COMPACT EQUIPMENT
THE TOPCON MC-MOBILE PLATFORM IS MACHINE CONTROL AND MORE FOR COMPACT EQUIPMENT.
BIG TECH FOR COMPACT EQUIPMENT TOPCON’S MC-MOBILE PLATFORM PROVIDES OPERATORS WITH A COMBINATION OF TECHNOLOGIES BY ARTURO SANTIAGO, EDITORIAL DIRECTOR
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he sheer number of compact machines in use at job sites large and small far exceed that of full-sized equipment. Yet, the availability of machine control technology for mini-excavators, compact track loaders (CTLs), and skid steers is nearly nonexistent. Also, the price of a machine control system for fullsized iron can cost as much as a piece of compact equipment. Topcon Positioning Group has addressed these issues by creating MC-Mobile, a combination of machine control and survey technologies that allows compact equipment operators to lay out, grade, and check jobs with the same system. The platform’s displays and other components are designed to be shared across numerous machines and can be moved from a grade checking/layout rover pole to a compact machine, and back. Mark Jones, Topcon senior manager of business development for MC-Mobile, recently demonstrated the portable machine control solution for Heavy Equipment Guide. Jones explained that the technology employs a tablet that is used in multiple functions. Layout is accomplished with an LN-150 Layout Navigator as an elevation reference. Its laser then tracks a prism (attached to the tablet) that is set up on a known control point. The tablet acts as a data collector and completes the layout. The tablet can then take the layout data and be used as a design tool to create desired elevations and grades. Finally, the tablet is mounted inside the compact equipment and is used for machine control to execute the design.
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heavyequipmentguide.ca | JUNE 2022
This is the technology they’ve been waiting for. The price point is not a hard one to swallow. And the flexibility of doing all these things, they’re going to control their material, they’re not going to have too much material or more than they bid for. Mark Jones Senior Manager of Business Development for MC-Mobile, Topcon At the end of the day, the tablet can be reattached to the prism to verify the work has been completed as designed and an invoice can be generated. Jones calls it an advantage for an entrepreneur that’s in the dirt business adding, “This is
