Teleo announced today the new customer partnerships with John Aarts Group, Teichert, and Tomahawk Construction. This news comes ahead of the upcoming technology demonstrations planned for next week's CONEXPO/CON-AAG. Teleo plans to showcase their retrofitted heavy construction equipment offerings March 14 - 18, including both their long range remote-operated units and autonomous robotic solutions.
2012 Caterpillar D10T Dozer retrofitted with the Teleo kit on top at Teichert’s site in Tracy, California
The continued difficulty filling open labor roles in the construction sector means the demand for the work Teleo does retrofitting traditional machines is likely to see a continued increase in demand. According to the Associated General Contractors of America, 91% of construction firms are having a hard time finding workers to hire, driving up costs and project delays.
Teleo's solution is one of gradual or incremental operational changes, to help companies address their labor needs with a system they call "Teleo Supervised Autonomy". The key feature of this system is that it allows a company to turn any traditional piece of construction equipment into a remotely controlled, semi-autonomous machines (of any make or model), and then allow it to be controlled by a single operator from a command center. It also enables that single operator to potentially manage multiple machines all at one time. That's a serious productivity opportunity.
Although the company states that fully autonomous machines, that don't require human intervention at all, are still many years away, this is one step closer to that eventual reality. For construction companies, and others, having Teleo's system that keeps human operators still involved while performing these complex tasks, is a net positive. However, it is cutting-edge level technology, and it can offer a direct measurable benefit to contractors now.
“The construction industry is experiencing a growing skilled labor shortage,” said Vinay Shet, Co-founder and CEO, Teleo. “We founded Teleo to help contractors supercharge their operators’ efforts by turning their equipment into semi-autonomous machines. By moving the operator out of the cab of the machine and into a command center, we’re also making the operator's role safer, comfortable, and more accessible."
An operator controlling two John Deere 333G Compact Track Loaders in Northern California, switching between remote operation and autonomy.
Teleo’s system includes the company’s proprietary software; a universal retrofit kit customized for any machine; a remote command center to operate the equipment; and a robust mesh network, which offers connectivity on site so the command center can communicate with the machine. The universal retrofit kit is designed to withstand the harsh conditions associated with operating heavy construction equipment, which includes enduring thousands of hours of heavy vibrations. The kit incorporates state-of-the-art sensors such as high dynamic range cameras that are capable of offering high-definition visibility and video footage both day and night.
Teleo will be demonstrating its technology in Las Vegas at CONEXPO March 14-18, 2023 at booth D3801 in the Diamond Lot. At the exhibit, there will be two remote operation stations. One station will control an on-site skid-steer loader and the other will control a skid-steer located at a site in northern California. For more information and to request an appointment to check out the technology, interested customers may visit https://teleo.ai/conexpo/#/.
