Posted on July 12, 2024
By Heiko Osterchrist-Associate Publisher
Trimble is a global, industrial technology company who supports the building & construction, marine, agriculture, natural resources, utilities, transportation, and many other sectors.
DW: Jonathan tell our readers a little bit about your background and how you came to be at Trimble.
JW: I got involved in the LiDAR (Light Detection & Ranging) industry right out of university, even though it was not what I had studied. I joined a sales team of a LiDAR manufacturer that transitioned into mobile LiDAR, which was a rapidly growing sector. That transitioned to mobile LiDAR for marine applications. This involved the integration of top side LiDAR with sonar and GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) signals and same positioning and single arm measurements and tying that all together to get below and above the surface of the water measurements. Being involved in these innovative technologies lead me to Trimble back in 2017 when I was hired to be their product manager for Trimble’s emerging construction group in Houston where I worked in the offshore oil & gas sector. I then moved to Colorado to work in Trimble’s machine control engineering HQ.
DW: How does Trimble differentiate itself from its competitors?
JW: Trimble is an industry leader in machine control for land construction and has applied this experience to the marine sector. One of the major factors that differentiate Trimble from its competitors, who have similar systems, is that Trimble has had decades of experience and innovation in the construction industry. Trimble has taken what we’ve learned from terrestrial survey and standard construction workflows and applied them to the marine sector. As an example, in the marine sector, you cannot always see the bucket, see around the barge or get out and inspect the work area; Trimble developed a system years ago that allows the marine operators to see where their bucket’s or cutter heads were located, however, what was lacking was real time information as to whether the bucket was full or whether a slump occurred and material was left behind, other than through bathymetric surveys. Trimble formed a partnership with Teledyne in 2017 which gave Trimble access to Teledyne’sunderwater motion technology. Teledyne’s sonar expertise combined with Trimble’s land expertise provided Trimble a clear advantage over our competitors in applications for the marine sector to provide those eyes and real time data verification to the marine operator, which helps minimize the costly expense and time, for example, a dredge operator having to go back and re-dredge an area. Trimble provides case studies on the significant monies saved and payback on the investment. However, despite the real time visual technology, turbidity is still an issue that can distort the real time feedback, which Trimble &Teledyne are working to solve. Another advantage we have, Trimble is the GNSS, machine control sensor and harness manufacturer, based upon decades of experience working on machines, so between Trimble & Teledyne we have it all covered vs. our competitors who make one component but must outsource for other items. This makes Trimble a one stop shop for customers, including all customer support and service.
Oregon Dredge Project using Trimble Marine Construction Systems
DW: Was Trimble’s System used in locating sections of the collapsed Frances Scott Key Bridge?
JW: Yes, some of Trimble’s systems and solutions were utilized in the recovery process. Initially, Trimble Applanix GNSS-aided inertial positioning systems enabled multibeam sonar vessels to locate and map submerged portions of the fallen bridge. With the debris field accurately mapped, our GNSS systems were then used to provide reliable location data enabling barges and other vessels to operate safely amongst the debris and other known submerged hazards. We also expect our GNSS and marine guidance systems to play significant roles in the removal of submerged debris and eventually the construction of the new bridge to include marine piling, material placement, near real-time “as-building” surveys, etc.
DW: What Trimble systems are not utilized in the marine sector that should be?
JW: Trimble offers a wide range of solutions that could play a major role in port expansions or infrastructure projects, which may include dredging and other construction equipment. Trimble also has a railway division where its infrastructure and construction solutions could bring operational improvements & efficiencies. Trimble has software products that are for grand scale management of large, multifaceted type of projects, which require collaboration and cloud connectivity from machine to machine, machine to office, back to office to machine and multiple types of machines, which have not been utilized to a great extent in these industries/applications. This is an area that I and Trimble are focused on to grow.
DW: Has Trimble started utilizing AI in its solutions?
JW: Trimble is a technology company, so yes. We are exploring the use of AI within all of Trimble’s divisions and have resources dedicated to looking at ways to integrate it into our solutions. At this stage it is too early to define specifics, but certainly on the documentation, training, and support sections there is a lot Trimble is already doing. How it can be further leveraged in other areas of Trimble is still to be determined.
DW; What are your biggest challenges?
JW: Continuing to move towards making our systems as easy as possible for the operators that are out there. Right now, our system makes a good operator a great operator. They are going to be better and more efficient than they were before. However, if you take an inexperienced operator, who has little or no experience in a machine and put them in that operators chair our question is how quickly can Trimble get them to be productive? Our goal is to do it ASAP so that it does not have to be a 20-year experienced veteran always sitting in that machine. It is a challenge when you are integrating all these technologies to ask a layman to be able to easily look at a screen, interpret what is happening and react properly based on what they see. Simulators, which Trimble has, help in the training but Trimble’s goal is to continue to work on solutions/systems to make it easier for less experienced operators to understand and use our system.
DW: Thank you, Jonathan, for your time and we wish you and Trimble success.
