A remotely controlled robot operates construction machines

A Tokyo‐based construction company, Fujita Corporation, has developed the unmanned “Tele‐Earthwork System”. It features a remotely controlled robot which manipulates conventional construction machines (such as backhoes and bulldozers) in the same way as a human operator. The robot can be easily disassembled into several sub assemblies (usually stored as disassembled parts in individual packages) for easy transportation. Following shipment to a work site the robot can be re‐assembled in the cockpit of the backhoe/bulldozer, and made operational within a couple of hours. The developer believes that this hybrid human/robot approach will be very important in the future, both for emergency situations where human access is hazardous, and for the automatization of construction machinery in general.