KYB Corporation and ARAV Corporation Begin Collaboration on Construction Machinery Automation and Remote Control Solutions Using Hydraulic Control Technology

KYB Corporation (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo; President, CEO, and Representative Director: Masahiro Kawase) has begun a collaboration with ARAV Corporation (Headquarters: Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director: Itsuki Shiroku Reyes, hereinafter 'ARAV'), a company that develops and provides remote control and autonomous driving solutions for construction machinery. The collaboration focuses on the joint development of a retrofit service that adds electronic control devices to existing construction machinery, enabling them to be operated remotely and autonomously.

◆ Background of the Collaboration

The construction industry continues to face a serious labor shortage due to the aging of skilled workers and a decline in young entrants, leading to growing expectations for remote control and autonomous operation of construction machinery. However, many construction machines operating in Japan are controlled by conventional hydraulic pilot systems. To enable remote control or autonomous operation, it is a prerequisite to digitize (by-wire) the hydraulic control. While this digitization of hydraulics is an essential foundational technology for automating construction machinery, services that can handle this across different construction machinery manufacturers have been limited.

ARAV has operational experience at multiple construction sites with its autonomous driving solution for hydraulic excavators, 'Yoisho Toreikun,' using a retrofit approach that adds automation and remote control capabilities to existing construction machinery. Meanwhile, KYB has long-standing technological expertise in the field of hydraulic equipment, including hydraulic cylinders, pumps, and control valves, and has a track record of supplying hydraulic components to various construction machinery manufacturers.

◆ Overview of the Collaboration

In this collaboration, KYB and ARAV will combine ARAV's remote control and autonomous driving technology for construction machinery with the 'electronic control devices' developed by KYB to jointly offer a retrofit service that enables existing construction machinery to be operated remotely and autonomously.

KYB will provide the hardware that electronically controls the hydraulics, and ARAV will provide the control system for remote control and autonomous driving. This will allow them to offer a one-stop retrofit service that converts conventional hydraulic pilot-operated construction machinery to be compatible with remote control and autonomous operation.

Electromagnetic proportional pressure reducing valve

◆ Future Developments

KYB and ARAV will first begin offering this retrofit service for hydraulic excavators and will gradually expand the compatible models. In the future, they aim to expand into other categories such as wheel loaders and further enhance control performance, contributing to labor savings and improved safety at construction sites.

KYB Corporation

A comprehensive hydraulic equipment manufacturer that provides products integrating vibration control, power control, and system integration technologies, with hydraulic technology at its core.
Main products include shock absorbers for four-wheeled and two-wheeled vehicles, hydraulic equipment for construction and industrial machinery (pumps, valves, motors, cylinders, etc.), railway dampers, and concrete mixer trucks.