Topcon X-53x brings 3D automated digging depth to excavators

John Deere Excavator

Topcon’s X-53x automatically controls digging depth and bucket angle on excavators.

Contractors wanting to upgrade their excavators to automated digging depth have a new option with Topcon’s X-53x.

The X-53x is the latest addition to the company’s 3D machine control products for excavators, adding automated hydraulic control.

The aftermarket system controls dig depth and bucket angle for precise digging. The system reduces the risk of overdigging and leads to a 30 percent gain in productivity, the company says.

Topcon Digging Depth Sensor

The X-53x system includes 500kbps Baud Rate TS-i3 sensors, MC-X1 controller, GR-i3 GNSS receivers and screen.

The X-53x can also be used to upgrade Topcon 2D and 3D excavation systems to automated digging and is designed to be upgradeable in the future, due to its modular design, according to Topcon.

“We have seen how much automated control changed the earthmoving process with our dozer systems,” says Murray Lodge, Topcon senior vice president of construction, “and we expect the huge benefits of now having an automated excavator system to introduce similar benefits.”

The system offers easier, more precise calibration, the company says. A total station communicates wirelessly with the system for calibration rather than requiring information to be typed in.

Topcon says the system’s GR-i3 GNSS receivers enable precise placement of boom, stick and bucket. Bucket movements are tracked in real time and guide the operator to the correct grade.

Along with X-53x, Topcon has launched a new version of its Haul Truck application for mobile devices that provides real-time truck load-tracking and reporting. The cloud-based app is designed for iOS and Android.