Our innovative processes afford us the ability to consistently conceive valuable ideas in multiple fields, such as environmental design and economic efficiency. Out of these areas, the one which we consider to be of the most importance is that of “Safety”.
From providing safe products to the overall safety of our automatic operational systems, we persistently utilize the full scope of our innovation capabilities to find ways in which safety is used to maximize the value of our products to our customers.
All manufacturers’ primary responsibility is to provide products that are safe and compliant with the latest international regulations and standards. In our mid-term management plan, we aim to "develop safe, highly productive, smart, and clean workplaces of the future with customers." We also aim to create new customer value (DANTOTSU Value) by integrating DANTOTSU Products (advancement of machines), DANTOTSU Services (advancement of machine operation), and DANTOTSU Solutions (advancement of workplace operations) to generate a positive cycle to resolve ESG issues, including worksite safety, and improve earnings.
In 2013 and 2014, Komatsu introduced the ICT Bulldozer and ICT Hydraulic Excavator respectively, an innovation that made possible the automatic control of blades and buckets. These systems by-pass the need for manual experience, allowing even fresh or less-experienced workers to perfectly reproduce the same high-level precision construction work of a skilled worker. This has eliminated the past need for ancillary workers and guiding processes, thus enabling our customers to make huge savings on labor costs and improving general safety.
The pinnacle of our safety innovations has birthed a fully automated operational system, known as the Autonomous Haulage System (AHS). This ingenious system has been fully-established in certain major mines in Australia and Chile, which involves the unmanned operation of giant dump trucks that carry over 300 tons of soil and minerals. The mine is an often harsh environment which requires constant vigilance and safety protocols, having multiple construction machines and vehicles that operate around the clock on a 24 hour basis. The AHS system utilizes cutting-edge technologies like satellite communication and various radars and sensors to create a useful system that meets this need in its entirety, responding to the diverse nature of our customer's safety requirements.
Despite these significant achievements, we are fully aware that there is always room for amelioration. We will continue to innovate and improve, furthering the evolution of such safety systems in order to realize the optimal safety environment that our customers require in their respective sites of operation.
In the stockpile area of the mine, where collected ore is shaped by large bulldozers and supplied to subsequent processes such as crushers, the stockpile operation is a critical task that significantly impacts mine productivity, while also requiring skilled work on dangerous slopes.
Komatsu has developed a system to perform this delicate stockpile operation remotely without boarding the bulldozer, and commenced commercial operation at the iron mine site of a customer in Brazil in 2023.
Operating bulldozers from remote locations without direct line of sight involves time lags in video and control signals, making precise tasks such as slope shaping difficult. This system achieves safe and advanced operability even from remote locations over 2 km away through high-speed communication of control signals and the combination of ICT machine control and remote control systems.
Given the trial at the introduction site exceeded targets in terms of safety and productivity, the mine has decided to make all large bulldozers introduced within the next year operable by remote control systems.
Furthermore, this remote control system is expected to create an environment where even inexperienced operators can work safely.
Komatsu has launched hydraulic excavators*1 equipped with the in-house developed KomVision Human Detection & Collision Mitigation System as a standard feature for the first time in the industry in the Japanese market.
Komatsu has developed this system by upgrading the “KomVision” bird’s eye view camera system equipped with conventional models as standard in the Japanese market. The system recognizes humans around the excavator and prevents the motion of the excavator when the system detects people when the excavator starts to travel or swing. The system also stops the excavator when it detects humans while the excavator is traveling at slow speeds. With these functions, the system helps curb the possibility of collisions between the excavator and people.
This system comes standard on the PC200-11 model. Concerning the conventional models already equipped with KomVision as a standard feature, customers can update the software and retrofit their existing machines*2. With this new system, Komatsu will continue to expand support for workplace safety as its goal. Komatsu will also this system standard in the future on other models*3, as it works to gather market needs and provide customer support in order to further advance its safety support system.
The “KomVision” bird’s-eye-view camera system is used globally for hydraulic excavators, dump trucks, wheel loaders, and motor graders. In 2023, we launched the PC950-11, a large hydraulic excavator equipped with this system.
[KomVision Human Detection & Collision Mitigation System]
1.All-around machine monitoring with 4 cameras and a monitor(Example of PC200-11)
Four monocular cameras capture all-around views of the machine, which are shown on the monitor. The operator can select right, right front, left or rear views.
2. Alerting with buzzer and stopping the machine when people are detected
When human are detected inside the detection or stop-controlled area, the system not only displays markers (yellow or red circles) on the monitor, but also alerts the operator with a buzzer.
In recent years, interest in modal shift to freight rail transport has been growing, aiming to address the shortage of truck drivers and reduce environmental impact. However, alongside a declining labor force, a shortage of skilled operators for cargo handling at freight stations has become a challenge.
Since 2019, Komatsu has been conducting preliminary research on forklift guidance and semi-automatic functions. In April 2023, Komatsu signed a joint development agreement with Japan Freight Railway Company to equip container forklifts with these functions, aiming to improve the productivity and safety of cargo handling in rail transport.
[Forklift operation guidance and semi-automatic functions]
The operation guidance function displays the position of the forklift's forks, which are difficult for the operator to see directly, on a monitor using multiple cameras and sensors. It also alerts the operator if the container is in an improper position.
The operation semi-automatic function combines position recognition sensors such as LiDAR* and proprietary cargo recognition technology, allowing the forklift to automatically align with the container and accurately control the fork position with only throttle operation by the operator.
Preliminary research confirmed that these functions significantly reduce accidents such as collisions with nearby containers and container drops, as well as alleviate operator workload.
Komatsu and Japan Freight Railway Company will continue to jointly develop mass-production vehicles with these functions, aiming to introduce them to freight stations nationwide from fiscal year 2024 onward.
