Caterpillar
Canvas Category OEM : Construction
With 2020 sales and revenues of $41.7 billion, Caterpillar Inc. is the world’s leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines, and diesel-electric locomotives. Since 1925, we’ve been driving sustainable progress and helping customers build a better world through innovative products and services. Throughout the product life cycle, we offer services built on cutting-edge technology and decades of product expertise. These products and services, backed by our global dealer network, provide exceptional value to help our customers succeed.
Assembly Line
Autonomous tractors plow path to the future at Caterpillar’s secluded Peoria Proving Ground
In another building, engineers wire up sensors to a Cat D5 bulldozer to take transmitted readings as it operates in the field, a sort of tractor electrocardiogram. Nearby sits the pride of Peoria, a hulking D11XE, a prototype of the first electric drive mining tractor.
The D11 mining tractor, the largest bulldozer Caterpillar makes, is built exclusively at its East Peoria factory. Launched in 1986, the 230,000-pound behemoth is a mainstay in mining and large construction projects. In October, the 6,000th D11 rolled off the production line, bound for an Australian customer site.
Caterpillar, which began experimenting with autonomous construction equipment nearly a decade ago, is one of several major companies developing it, along with Doosan in South Korea and Volvo Autonomous Solutions, which unveiled its new Swedish testing site in November. The potentially transformative technology is still in the early stages of commercialization.
Nth Cycle Closes $44 Million in Series B and Non-Dilutive Financing to Scale Clean Critical Metal Refining Technology
Nth Cycle, the innovative critical metals refining company, has closed $37 million in Series B and an additional $7 million in non-dilutive financing, led by VoLo Earth Ventures, a Colorado-based venture firm focused on climate solutions; MassMutual through the MM Catalyst Fund I, which invests in rural-based and Black-led businesses based in Massachusetts; Caterpillar Venture Capital Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Caterpillar Inc., the world’s leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, off-highway diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and diesel-electric locomotives; and Equinor Ventures, the venture capital arm of Equinor, a multinational energy company. Nth Cycle recently received two Department of Energy awards including $3 million from the Advanced Materials & Manufacturing Technologies Office (AMMTO) to drive the innovation required to strengthen America’s competitiveness in a global net-zero economy.
Nth Cycle’s patented Electro-Extraction technology replaces conventional and energy-intensive pyrometallurgy, also known as smelting, with a clean and modular refining system, aptly named The Oyster. Nth Cycle partners with industrial scrap recyclers, miners, and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to take a variety of feedstocks, including black mass, primary ore concentrates, and waste streams and refines them into metal products for the domestic clean energy economy.
How Rio has made the world’s biggest iron ore business into a machine
Rio Tinto’s Gudai-Darri mine is one of three new wave DSO mines in operation across WA’s Pilbara alongside BHP’s South Flank and Fortescue’s Eliwana, while FMG also recently opened its Iron Bridge magnetite mine. At 43Mtpa, Gudai-Darri is among the most advanced in the world. Its diggers and loaders are manned, but its Caterpillar trucks are fully automated, run out of an operations centre in Perth with code to direct their passage across the 5km by 3km Kara pit. Of its 430 haul trucks across 17 mines, 361 are automated. For the first time, Caterpillar has also delivered autonomous water carts. The company says the unmanned vehicles deliver productivity and safety benefits. It is looking to enhance automation and bring a tech focus into other areas of the site.
This robot (or row-bit if you’re Futurama’s Dr Zoidberg) is being trained to use a thermal sensor to test idlers along the 5-7km of conveyor belt taking iron ore from Gudai-Darri’s crusher to its stockpiles. There are around 3000 idlers (spinning bits of metal that propel the conveyor along) for every km of belt. From early next year Rio’s engineers hope to have the robot automated, perpetually running a process manual assessors only complete in full every 12 weeks. By catching symptoms of failing idlers early, the company hopes to reduce the 60 hours of downtime each eight months from unplanned maintenance shutdowns at the fixed plant attributed to idler failure.
🦾 Novarc Technologies Completes Series A Fundraising Round With Caterpillar Venture Capital
Novarc Technologies Inc., a leading provider of advanced robotics solutions, announced today the company has successfully completed a Series A fundraising round with Caterpillar Venture Capital Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Caterpillar Inc. ((NYSE: CAT), a global leader in the manufacturing of construction and mining equipment). Caterpillar joins Graham Partners, Export Development Canada (EDC) and other syndicate investors, and provides strategic support to Novarc’s vision to accelerate the development of a ground-breaking AI-powered robotics platform.
Novarc plans to leverage this strategic relationship to further enhance disruptive technology and expand its global reach. The adoption of a welding solution enhanced by artificial intelligence is fast becoming a necessity among fabrication facilities that want to remain competitive. The additional funds will be instrumental in advancing the development of Novarc’s AI-powered robotic solutions which provide a major step forward in manufacturing, precision, efficiency, and flexibility.
Caterpillar Announces Collaboration with Luck Stone to Scale Autonomous Solutions to the Aggregates Industry
Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) announced a collaboration with Luck Stone, the nation’s largest family-owned and operated producer of crushed stone, sand and gravel, to deploy Caterpillar’s autonomous solution to Luck Stone’s Bull Run Plant in Chantilly, Virginia. This will be Caterpillar’s first autonomous deployment in the aggregates industry and will expand the company’s autonomous truck fleet to include the 100-ton-class (90-tonne-class) Cat® 777.
Looking to accelerate autonomous solutions beyond mining, Caterpillar will implement its existing Cat® MineStar™ Command for Hauling system at the Bull Run quarry, on a fleet of 777G trucks. This will allow Caterpillar to gain greater insights on quarry operations in order to tailor the next generation of autonomous solutions specific to quarry and aggregate applications. This project supports the acceleration of autonomous technology for operations with fewer mobile assets to allow a step change in safety and productivity, as currently experienced at large mining operations.
Infinitum Secures $30M in Additional Growth Capital to Expand and Fully Automate Production Facility in Mexico
Infinitum, creator of the sustainable, breakthrough air core motor, today announced $30 million in additional growth capital from Riverstone Holdings Latin America, Alliance Resource Partners, Caterpillar Venture Capital and Cottonwood Technology Fund. The funds will be used to expedite commercial and industrial motor production by expanding and fully automating assembly at the company’s 65,000 square foot facility in Mexico to meet a significant increase in demand.
Electric motors consume more than half of the world’s electricity, with the general industry segment consuming 38 percent. Infinitum’s motor is 50 percent smaller and lighter, uses 66 percent less copper and no iron, and consumes 10 percent less energy. Infinitum motor components can be reused, allowing them to stay in service for decades.
Caterpillar Collaborates With Applied Intuition on Virtual Testing of Autonomous Machines
Applied Intuition and Caterpillar, the world’s leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, are collaborating to accelerate the testing of autonomous systems.
Applied Intuition offers physics-based simulation software that supports virtual testing. Caterpillar has been in the autonomy space for 30 years and recently announced the milestone of 500+ CAT® autonomous mining trucks in operation globally. The company also provides customers with the building blocks leading up to fully autonomous systems, including remote control and semi-autonomy for several applications such as dozing, loading, excavation, and compaction.
Applied Intuition’s software tools produce a virtual setting that allows Caterpillar to securely explore algorithms and test unique industry use cases—everything from pedestrian detection to pallet pickup and drop-off on construction sites—in dynamic, off-road environments.
Nth Cycle Secures $12.5 Million in Series A Financing to Scale Clean Critical Mineral Recycling & Mining Technology
Nth Cycle, the innovative metal processing and recycling technology company, has announced the closing of its $12.5 million Series A financing, co-led by the investment arm of Frankstahl, one of the largest privately held steel distribution companies in Europe, and VoLo Earth, a Colorado-based venture firm focused on climate solutions. Nth Cycle is disrupting the critical mineral supply chain necessary for electric vehicles, solar power, and energy storage through a groundbreaking recycling, mining and refining technology. Other investors in the financing include global commodities powerhouse, Mercuria, MassMutual through the MM Catalyst Fund, and previous investor Clean Energy Ventures.
Nth Cycle has engineered and developed an environmentally friendly process called electro-extraction that recovers critical minerals such as cobalt and nickel. In less than twelve months, the company has scaled its technology by 100x from bench-scale to a full commercial demonstration, which will be deployed by April 2022. Nth Cycle’s technology allows recyclers and miners to recover critical minerals from discarded batteries, low-grade ores, and mine site waste using only electricity and carbon filters. Electro-extraction is a cleaner, lower-cost alternative to the conventional, and prohibitively dirty pyrometallurgy and hydrometallurgy processes currently used by battery recyclers and mining companies. Nth Cycle’s technology expands the circular supply chain for the clean energy transition and can help disrupt China’s dominance in mining and refining of critical minerals.
U.S. Army’s New Expeditionary 3D Concrete Printer Can Go Anywhere, Build Anything
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Automated Construction of Expeditionary Structures (ACES) program is a game changer for construction in remote areas. The project will supply rugged 3D concrete printers that can go anywhere and print (almost) anything. The project started several years ago when concrete printers were very much in their infancy, but even then it was obvious that commercial products would not fit the Army’s needs.
ACES has produced multiple printers working with different industry partners. For example, ACES Lite was made in partnership with Caterpillar under a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement. It packs into a standard 20-foot shipping container and can be set-up or taken down in 45 minutes, has built-in jacks for quick leveling and can be calibrated in a matter of seconds, making it more straightforward than other devices. Overall the printer resembles a gantry crane, with a concrete pump, hose and a robotic nozzle which lays down precise layers.
The new technology is not magic, as 3D-printed construction is still construction. It does not do everything. A printed building still requires a roof and finishing touches like any other construction work. In areas with good logistics where equipment, labor and materials are all plentiful, there may be little advantage to the ACES approach. But in expeditionary environments, where all these things are likely to be in short supply, ACES could make a real difference.
Praemo Raises CAD $4.5 Million from McRock, Caterpillar Venture Capital and BDC Capital’s Industrial Innovation Venture Fund
“We are excited to be working with Caterpillar Venture Capital Inc. and BDC Capital Inc.’s Industrial Innovation Venture Fund, and to expand our relationship with McRock. This group of investors speaks to the value Praemo brings to industrial operators; McRock as a leader in the industrial IoT technology space, BDC Capital as a key shareholder providing the capital needed to drive this next wave of advancement, and Caterpillar Venture Capital Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Caterpillar Inc., the world’s leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, engines, turbines and locomotives.”, said Michael Martinez, co-founder and CEO at Praemo. “This additional funding allows us to accelerate our technology roadmap while sharing our customers’ successes more broadly across the industrial marketplace.”