Consortium to develop autonomous technology for quarries
HD Hyundai XiteSolution (HDX) partner with Gravis and Holcim to revolutionize autonomous machinery development
HD Hyundai XiteSolution (HDX), the holding company for HD Hyundai Infracore and its Develon brand, in collaboration with Gravis Robotics AG, have signed a ground-breaking agreement with Holcim Inc.
The partnership agreement outlines a strategic partnership for the development and commercialization of autonomous technology designed to enhance productivity and improve safety in quarry operations and confined material-handling applications.
HDX and Gravis Robotics are collaborating to implement jointly developed autonomous technology using Develon’s equipment across Holcim’s operations, with a particular focus on quarry environments including:
Truck loading of blasted rock for efficient material transport
Feeding hoppers of mobile crushers and screeners with extracted materials
Confined material handling at asphalt and aggregate plants
Stockyard management, optimizing material flow and storage.
Holcim’s quarrying and processing sites combined with their operational expertise provides the consortium with a global platform that can be used to enable the integration of autonomous heavy construction equipment.
Through the adoption of autonomous machinery, Holcim want to realize increased productivity through increased output and consistency, increased safety by reducing the number of people on site, and improved sustainability through optimized machine performance. This will allow machine selection to be optimized from a cost and performance perspective.
Gravis Robotics, in co-operation with HDX, will develop this cutting-edge autonomous technology for construction equipment, and will work closely with Holcim to facilitate the necessary field support and ensure the successful deployment of the technology across their operations.
The ultimate goal of this initiative is to scale and integrate the autonomous technology into Holcim’s global operations at a volume that ensures commercial viability for all stakeholders.
By leveraging automation, HDX, Gravis, and Holcim are driving the future of quarry operations, improving productivity while reducing environmental impact and operational risks.
Develon’s vision for autonomous machinery has been an ongoing development stream at the company for years, starting with the Concept-X technology first seen globally in 2019. This progressed to Develon’s Concept-X2, the much-heralded remote control/autonomous cabless construction equipment solution first seen at Conexpo in 2023 and promoted globally by the company for the last two years.
The next level in autonomous working from the company to be shown at Bauma for the first time is called Real X, which allows the latest smart Develon crawler excavators to carry out a full suite of autonomous tasks, including trenching, bulk earthwork, and truck loading.
Real X utilizes Develon’s expertise in AI-powered excavation and construction equipment technology to accelerate the development of safe, productive, sustainable, and predictive autonomous excavation solutions. Real X technology is also flexible and allows the same excavator to be operated in autonomous mode, remote control mode, or in normal joystick operation mode.
With roots in Switzerland, Gravis Robotics is a university-based start-up company with more than a decade of experience in construction robotics. The partnership between HDX and Gravis Robotics aims to combine both companies’ expertise in AI-powered excavation and construction equipment technology to accelerate the development of safe, productive, sustainable, and predictive autonomous excavation solutions.
The new collaboration is working on autonomous machine projects at HDX, to bring the next generation of autonomous excavators to market faster. To achieve speedier commercialization, the partnership is combining the technology and innovative solution approach at Gravis with the mechanical engineering expertise and customer base at Develon. Moreover, by having a development partner in Europe, Develon believe it will be easier to meet the requirements and customization needed for European customers.
