Hitachi Construction Machinery Develops "Real-Time Digital Twin Platform" That Reproduces the Real Construction Site in a Virtual World

Enables the management of construction progress and the operation of autonomous construction machinery from a remote location on the Internet

In recent years, labor shortages have become an issue in the construction industry due to the decreasing birthrate and aging population. Customers have high expectations that autonomous construction machinery will become one solution to that problem. To meet these expectations, Hitachi Construction Machinery aims to realize construction sites in which people and machinery work in a coordinated manner to balance safety and productivity through "collaborative safety" by mutually sharing information about the "people, machinery, and site environment." Specifically, people would be alerted to pay attention and construction machinery would be controlled based on information collected by the machinery and sensing systems to carry out highly productive construction while guiding the overall site in a safe direction. To realize this type of construction, Hitachi Construction Machinery developed the "ZCORE" system platform for autonomous construction machinery in August 2020. In addition, the company invested in and singed a business alliance agreement with aptpod in May 2023 to promote the development of a digital twin system that visualizes an entire construction site and autonomously operates construction machinery.

This platform can reproduce real-time real-world construction site in the virtual world, including various information such as the location and operational information of construction machinery, the location and biometric information of workers, terrain changes due to the progress of work, and other construction site conditions. This will enable adjustments to be made to the work details of individuals and the control of multiple pieces of construction machinery working on site with low latency on the Internet from a remote location to realize construction sites where people and machinery coexist with a high degree of safety.

In the development of this platform, Hitachi Construction Machinery was in charge of providing the autonomous construction machinery (hydraulic excavators and wheel loaders) and defining the requirements for reproducing a construction site as a digital twin. aptpod developed the cloud system for data collection based on its "intdash" high-speed IoT platform and the mobile and PC user interface used by the workers, and Unicast developed the software for converting the terrain of a construction site into 3D data based on data obtained from LiDAR. The ability of the technologies from aptpod and Unicast to transmit and process large volumes of constantly changing data enables the construction of a highly real-time digital twin. Going forward, the companies aim to realize collaborative safety which includes advanced autonomous construction machinery and improved site safety and productivity through repeated verification tests for the purpose of practical application.

Furthermore, Hitachi Construction Machinery is planning to hold an exhibition related to this platform at the 6th Construction & Survey Productivity Improvement EXPO (CSPI-EXPO) to be held from May 22 (Wed.) to 24 (Fri.), 2024, at Makuhari Messe in Chiba Prefecture, Japan.

Going forward, the Hitachi Construction Machinery Group will continue to actively promote open innovation, create new forms of value, and provide products and solutions that meet customer needs.

Trademark notice

• "ZCORE" is a registered trademark of Hitachi Construction Machinery Co., Ltd.
• "intdash" is a registered trademark of aptpod, Inc.
• Other company and product names mentioned in this document may be the or registered trademarks or trademarks of their respective owners.

Related information

About Hitachi Construction Machinery Co., Ltd.

Hitachi Construction Machinery Co., Ltd. (TSE: 6305), headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is a construction machinery manufacturer which globally deploys development, manufacturing, sales, and service businesses for its hydraulic excavators, wheel loaders, compaction equipment, and mining machinery, etc. In addition to its new machinery business, Hitachi Construction Machinery is expanding its "value chain businesses" of parts and services, remanufacturing (parts and machines), rentals, and used equipment as it aims to grow together with customers as a true solutions provider that offers innovative solutions to customers. With roughly 26,000 employees around the world, the consolidated sales revenue for Hitachi Construction Machinery was 1,405.9 billion yen for fiscal year 2023 (ended March 2024) with an overseas sales revenue ratio of 84%. For more details, please see the company's website.

Information contained in this news release is current as of the date of the press announcement, but may be subject to change without prior notice.