Trimble® GradeMax™ What is grade max

Objectives Objective 1: Objective 2: Objective 3: To understand how good GradeMax can make your dozer Objective 2: To learn simple, effective tuning methods Objective 3: To know of the extra options for difficult situations

What is GradeMax New software to improve your performance with no extra hardware How: Doubled the update rate Tweaked some settings Improved some code Use CAN1 at the nose on Dual GNSS systems Requires CB460 or CB450 Control Box MS992 GNSS Smart Antenna Latest firmware

What do I get Smooth surfaces at full speed second gear Fastest recommended grading speed Automatic recovery from disturbances Hit a dip or a rock and the control system will quickly recover and keep grading smoothly Happy operators Less stress and less operator intervention VPAT – Variable pitch angle tilt blade

What do I do to get this? NOTHING! Upgrading will turn this feature ON If you have the latest GNSS receivers and control box with the latest firmware Upgrading will turn this feature ON If you swap to old receivers: MS990 – get a small part of the improvement Requires v4.19 MS990 firmware MS980 – No improvement Back to MS992 and get the improvements

Dozer Tuning On The Fly New method of tuning the valve speeds And more More user friendly More productive More values to tune Easier to use Dozers only All other machines & Cat Grade Control dozers get the old Valve Speed dialog

How? Load you design and offsets as normal Tune while operating

Best Practice While tuning: Keep your speed constant Keep your blade load constant Work in the same material Same compaction and moisture content Otherwise you don’t know what caused the change ¼ to 1/3 blade load

Inc /Dec Switches The Increment / Decrement Switch will change the Valve Tuning Parameter Not the Vertical Offset Unless you highlight that option And it Auto Repeats 

Lift Speed Same as the old Valve Speed Adjust this first! Nearly Adjust this first! Controls the speed that the blade reacts to the correction Like the accelerator

Lift Speed Treat as a % Adjusts the kPs and kDs equally Default Values are now 100 Linear scale – changes are all the same size Treat as a % Adjusts the kPs and kDs equally Range 0 – 400 Value speed on the fly

Lift Speed Parameter Graphical Picture Brief Instructions Quick Increment Quick Decrement More Instructions Set Default Ground Speed Manual / Auto Status Status Bar

Lift Speed Change this value first Often this is enough For short, choppy waves – decrease the speed For long rolling waves – increase the speed Try changing by 5 or 10

You’re Done! Unless The surface is still not acceptable You are confident that you can You should be able to feel the changes in the seat of your pants There is always the default button 

Tuning While Stopped Like the old Valve Speed dialog You can still do this Place the blade 0.5 m in the air Create a Level Design Now you can tune in the air while stopped

Balance Adjust Lift Speed first! Controls the balance between raise and lower Like adjusting weights either side of a scale

Balance Tune the Lift Speed first! This is the ratio between raise and lower commands Only if you have to

Balance Increasing Balance makes the blade raise faster And lower more slowly Decreasing Balance makes the blade lower faster And raise more slowly May need to tweak Lift Speed after Balance Range 0 – 200

Stability Adjust Lift Speed first! Stability controls the speed that the blade stops at when reaching design Like the brake

Stability Manager Mode only by default Alters the Derivative Gains (kDs) only kDs are the brakes in the control system Range 0 – 400

Stability Tune the Lift Speed first! Increase the Stability if the blade overshoots the design Decrease the Stability if the blade is jerky when driving to design Maybe best to tune this in the air, while stopped

Tilt Speed Controls tilt speed Usually does not require adjusting

Tilt Speed Increase Tilt Speed to Tilt blade faster Decrease Tilt Speed to Tilt blade slower Usually don’t need to alter this… Range 0 – 400

Vertical Offset The normal vertical offset The Increment / Decrement switch is used for adjusting the highlighted value Not just Vertical Offset Allows Vertical Offset control without leaving Valve Tuning dialog

Vertical Offset So you can change the Vertical Offset without leaving this dialog To keep your blade load at the optimal level

Tuning Tips On screen instructions to help operators

Best Practice Bad practice will cause problems! Keep your speed constant Keep your blade load constant Work in the same material Same compaction and moisture content Otherwise you don’t know what caused the change

Tuned Dozers Some dozers have specifically tuned control values Selected in the Machine Settings Wizard Valve Tuning still uses the same defaults

Upgrade Details On upgrade (or restoring an old MCH file) the Valve Speed will be translated to the corresponding new value NOTE: Valve Speed used a 0 – 100 logarithmic scale 50 = default Valve Tuning uses a 0 – 400 linear scale 100 = default

Questions ?