BOMAG’s Robomag BW154 Autonomous Tandem Roller

Fully autonomous compaction equipment could offer a number of benefits, including eliminating human error during compaction and removing human operators from potentially dangerous situations. That’s why the team at BOMAG Americas, Ridgeway, South Carolina, has developed its Robomag BW154 fully autonomous tandem roller, which had its North American debut at CONEXPO-CON/AGG 2020 in Las Vegas. Here’s how it works.

When unloading or loading the machine, the operator controls it remotely via a remote with two handheld joysticks.

The operator creates a geofence with a laptop or desktop computer to define the area within which the roller will operate autonomously. The BW154 relies on GPS sensors to remain within the predetermined area. An operator can also use the joystick remote to control the machine if it needs to perform compaction outside of the predefined area.

Four proximity sensors detect obstacles, including people crossing near the machine, and signal the roller to automatically stop moving. One sensor is located on the back, one on the front, and one on each side. The BW154 is also equipped with emergency stop buttons on both sides of the machine.

As the BW154 travels autonomously, it relies on BOMAG’s Asphalt Manager technology to monitor and control compaction power. Asphalt Manager uses two accelerometers to measure the material stiffness. The operator selects the layer thickness, and Asphalt Manager then determines the amount of force to apply for compaction. With Asphalt Manager, the BW154 can adjust its compactive force based on the level of compaction already achieved. The machine will sense stiffness of the material and will turn vibration on or off automatically, depending on the stiffness of the mat. This information can either be printed out, if equipped with a printer, or shared to an Android tablet, if the unit is connected to BOMAG’s IC mapping tool, BOMAP.

In the future, BOMAG would like to equip the machine with thermal mapping sensors so it could also detect the temperature of the material it is compacting. At this point, the BW154 autonomous roller is still a prototype, but BOMAG continues to strive for its future vision.

For more information, visit your local BOMAG dealer.