Komatsu America Corp.'s D51EXi/PXi-22 is its latest intelligent Machine Control (iMC) dozer for the North American market, and it brings the same iMC technology to another key class size beyond Komatsu’s D61i-23, according to Peter Robson, Director of Intelligent Machine Controls.

With 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 precise, finish grade performance. Improvement in combination rough dozing efficiency is up to 9% higher compared to add-on machine control systems, according to Komatsu.

Instead of the typical add-on machine control system components mounted on the blade, the D51EXi/PXi-22 is fitted with a cab-top GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) antenna, enhanced inertial measurement unit (IMU+), and stroke-sensing hydraulic cylinders. The integrated sensor package eliminates the daily trouble 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.

When the machine travels around the job site, the cab-top GNSS antenna collects 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.

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 iMC 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.

The D51i-22 crawler dozer is equipped with proprietary KOMTRAX (Komatsu Machine Tracking System) technology that sends machine operating information to a secure website utilizing wireless technology. Hour meter, location, cautions, load ratio, fuel consumption, maintenance alerts, etc., are relayed to the web application for analysis. The KOMTRAX fleet monitoring system is intended to increase machine availability, reduce the risk of machine theft (compared to machines not KOMTRAX-equipped), allow for remote diagnosis by the distributor, and provide other information to contribute to business efficiency and productivity.

The D51i-22 will also feature a combination of KOMTRAX 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.

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 lb (12,420 to 13180 kg) depending on the configuration with a net 130 hp (97 kW) at 2200 rpm.