. There is not a college in the United States that teaches machine control tech- nology. You still have to learn that on the job." The company uses downtime in the winter to run two and three day training classes. If they hire somebody new in the construction season, they'll spend a half day or so getting them familiar with the technology, and then come back for follow up and additional training a few weeks later. Challenges aside, there is no excuse for not getting into GPS technology, Momrow says. "My advice: Don't wait. If you do, every day you're getting further behind." The future is connected One of the big trends on the hori- zon for GPS in construction is what Ed Shappell, director of technology services and solutions for Trimble civil division, calls BYOD, or "bring your own device." "In the future, you won't need to buy a separate device other than your smart phone or tablet to work with your GPS," Shappell says. "That becomes your GPS position device, and you will be able to connect that to any machine you are working with and use it as the interface to everything else." And while you're working with that device, you can communicate with a whole lot more than just the machine or the GPS satellites. "Innovators today are starting to consolidate data from all assets, whereas in the past it was just the big machines," says Shappell. "We see customers today who are collecting GPS data from even their non-powered assets, such as machine attachments." Tagging smaller equipment with GPS- based telematics and giving all the employees the ability to find it on a single dashboard can prove to be a big time saver on large or complex jobsites. Safety enhanced Contractors are also starting to use GPS, geofencing, and other machine tracking applications to enhance the safety of their crews as well. "They can set up geofences for environmentally sensitive areas and potentially dangerous or haz- ardous areas," says Shappell. "That increases the amount of visibility that a foreman has into where the workers are and where the ma- chines are." And since all of this GPS gener- ated information can be logged and recorded, supervisors and safety personnel can analyze it after the fact. "When you have both worker and machine data, you can start looking at breadcrumb trails," says Shappell. If you start noticing a path where your machines and workers intersect frequently, you may decide to redesign the jobsite, cordon off certain areas from foot traffic or make other changes. GPS/GNSS 101 | continued GPS-guided asphalt milling is one of the applications construction technology power users are beginning to master.