Misplaced Pages

#938061

34-699: In 1909, the first Conexpo was held in Columbus, Ohio, and the first Con/Agg was held in Detroit Michigan in 1928. In 1996 the two shows merged, creating Conexpo-Con/Agg. The first joint show was held in 1996 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Conexpo-Con/Agg has gone on to become the Western Hemisphere's largest show for the construction and construction materials industries. The 2017 show spanned a record 2.8 million-plus net square feet of exhibits, with

68-417: A carpenter. The company's first product was called the "AI Guidance System", which began development in 2016 and was first brought to market in 2018. The technology was marketed as a solution in the excavation and grading to enable skid-steers , CTLs, excavators, and bulldozers to function autonomously. The company started out by expanding its market to other business areas on the functionality that

102-623: A conveyance, usually a wheelbarrow , or a cart or wagon drawn by a draft animal . In antiquity, an equivalent of the hand shovel or hoe and head basket—and masses of men—were used to move earth to build civil works. Builders have long used the inclined plane , levers, and pulleys to place solid building materials, but these labor-saving devices did not lend themselves to earthmoving, which required digging, raising, moving, and placing loose materials. The two elements required for mechanized earthmoving, then as now, were an independent power source and off-road mobility, neither of which could be provided by

136-402: A custom-engineered hammer. Built Robotics began attracting attention in 2018 as one of several new companies bringing automation to the construction industry, which had been relatively slow to adopt technical innovations compared to related industries.   Commentators noted that a dearth of skilled workers available to fill construction and heavy equipment operator positions, coupled with

170-873: A growing concern for heavy equipment manufacturers with manufacturers beginning research and technology acquisition. A number of companies are currently developing ( Caterpillar and Bobcat ) or have launched ( Built Robotics ) commercial solutions to the market. These subdivisions, in this order, are the standard heavy equipment categorization. Tractor Grader Excavator Backhoe Timber Pipelayer Scraper Mining Articulated Compactor Loader Track loader Skid-steer loader Material handler Paving Underground Hydromatic tool Hydraulic machinery Highway Heavy equipment requires specialized tires for various construction applications. While many types of equipment have continuous tracks applicable to more severe service requirements, tires are used where greater speed or mobility

204-624: A large expense on any construction project, careful consideration should be given to prevent excessive wear or damage. A heavy equipment operator drives and operates heavy equipment used in engineering and construction projects. Typically only skilled workers may operate heavy equipment, and there is specialized training for learning to use heavy equipment. Much publication about heavy equipment operators focuses on improving safety for such workers. The field of occupational medicine researches and makes recommendations about safety for these and other workers in safety-sensitive positions. Due to

238-422: A long history; the ancient Roman engineer Vitruvius (1st century BCE) gave descriptions of heavy equipment and cranes in ancient Rome in his treatise De architectura . The pile driver was invented around 1500. The first tunnelling shield was patented by Marc Isambard Brunel in 1818. Until the 19th century and into the early 20th century heavy machines were drawn under human or animal power. With

272-496: A need for infrastructure renewal and housing , were likely driving forces behind the industry's adoption of new technologies. Built Robotics claims to be the first of these companies to commercially deploy fully autonomous heavy equipment in construction settings.   Founder Ready-Campbell, a former Google product manager who studied software engineering and had previously founded another startup, Twice , got his inspiration for Built Robotics from his father, who worked as

306-444: A primary source of motion. The word plant , in this context, has come to mean any type of industrial equipment, including mobile equipment (e.g. in the same sense as powerplant ). However, plant originally meant "structure" or "establishment" – usually in the sense of factory or warehouse premises; as such, it was used in contradistinction to movable machinery, often in the phrase "plant and equipment". The use of heavy equipment has

340-451: A record 2,800-plus exhibitors. Show attendance neared 128,000 for the week. The world’s first 3D-printed excavator and the new Tech Experience debuted at the 2017 show. The 2020 show ended one day earlier than normal due to growing concerns over COVID-19. Registrations for the show were reported as over 130,000, though no official attendance numbers were published. The 2020 show had a large number of exhibitors at over 2000. A primary focus for

374-462: Is currently a Series C startup company, having been financed through three rounds of fundraising from private venture capital funds.  The company has raised a combined total of US$ 112 million through its Series A , Series B, and Series C financings. Investors who have contributed to the financings include Tiger Global , Next47 , NEA , Founders Fund , Building Ventures, Presidio Ventures , Lemnos, and other investors.  Notable advisors of

SECTION 10

#1732771771939

408-589: Is marketed as a means to enable autonomous excavation , earthmoving, and pile driving. The Exosystem is installed on the tail of excavators. The company claims the Exosystem can be installed on machinery from Caterpillar , Hitachi , John Deere , Volvo , and other major manufacturers. The Exosystem advertises itself as consisting  of an all-weather enclosure that houses the hardware and software needed to enable autonomous operation. Additional sensors such as cameras, GPS, and IMUs are mounted at various points on

442-667: Is required. An understanding of what equipment will be used for during the life of the tires is required for proper selection. Tire selection can have a significant impact on production and unit cost. There are three types of off-the-road tires, transport for earthmoving machines, work for slow moving earthmoving machines, and load and carry for transporting as well as digging. Off-highway tires have six categories of service C compactor, E earthmover, G grader, L loader, LS log-skidder and ML mining and logging. Within these service categories are various tread types designed for use on hard-packed surface, soft surface and rock. Tires are

476-624: The implement , traction , structure, power train , and control/information. Heavy equipment has been used since at least the 1st century BC, when the ancient Roman engineer Vitruvius described a crane powered by human or animal labor in De architectura . Heavy equipment functions through the mechanical advantage of a simple machine that multiplies the ratio between input force applied and force exerted, easing and speeding tasks which often could otherwise take hundreds of people and many weeks' labor. Some such equipment uses hydraulic drives as

510-493: The 2020 show was on women in construction and new technologies. The “Tech Experience” and education sessions reached their highest attendance since launching in the previous show with 150 sessions that included speakers from companies like Built Robotics , Trimble , and NASCAR driver Tyler Reddick . The show crushed expected attendance numbers, drawing over 139,000 construction and fluid power professionals from 133 countries to Las Vegas from March 14th to 18th of 2023, making it

544-496: The AI Guidance System can be installed on different types of existing construction equipment, including dozers and skid-steers in addition to excavators.   Built initially focused their AI system on heavy civil, wind, energy, residential housing, solar, and utility work. In 2023, Built narrowed their focus on the solar industry by developing a pile driving robot for utility-scale solar projects. Built Robotics

578-604: The Built Robotics automation platform, citing a steady growth rate in jobs for heavy equipment operators coupled with an industry-wide shortage of workers. In 2023, Built renewed their partnership with the IUOE, extending their strategic partnership through 2026. James Callahan, general president of the IUOE, stated,'' Our partnership with Built has and continues to receive very positive feedback, and we are excited to renew this agreement to provide our over 400,000 members with

612-502: The RPD 35, or Robotic Pile Driver. The RPD 35 is advertised by the company as an excavator-based robot that can  automate multiple steps in the solar piling process. The company claims that the robot can autonomously perform surveying of pile locations, distribution of piles, driving of piles, and generation of as-builts. Built utilizes a modified  Caterpillar 335 by adding various main components: an Exosystem, pile-carrying sleds, and

646-525: The advanced training that keeps them at the forefront of the industry". In 2023, Built robotics acquired Roin Technologies, a company claiming to be the makers of the first automated concrete power trowel. Roin Technology focused on automating tasks within the concrete industry. Jim Delaney, Founder and CEO of Roin Technologies, joined the company. In the company's announcement, it was stated that

680-546: The advent of portable steam-powered engines the drawn machine precursors were reconfigured with the new engines, such as the combine harvester . The design of a core tractor evolved around the new steam power source into a new machine core traction engine , that can be configured as the steam tractor and the steamroller . During the 20th century, internal-combustion engines became the major power source of heavy equipment. Kerosene and ethanol engines were used, but today diesel engines are dominant. Mechanical transmission

714-400: The bulldozer. The largest engineering vehicles and mobile land machines are bucket-wheel excavators , built since the 1920s. Until almost the twentieth century, one simple tool constituted the primary earthmoving machine: the hand shovel —moved with animal and human powered, sleds, barges, and wagons. This tool was the principal method by which material was either sidecast or elevated to load

SECTION 20

#1732771771939

748-486: The company announced that it would be expanding internationally with the onboarding of its first Australian client, MPC Kinetic.   Notable customers and business partners include Black & Veatch, MPC Kinetic, Mortenson, and Sunstate. In March 2020, the International Union of Operating Engineers announced a formal partnership with Built Robotics through which the union will train its members to use

782-657: The company include Carl Bass , Jeff Immelt , and Justin Kan . Built Robotics has a number of patents issued by the US Patent and Trademark office, including "Excavating earth from a dig site using an excavation vehicle;” "Obstacle detection and manipulation by a vehicle within a dig site;” and "Checking volume in an excavation tool". The technology developed by Built has been deployed on job sites in multiple US states, which do not require regulatory approval for autonomous equipment used on non-public roads.  In March 2020,

816-465: The equipment while minor repairs are costed to a project. Another common costing strategy is to cost all repairs to the equipment and only frequently replaced wear items are excluded from the equipment cost. Many firms keep their costing structure closely guarded as it can impact the bidding strategies of their competition. In a company with multiple semi-independent divisions, the equipment department often wants to classify all repairs as "minor" and charge

850-472: The equipment. These costs are as follows: The biggest distinction from a cost standpoint is if a repair is classified as a major repair or a minor repair . A major repair can change the depreciable equipment value due to an extension in service life , while a minor repair is normal maintenance . How a firm chooses to cost major and minor repairs vary from firm to firm depending on the costing strategies being used. Some firms will charge only major repairs to

884-486: The largest trade show in North America. It included 2,400 exhibitors from 36 countries spread out over 3 million square feet of exhibit space. The main topics of the show are: Conexpo-Con/Agg is sponsored by: Built Robotics Built Robotics Inc. is a San Francisco , California , based vehicular automation startup that develops software and hardware to automate construction equipment . The company

918-423: The piece of heavy equipment. The Exosystem controls the heavy equipment through the electric-over-hydraulic (EH) systems for autonomous operation or remote control. The Exosystem can be turned off, which  allows the heavy equipment to be manually operated by a person inside the cab. As with factory robots , human robotic operators, referred to by Built as "Robot Equipment Operators" (REOs), must still start

952-571: The simplest is the straight-line method. The annual depreciation is constant, reducing the equipment value annually. The following are simple equations paraphrased from the Peurifoy & Schexnayder text: m = some year in the future N = equipment useful life (years) and D n = Annual depreciation amount Book value (BV) in year m example: N = 5 purchase price = $ 350,000 m = 3 years from now For an expense to be classified as an operating cost, it must be incurred through use of

986-432: The small profit margins on construction projects it is important to maintain accurate records concerning equipment utilization, repairs and maintenance. The two main categories of equipment costs are ownership cost and operating cost . To classify as an ownership cost an expense must have been incurred regardless of if the equipment is used or not. These costs are as follows: Depreciation can be calculated several ways,

1020-402: The system's initial operation before autonomous activities take control. REOs use a proprietary web-based platform, Everest , to supervise and control the robot. The REO can switch from autonomous to remote control mode, which allows an operator to move the robot through a remote interface. Built Robotics entered the utility-scale solar market in 2023 with the announcement of a new product called

1054-505: The technologies underlying Roin's automated power trowel and shotcrete robot would be integrated into Built's software and hardware systems. Heavy equipment Heavy equipment , heavy machinery , earthmovers , construction vehicles , or construction equipment , refers to heavy-duty vehicles specially designed to execute construction tasks, most frequently involving earthwork operations or other large construction tasks. Heavy equipment usually comprises five equipment systems:

Conexpo-Con/Agg - Misplaced Pages Continue

1088-601: The technology of that time. Container cranes were used from the 1950s and onwards, and made containerization possible. Nowadays such is the importance of this machinery, some transport companies have developed specific equipment to transport heavy construction equipment to and from sites. Most of the major equipment manufacturers such as Caterpillar, Volvo, Liebherr, and Bobcat have released or have been developing fully or partially electric-powered heavy equipment. Commercially-available models and R&D models were announced in 2019 and 2020. Robotics and autonomy has been

1122-468: Was founded in San Francisco in 2016 by Noah Ready-Campbell and Andrew Liang. The company's primary product is the "Exosystem", an aftermarket kit that adds autonomous robotic capabilities onto existing heavy equipment through a combination of GPS , cameras , and artificial intelligence technology. The Exosystem began development in 2018 and was first brought to market in 2021. The technology

1156-647: Was in many cases replaced by hydraulic machinery. The early 20th century also saw new electric-powered machines such as the forklift . Caterpillar Inc. is a present-day brand from these days, starting out as the Holt Manufacturing Company . The first mass-produced heavy machine was the Fordson tractor in 1917. The first commercial continuous track vehicle was the 1901 Lombard Steam Log Hauler . The use of tracks became popular for tanks during World War I , and later for civilian machinery like

#938061