Today we're going to be talking about
the Bobcat depth check system. The Bobcat
depth check system is in fact exclusive
to the Bobcat excavator. It actually
relies on componentry that is standard
or optional equipment on Bobcat
excavators, and it needs those other
items to function. So to start out from a
component standpoint, depth check itself
includes a sensor on the bucket linkage,
it includes the sensor on the arm, and it
includes a sensor on the base of the
boom. So the system essentially consists
of the three sensors that are inclinometers.
The inclinometers are basically telling the exact
position of the boom, the arm, and the
attachment, which in this case is a
bucket. These sensors are constantly
sending data back to the machine's
control unit. That control unit is
processing it essentially instantly, and
then sending that data and information
onto the Bobcat deluxe display screen.
It's transferring information that
the operator needs either in a visual
form and or an audible signal to guide
the operator to either sustain a desired
grade, or to achieve a desired dig depth.
It's a wired system that gives us a
little bit of flexibility as far as
avoiding batteries and or solar charging
systems. It also gives us the flexibility
to submerge. Oftentimes on some
applications, will see this sensor
actually submerged in water, and with a
wired system we're still able to pull a
signal back into the controller and
continue the process digging and and
guiding the operator. The Bobcat depth
check system is applicable to the E32
through E55, so our three and a half
ton excavator all the way up to our
five and a half ton excavator.
The machine has to have the
current forward mounted instrumentation
and furthermore it has to have the
deluxe panel, the optional deluxe panel.
It needs that system to process display
and provide operator input. You'll see
four kits that are available for that
span of machines and the kits applicable
machines depend upon the arm
configuration on the machine, be it
standard or long arm, and whether the
machine has an angle blade or not. The
key perhaps to remember is, the depth
check is not compatible with an
extendable arm. I'm going to show you
quickly how to access depth check on the
Bobcat deluxe display screen. I'm on the
home screen at the moment and what to
get the depth check I need to toggle
over to my attachment menu, and from the
attachment menu I will move attachments
until I find depth check. I've found
depth check and now I'm going to say yes,
and now this brings me right directly to
the default depth check digging screen.
I'm going to walk through the deluxe
display panel which is needed for depth
check on the machine. Just to get
started the the number one button
correlates to the bench. The bench is a
critical function of depth check, it's
used to essentially tell the machine
where the start reference point is. We'll
use bench function every time we move
the machine and reset and prepare to dig
again. The next button down is tools. If I
press tools, it gives me a menu of four
items. That's where we can establish
depth targets, you can preset five depth
targets in the system so that you can
quickly access them as you're
digging. Then we can move to grade
zone. Grade zone is the zone where you
dean is an acceptable range plus or
minus your actual target. That's an
adjustable
number at your discretion. Warning zone
is the is what we call the area where
you're approaching your target, so the
system gives you an audible and a visual
alert that you're approaching your
target. There too you can
set that at your discretion, whatever you
feel is acceptable. And this screen is
also where you would set the laser
receiver position if you are running a
laser system with depth check. Also in
the tools is the select and attachment.
With depth check you have to you have to
install and calibrate each and every
different attachment that you're going
to be running with the system, and then
you'll establish a list of five
attachments that you can quickly pick
from as you're
working, and we can pick those from the
main menu with just two clicks on the
system. And then we also have set up in
calibration. Setup and calibration really
is going to be used at when only when
them when the system is installed on a
machine. There are sensitive items in
there. When we're in setup and
calibration we actually limit that to
require a password to get into that
system, so that someone doesn't
inadvertently go in there and change one
of those critical settings. The other
button we can pick is your preferences
there are three digging screens that you
can choose to use with depth check, and
we'll walk through those later.
But another item in the preferences
screen is the units of measure, and with
depth check you can pick inches, feet,
meters, or millimeters. So if I back out,
return to the main screen, I'll show you
the three different screens that you
could choose from to dig with. This is
one of the three. This is a grade check
screen. And basically what this tells you,
after you bench your attachment, it will
tell you a rise over run and a slope
percentage. So as I move the bucket
towards me, the screen will display the
lateral movement towards me of
the bucket tooth, and it will also
display the rise if I were to raise that
tooth up in the air and calculate
instantly a slope percentage for me. The
other screen that we would be able to
put quick is an alternative to the
default screen and that's another
variation of a distance to target screen.
We have a blue arrow that points us
down to target, an orange arrow if we're
too low it will point us direct us back
up to our target. In essence functions
very much like the default screen, just a
different screen two suitors preferences.
Below the tool setting we have a number
three button that can turn on and off
the the audible alert. There's different
preferences, some people want to hear an
audible alert as opposed to watch for a
visual, so you can turn that on or off at
your discretion. As I'm in the main
digging screen, I mentioned earlier the
depth targets that I had preset. In the
digging screen I can quickly pick my
depth target screen, and I can change
depth targets depending on what it is
that I want to do in the particular dig
cycle. So they're quick and easy to get
to and all I have to do is bounce back
to my main digging screen. So the system
is telling me with the chirp now that
I'm approaching my depth target, and the
screen is also visually telling me that.
The red bar is my bucket tooth, and as I
approached target I'll hear a solid
audible pitch, and my screen is telling
me I'm on target I'm gonna fit in my
grade zone. As I dig below, I will now
hear a fast-paced chirp. That's signaling
to me audibly that, hey you've gone
beyond your depth target, you need to
come back up to achieve and stay on your
your desired grade zone.
When I'm done with depth check and I'm
going about other excavation or lifting
or work with the machine, to get out of
it I simply press the HOME key and it
returns me to the machine operating
screen. So when we talk about
applications of depth check, I kind of
like to break it down into three
different categories of using the system.
The first would be simply going out to
maintain a minimum cover type task.
In that situation you're simply trying
to achieve a minimum depth relative to
the surface, a job easily attained
with depth check alone,
exclusive of laser. The second type would
be to use to use the system to sustain a
grade, and the example would be footings
in the bottom of a trench. If you have a
known grade level, sub grade level that
you have to achieve, depth check works
wonderful for that. To sustain that level
bottom trench, irregardless of the
surface configuration, the service
topography. Then the third gets a little
more complicated. It introduces the laser
aspect the laser accessory into and on
top of depth check. And that would be to
either achieve a desired subgrade,
sustain a desired sub grade, or to
achieve and sustain a desired slope. That
kind of drives the necessity of the
laser on the on top of the depth check
system.