The Future of Heavy Equipment Operation? Remotely Operating from ANYWHERE!

Рет қаралды 36,814

2 ай бұрын

While visiting Westrac Caterpillar, the official Cat dealer in New South Wales, Australia, they let me play with one of their coolest toys - the Cat remote operator station.
The station, comprised of the same seat and controls inside a machine, combined with a sports bar-level TV screens, can operate remote-enabled machines from ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD.
Cat first pioneered the technology for dangerous applications, like working near a high wall, unloading barges, and removing nuclear waste.
I've seen the technology a few times before, but this was the first time I was allowed to operate a remote machine, thanks to Westrac's insanely cool technology experience center.
You can learn more about Cat Command and Westrac's technology experience center at the links below!
www.cat.com/en_US/products/ne...
www.westrac.com.au/technology...

Пікірлер: 128

@farmhanddiaries5422 Ай бұрын

I could imagine this technology coming in handy for fighting oil well fires

@michaelwillson6847 Ай бұрын

I think this technology is actually gonna be in alot more places sooner than people think. I used to work for a log yard in a mill and even they were looking into putting it into one of there cat loaders with yhe grapple that feed the mill. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿👍

@andrewmcfarland57 Ай бұрын

"Backhoe Simulator" available now on Steam. 🤣

@NoOne56488 Ай бұрын

You think you're playing a sim, but in reality you're doing a job irl. Great way for companies to save some cash!!!

@ProudPapaw88 2 ай бұрын

Thanks, Aaron. Very interesting and it makes sense. Thanks for sharing and have a great weekend!!

@davidwindsor4632 Ай бұрын

There is something about being in command of a machine. Are feeling the machine. 👍

@pete5044 Ай бұрын

Take note America. That thing attached to the bottom of the stick is a called a tilt hitch with a quick coupler. Give it 20 years and you guys might start to see it on your equipment.

@MrBlueberry33 Ай бұрын

uhh what? We already have this on thousands of machines. Tf? You thought some chinese made shit is some how special to you???

@repaircollc Ай бұрын

Thanks for another great video on an interesting topic. I can see the useage for the safety aspect as you say. At the same time we are talking about corporations that can and absolutely will exploit this technology to reduce their skilled labor force, outsourced and cheaper. I hope not but I know better. Thanks again for all you show us ✌️

@rockfosg 10 күн бұрын

Remote controllerd machines was done in norway in 2009. Cat excevator, 6 wheel dumptrucks and a 8seriwa John Deere was used to clean up and restore and old military firing range, 👍

@RRCCONSTRUCTIONMININGREC-tl8yf 2 ай бұрын

Aaron thanks for the videos awesome stuff .😊😊👍👍🚜🚜🚛🚚🚧🚧🚧🚧

@ridhobaihaqi144 2 ай бұрын

Caterpillar in other country: 💪💪😎😎 Caterpillar in my country: 🗿🗿🗿

@nikkogajowniczek7634 Ай бұрын

aaron, i respect your concern for our comments in the last video. I appreciate how you addressed our grievances appropriately demonstrating the very real and important use cases for technology like this when operator safety is compromised. However, you mention at around 8:00 one of CAT’s primary use cases, and it seemed like exactly the kind of thing we mentioned being problematic. I think it would be very interesting if you made a video and dug deeper into how the people on ground use and think of this kind of tech, on top of these impressive demos!

@snaggo6666 Ай бұрын

Cool to see you at Tomago checking out the yellow stuff, wondering if you made your way up to any of the mines in the valley and / or the Mt Thorley Liebherr branch?

@guyneeser2029 Ай бұрын

Aaron you are a fine operator and that training computer would be great to get back into it for ME......

@dgsantafedave1 2 ай бұрын

Nice haircut Aaron! They do a lot of digging down under don't they!

@barakcollins1506 Ай бұрын

I understand, but I I like the pucker of doing sketchy things with a 55 ton excavator.

@SJR_Media_Group 2 ай бұрын

Thanks for another well produced video.... there are remote controlled machines operating in mines deep underground. They are used in places unsafe for humans to be near; uranium, coal, and precious metals. It is amazing to see how technology is changing the face of construction. Imagine being able to run 3 shifts 24/7 and not fatiguing human operators. It's like drones that are operated thousands miles away providing intel on a foreign adversary. In time, some of this work can be done by AI. This won't replace humans, but enhance what is already being done... cheers mate.

@DrTubeman Ай бұрын

Don't be so naive, SJR, sadly this technology will eventually replace human operators...

@SJR_Media_Group Ай бұрын

@@DrTubeman well Dr with no content of his own you might want to re-think your premise and back it up with actual data

@farout448 2 ай бұрын

Will there be any more content from Westrac ? been through the place a few times, very big operation

@AaronWitt 2 ай бұрын

plenty more coming soon

@WesTracCat Ай бұрын

We sent Aaron to both our operations - NSW and Western Australia. He got to see action on both sides of AUS. Plenty to come! ^CG

@UncleManuel Ай бұрын

Damn, this CONSTRUCTION SIMULATOR 2025 has incredible graphics, it almost looks like real ife! 😁😁🤘🤘

@builthogan Ай бұрын

So true

@halcon2134 Ай бұрын

It is a wonderful technology, I love driving excavators, going to construction sites that are far from home, often in cities with huge traffic jams, is the worst.

@davidanalyst671 Ай бұрын

Just out of curiosity.... you know the drillers that do the drill holes for blasting in quarries, they have had this remote tech for like 10 years. I guess its easier to stream one camera and all it does is move 2 MPH and pushes down.

@AaronWitt Ай бұрын

yeah drills move a bit slower

@nickhutt6264 Ай бұрын

A lot of our mines in Aus have full autonomous blast hole drill fleets, no operators at just all just gps and a computer programme.

@dallasbaiton371 2 ай бұрын

No matter why or who criticizes this technology is the way of the future and I can see it that AI will be part of this technology. Can you imagine just delivering a machine and with no operator or human in the area and the machine completely doing the required tast completely. That is the goal eventually and we are getting closer to that reality.

@bartyparty8521 Ай бұрын

just wanna say, love the videos. But i have a question about this, what would you do if the video cameras get dirty when you are at home operating the machine?

@deathaman1125 Ай бұрын

Probably move the machine to a safe area then have someone at the facility clean the camera

@bartyparty8521 Ай бұрын

@@deathaman1125 i guess that makes sense, they probably have one employee that cleans all the machines.

@icey_b1562 2 ай бұрын

But what if I wanna get hazard pay??

@tomhoffman9729 2 ай бұрын

During the operation I can hear the "sound" of the swinging of the machine. Is that automated or is there microphones on the machine?

@AaronWitt 2 ай бұрын

nah you can't hear anything from it typically -- that's just the editing

@cainrok 2 ай бұрын

The only thing I see being a problem with some of the use cases are if you do lose a pice of equipment to sinkage or slip and it’s a hazardous area. Now you have to put even more people in to recover it.

@troysweet4038 2 ай бұрын

How is that any different than if there was an operator in the machine? Also you could just write off the machine as a loss and let your inusrance buy a new one.

@AaronWitt 2 ай бұрын

that's the whole point

@littlehippo5004 2 ай бұрын

sooo, exactly the same scenario as if human operators were there too?

@deathaman1125 Ай бұрын

@@littlehippo5004But without the chance that the operator get hurt or worse

@zaryadnik 2 ай бұрын

Great

@OpenThisGate87 Ай бұрын

You forgot the coolest part which is that the control system appears to be running Ubuntu. Linux FTW!

@jakegingrich7214 Ай бұрын

Crazy that we can now do work in places we don't even have to be.

@user-vy6kk9or4i Ай бұрын

Who is that new host he's seems smarter than the other one 😂

@tristenklein5940 Ай бұрын

As it should be! Labor is the highest expense and frustrating issue with any small business especially in the construction industry!

@solarissv777 Ай бұрын

*in the west. The so called "blue collar workers" in the US got used to getting ridiculous money for the jobs that a trained monkey can do (and that's why they are so afraid of immigrants). Yes, there are some highly skilled professionals and craftsmen with unique skills, but most of this jobs are nothing special and cost so much just because people doing them happened to be born in a certain country. On the other hand high cost of blue collars creates an insensitive for the white collars to innovate and eventually replace them.

@dan__________________ Ай бұрын

So that is roughly $20 worth of tech siting there. Is the price half a million?

@jdiggindirt 2 ай бұрын

I understand the concept but when you lose your feel of the machine it's self all your doing is causing way more wear and tear on that machine. This is clear in his operation. I'm old school trained I fine grade off fill as well string line doesn't line

@solarissv777 Ай бұрын

Guess, a proper software can smoothen all the moves and make them as efficient as possible

@marksellinger3736 2 ай бұрын

Brought to you by Australia. Same country that just hired a guy to serve as the "Parlimentary Secretary for Mens Behaviour Change. Welcome to being neuter

@anthonyj7989 Ай бұрын

Australia happens to be a country that has always been at the cutting edge of new technologies. Australia is a country with a small population and a small economy, therefore people in Australia have to look at other ways of doing things. No matter what piece of equipment Australia buys, it is not long until Australian companies or government pulls it apart and rebuilds it to operate in Australia and you can see this with American trucks (Mack and Kenworth) and aircraft (Boeing E-7 Wedgetail). There are many other examples of equipment being built in other countries and not being able to be used in Australia because of safety issues or not being able to operate in the Australian harsh environment and this includes people from America and Europe who can’t tolerate spiders and snakes, you know, the little things Australians keep as pets and let them wonder around their homes. And I have found that a tiger snake is better than a gun - they works autonomous.

@markfryer9880 Ай бұрын

@@anthonyj7989Kenworth trucks are custom designed and manufactured here in Bayswater, Melbourne, Australia. Not sure about Mack?

@jondonron 2 ай бұрын

Connect the machine to Indian call centre This will easily reduce the labour cost by magnitude

@stijill 22 күн бұрын

Why flat screens? VR technology has the advantage of depth of field.

@davidanalyst671 Ай бұрын

John deere has a tractor that will follow a GPS line through a field, and just recently, they introduced a tractor that turns as well. I could tell you all what the next step for this remote cat operator station is, but i think you already know

@AaronWitt Ай бұрын

Caterpillar's had autonomous equipment working for literally decades already

@nickhutt6264 Ай бұрын

We have full fleets of autonomous Caterpillar dump trucks cruising around mines here in Aus. Caterpillar (U.S) actually developed and perfected the technology at a site here called Solomon (FMG), When I was there they had a fleet of about 70 full autonomous 793F's. Most O.E.Ms have the tech now.

@markfryer9880 Ай бұрын

As for tractors, check out tractorspotter here on KZfaq. The tractors in Europe have been using GPS for sowing and harvesting but the farmers still drive the tractors. For some farmers it won't be long before they have at least slave tractors following down the field rows performing the same or next function as the lead tractor.

@carlfalt174 Ай бұрын

Eventually the oil sands at Ft. McMurray will be totally automated which will increase profits and decrease costs. That means more profit for owners and shareholders.

@ripstickish 18 күн бұрын

I have to say watching the machine being in operation it’s the roughest operation I have ever seen. 0:55 sec watch the cab and implement bounce on the ground. 1 month of that action and this machine will be a wreck.

@christucker1886 Ай бұрын

I work on a farm we have demo some of this new driverless equipment set ups and additions and they aren’t taking jobs for a looooonnnnhgggggg time trust that still 100% more effective to put a dude in there and way cheaper

@markfryer9880 Ай бұрын

That would be especially so when dealing with John Deere I would think!

@huntz3215 Ай бұрын

Dangerous conditions, that's what apprentices are for. 🤪 Thunderbirds with all there gadgets influencing design 60yrs on.

@SmashingBricksAU 2 ай бұрын

Mate what's WesTrack doing in the wrong state 🤣

@WesTracCat Ай бұрын

Ewww drop that "k" please ^CG

@Tmjpwns Ай бұрын

Next pandemic, work from home operators. Only mechanics & ground workers left on site :P

@duran9664 Ай бұрын

This can work on the moon or Mars 🤔

@kersa1995 Ай бұрын

Just feeding the system information & analytics so AI can work more efficiently in the future

@shabo857 2 ай бұрын

Shocked they haven’t just ditched the screens and gone with VR goggles.

@astecheee1519 2 ай бұрын

Goggles are very limited currently. Not the greatest resolution compared to like 6 screens in front of you.

@blueman5924 Ай бұрын

@@astecheee1519tell that to DJI and the FPV drone op’s.

@killernat1234 Ай бұрын

Did he really pronounced centre as cent-ray? It’s pronounced center, but spelt different

@Sirclassic Ай бұрын

You still need a person to operate the excavator?? So where are we losing job?

@laurier3348 Ай бұрын

Bro, this technology is really stoopid.

@mr.mistoffelees7188 Ай бұрын

Your machine is restarting to install Windows updates … ;)

@Chris_Shipping Ай бұрын

No thanks,I dont ever ever ever want this happening!

@nickconnor8756 Ай бұрын

🤣🤣🤣🤣try digging around gas,water,sewer,power and communication with that…good luck

@airlogic Ай бұрын

When you remove an operator regardless of the hazards or environment, You remove learnt methods and skills which come from experience.

@scottunderwood3481 Ай бұрын

Thankfully you cant program a robot to work on a site that's basically organised chaos.🙏😉

@duran9664 Ай бұрын

⁉️What.. Did he pronounce it “ centrai’”⁉️🤪 It is center, dude, but English write it wrongly🤷‍♀️

@DrTubeman Ай бұрын

You're either incredibly naive or being facetious Aaron, if you think this technology won't eventually replace the majority of human operators...

@stevegeorge6479 2 ай бұрын

🤔🤔🤔🤘🤘🤘🤘

@guyneeser2029 Ай бұрын

Aaron grow your hair back!!!. Dude NO!!.

@blueman5924 Ай бұрын

Maybe he’s doing an episode of “undercover boss”, or going undercover to bust stray Cat dealers in high schools. 🤷‍♂️

@kencarlton9939 Ай бұрын

Lazy

@freedomrings1420 2 ай бұрын

Sorry folks, but I actually enjoyed running heavy equipment. I'm glad that I'm retired. I'm not going to sit inside some office or building using that garbage. Where's the skill, oh that's right... the younger generations would just rather have some computer doing everything. While never learning anything. 😂😂😂😂😂. But who's going to run the jackhammer, set the the forms , tie the rebar ,pour the concrete, finish the concrete. 😂😂😂😂😂

@ChaseWatkins. 2 ай бұрын

1:12 this is you

@freedomrings1420 2 ай бұрын

@@ChaseWatkins. This is you ..... Younger generations = SOYBOYCELLPHONEHOLDINGSOYBOYGENERATION

@freedomrings1420 2 ай бұрын

@@ChaseWatkins.I'm happily retired. Have fun working. 😂

@icey_b1562 2 ай бұрын

Don’t worry. Someone will build a janky “Ai” to run these machines for you! And corperations won’t have to waste money on paying machine operators. They’ll give it to the people who really deserve it - the shareholders. r

@FloridaManConstruction 2 ай бұрын

Perhaps you should check out Boston Dynamics robots. They are coming for all of us. We had a good run… Good luck. 🙏🏼🌴🐈🐈🐈🌴🏴‍☠️

@cdpgbc-mw2kz 2 ай бұрын

More loss of jobs coming...

@shilohholtzman7988 2 ай бұрын

did you even watch the video?

@stanonline7534 2 ай бұрын

you still need operators bruh

@llee220 2 ай бұрын

Good stuff but u can't feel what the machine is doing and feeling it is a massive part of operating

@2mindful 2 ай бұрын

Yep, you still need operators, so no loss of jobs for excisting operators. I think 3D vision will be great for better depth preception.

@shabo857 2 ай бұрын

@@2mindfulwas just saying. This really needs VR

@jonathantx 2 ай бұрын

If there is a opportunity to WFH doing this feel free to contact me, I wouldn't mind one bit😁

@markconrad4160 Ай бұрын

sadly, company owners want more money, so they will eliminate the operating engineer. robotic equipment will take the humans out of the seat..the future is not bright, and the retirees will not have a pension payment..and if Republicans have their way, we won't have a social security payments also..millions of old operators will out on the streets homeless..

@solarissv777 Ай бұрын

And who gonna service all those even more complicated machines? Humans.