John Deere Puts GPS to Use

John Deere Construction & Forestry Co., Moline, Ill., has announced that it will soon offer equipment that ships from the factory with hardware, software and wiring integrated and ready to support the use of global positioning systems (GPS) or laser guidance systems.

John Deere is working under separate development agreements with two suppliers of GPS and laser-based guidance systems in the construction market to develop this technology for crawlers, graders and other machines. The mobile construction equipment will operate software from aftermarket guidance systems and enable control through an electrical interface, according to Brett Errthum, product manager for John Deere Construction & Forestry.

The new systems also helps remove clutter from the operator’s station because the onboard PC is integrated into the existing machine monitor, which provides a larger screen for the guidance data and eliminates the need for an additional monitor.