Carlson Grade 4.0 for most heavy machines—construction grading & mining
Maysville, Ky., U.S.A. (June 14, 2010) – An upgraded version of Carlson’s popular 3D machine control software, Carlson Grade, is now available. Featuring many new and enhanced tools, Carlson Grade 4.0 can be used with a wide variety of heavy machines and is designed to be the most flexible and open 3D machine control system in today’s market. Compatible with most heavy equipment, Grade 4.0’s support includes dozers, drills, loaders, scrapers, excavators, bucket wheel excavators, compactors, shovels, graders, and foreman trucks.
“We’ve listened to our customers and those operators out in the field and made enhancements to Carlson Grade in response to their needs,” says Randy Noland, V.P. of Business Development for Carlson Positioning and Machine Control. “Some of the improvements include additional GNSS/GPS support, layer management and the all new on-demand, in-cab video support system, which allows users to get answers on the fly.”
The video support system in Carlson Grade 4.0 allows users to watch video podcasts inside the machine for training and quick reference. This support system is flexible, allowing companies to add their own defined material such as equipment and safety check checklists. “We have also added more options that allow operators and administrators to configure Grade’s flexible user interface to interact as simply or as advanced as required by the operator and by the grading task at hand,” adds Noland.
Along with the software’s support of most heavy equipment, Carlson Grade 4.0 supports receivers manufactured by Ashtech, Topcon, Trimble, Leica, JAVAD GNSS, Septentrio, Novatel and more. Grade can be configured for most grading, compaction and mining applications.
In addition, the upgraded software now allows users to:
• Update surface grids in real-time with additional file save options;
• Quickly switch between survey GPS rod and vehicle (rod/truck/ATV) with just the press of a button;
• Exchange dynamic data between two machines (with wireless infrastructure), also called “marrying machines” facilitating better teamwork and productivity;
• Stakeout rover to machine with Heartbeat Connectivity;
• Design up to six different planes when creating cross slopes;
• Separate base and rover settings;
• Save/copy projects to USB for backup or portability to other machines;
• Read .dwg, .dxf, tn3, ln3, gc3, grd, loc file formats directly; and
• Work seamlessly with Carlson Software’s civil, survey, estimating and takeoff desktop packages including data collection with SurvCE and the new SurvPC.
Other new features in Carlson Grade v4.0 include NTRIP support compatible with most network providers, additional MESH radio support, layer support and management, and support for most RTK radio configurations. The user interface has a simpler workflow and several enhancements ranging from the Cut/Fill/On-Grade indicator on the blade graphics to new machine vehicle icons.
“With more and more companies turning to machine control to increase their bottom line, Carlson has developed Grade 4.0 to be both easier to implement and use and ultimately more efficient,” adds Noland.
Carlson’s 3D machine control systems are available through its extensive dealer network. Existing users can upgrade their software to Grade 4.0 by contacting their dealer or Carlson Software directly. For more information, call 800-989-5028 and ask for the machine control team or email machinecontrol@carlsonsw.com. Or visit www.carlsonmachinecontrol.com