Machine control and drone data education and news. 

Learn how to quickly set up and use a virtual limit warning to avoid swinging into traffic or other obstacles.

One of John Deere's Precision Construction Instructors, walks us through important settings on a 470G SmartGrade Excavator.

One of Deere's Precision Construction Instructors teaches us how to initiate automatic control on a 470G SmartGrade excavator.

One of John Deere's Precision Construction Instructors walks us through the basic functionality of the 2D Smart Grade system.

Every contractor hits growing pains with GPS machine control, but the fix doesn’t have to be complicated. We gathered field-tested advice from experts at Caterpillar, John Deere, Komatsu, and Case to highlight four simple but critical steps: learn the basics, invest in training, use high-quality 3D data, and appoint an internal GPS Champion. Nail these, and GPS becomes the backbone of your grading operation—not a source of frustration.

It seems simple but, too often, machine control basics like keeping the rover level and stable are overlooked when calibrating GPS to a cons

Another important consideration when laying out your ground control is topo check shots.

ALWAYS, and only, measure in your ground control with a rover that is fully calibrated to the site control for your GPS system.

To start, place a GCP on roughly the highest and lowest spots on your project. Don't worry about...

Surrounding the site with ground control is a simple, but often overlooked, step. Usually four to six GCP's...