GPS Tracking System Blog

How GPS Machine Control Works

GPS machine control systems all have many things in common. Scrapers, excavators, blades, and even tractors all must use the same basic philosophy when utilizing GPS. All GPS systems receive signals from satellites in the sky broadcasting positions; a base station on your job site picks up these signals. The base station “learns” where it is and “locks” in it’s position. Once the base knows where it is, it can read the GPS signals and send the working machines the positional error corrections. The computers onboard the moving machines receive these messages via radio or cell phone signals over 20 times a second, as their location changes, and generate coordinates for the computer to compare to grade.

While learning about GPS Machine Control, think of the machines as rovers, with blades on them. Basically the machine is trying to attain grade, while the rover is trying to determine deviance from that grade. Imagine doing both at the same time and then having computerized movement of the blade fixes the difference. Thus the reason GPS machine control has been pursued, all off the work is done from the same reference point in space, in accordance to the plans of the job, making work faster and more accurate.