Trimble Dimensions proving successful in new venue

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The 7898 Trimble Dimensions 2016 users conference opened its doors to a record attendance on 7th November, 2016. With the event now being held in the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas, the conference has attracted record levels of attendees.
Construction professionals from some 80 countries have registered to attend the event, which this year is running in excess of 600 separate training sessions in specialist fields.

Speaking at the opening keynote address, 2122 Trimble president and CEO Steve Berglund said, “Dimensions is about the celebration of technology.” He continued how the industry has changed since the firm was formed in 1978, with connectivity being a particularly strong driver of that change in recent years, helping boost efficiency and productivity.

He explained, “Steps that used to be done in the late stage can now be brought forward.” Contractors no longer have to bring data back from the field to the office for analysis, “You can do those codes in the field.”

Berglund said how contractors now have a very good access to data, which helps how they operate. And he said, “Increasingly we’re becoming used to real-time updates.”

The event has seen the unveiling of some revolutionary new technologies from Trimble and one of the most noteworthy is the firm’s prototype autonomous tractor. Of the systems the tractor utilises, around 95% are already commercially available from the firm. Although aimed at the agriculture market, this machine also features systems that could be used in the construction and extraction industries. For bulldozers working in the high altitude mines of Peru and Bolivia for example, autonomous working would solve the problems of getting operators to work in these tough and hard to access sites.

Another advanced technology being unveiled is the joint development with Microsoft, a holographic 3D visualisation tool that runs on Windows 10. Called HoloLens, the package attracted great interest. Lorraine Bardeen, GM, Windows and HoloLens Experiences Production & Strategy at Microsoft commented, “It is the first holographic computer software and it runs on Windows 10. Anyone can view 3D data in an intuitive way. You are going to be at the forefront of computing.”