Komatsu America Corp. Expands Its intelligent Machine Control Dozer Family — D51i-22

New D51i-22 equipped with fully automatic blade control

Rolling Meadows, January 29, 2014 — Komatsu America Corp. today introduced the D51EXi/PXi-22, the latest Komatsu intelligent Machine Control dozer for the North American market. With its fully automatic blade control capabilities, the D51i-22 dozer performs both automated rough dozing and finish grading.

“The D51i-22 brings the same intelligent Machine Control technology to another key class size, which has made the Komatsu D61i-23 such a success,” states Peter Robson, director of Intelligent Machine Controls. “The simplicity of operation, efficiency improvement and greater value are hallmarks of the quality that customers expect from Komatsu.”

Longer track-on ground standard (EX) and low ground pressure (PX) models are available to offer customers flotation and weight distribution options that best match their applications. Operating weights range from 27,381 to 29,057 lbs. depending on the configuration with a net 130HP at 2200 rpm.

Fully Automatic Blade Control For Rough And Fine Dozing

Thanks to its fully automatic blade control, the D51i-22 can perform rough dozing as well as high-precision finish grading in automatic mode. When rough dozing, the automatic blade control monitors blade load and adjusts blade elevation to minimize track slip and perform high-efficiency dozing. As work progresses closer to the target finish grade, the automatic blade control adjusts accordingly to provide finish grade performance with high-level precision. Improvement in combination rough dozing efficiency is up to 9% higher compared to add-on machine control systems.

Standard Factory Installed Integrated Machine Control System

Instead of the typical add-on machine control system components mounted on the blade, that has been replaced on the D51EXi/PXi-22 with factory installed cab top GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) antenna, enhanced inertial measurement unit (IMU+), and stroke sensing hydraulic cylinders. The accurate and robust integrated sensor package eliminates the daily hassle of installing/removing GNSS antenna(s) and cable(s) from the blade, plus the wear associated with it. These components along with the machine control monitor and controllers mounted inside of the cab are installed at the Komatsu manufacturing facility during machine assembly.

Enhanced For Optimized Performance

Inside the cab, customer selectable dozing modes allow system response to be tailored to the current machine operation for optimized performance. Similarly, blade load settings are adjustable between pre-sets to match actual material conditions. Pass to pass, the intelligent Machine Control system can be left with the automatic blade control engaged because of its ability to precisely automate the lowering of the blade at the start of a pass and raise it at the end of a pass.

When the machine travels around the job site, the cab top GNSS antenna collects accurate surface data by measuring actual elevations. The stroke sensing angle cylinder measures the actual angle of the blade for high precision grading accuracy on cross-slope, blade angled or not.

KOMTRAX

The D51i-22 crawler dozer is equipped with the latest KOMTRAX^® technology and sends machine operating information to a secure website utilizing wireless technology. Hour meter, location, cautions, load ratio, fuel consumption and maintenance alerts – to name a few of its features – are relayed to the web application for analysis. The KOMTRAX fleet monitoring system increases machine availability, reduces the risk of machine theft (compared to machines not KOMTRAX-equipped), allows for remote diagnosis by the distributor, and provides a wealth of other information to drive business efficiency and productivity.

The D51i-22 also features the integration of Komatsu's proprietary KOMTRAX^® (Komatsu Machine Tracking System) and TOPCON's construction management system. In the near future, this integrated system will enable high-efficiency, unified management of construction work through access to real-time machine data, via its web service, to track work progress including the amount of soil dozed at jobsites.

Komatsu America Corp. is a U.S. subsidiary of Komatsu Ltd., the world’s second largest manufacturer and supplier of earth-moving equipment, consisting of construction, mining and compact construction equipment. Komatsu America also serves forklift and forestry markets. Through its distributor network, Komatsu offers a state-of-the-art parts and service program to support its equipment. Komatsu has proudly been providing high-quality reliable products for nearly a century. Visit the website at www.komatsuamerica.com for more information.

All comparisons are to Komatsu’s conventional, non-iMC models unless otherwise stated.

Komtrax^® is a registered trademark of Komatsu, Ltd. All copyrights and/or trademarks contained in these materials are the sole and exclusive property of their respective owners.