Demonstration Test of Autonomous Loading and Transport through Coordination between Excavators and Crawler Dumpers
Sumitomo Heavy Industries, Sumitomo Construction Machinery, and Fujita Corporation have successfully conducted a joint demonstration test of an automated earth-moving cycle using autonomous excavators and crawler dumpers. The test confirmed that a single operator can safely manage the entire 'excavation-loading-transport-dumping' cycle via a construction management system, demonstrating the feasibility of labor-saving automation on construction sites.
📋 Article Processing Timeline
- 📰 Published: March 30, 2026 at 20:00
- 🔍 Collected: March 30, 2026 at 22:56 (2h 56m after Published)
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: June 2, 2026 at 13:02 (1526h 6m after Collected)
Sumitomo Heavy Industries, Ltd. (Headquarters: Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo; President and CEO: Toshiro Watanabe; hereinafter "Sumitomo Heavy Industries"), Sumitomo Construction Machinery Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo; President and CEO: Isamu Mitsuhashi; 100% subsidiary of Sumitomo Heavy Industries; hereinafter "Sumitomo Construction Machinery"), and Fujita Corporation (Headquarters: Shibuya-ku, Tokyo; President and CEO: Yoji Okumura; hereinafter "Fujita") have jointly conducted a demonstration test on the automation of earth-moving and transport at construction sites through the coordination of autonomous (*1) excavators and autonomous crawler dumpers. Aiming to evaluate the practicality of automating soil removal, the test verified whether different types of autonomous construction machinery could complete the work cycle of "excavation → loading → transport → dumping" in coordination based on instructions from a construction management system. The results confirmed that the work could be performed safely by a single system operator without any contact between the machines.
*You can also view a video summary of this test at the following URL:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7iYZbNFRVE (Sumitomo Heavy Industries YouTube Channel)
[Background of the Initiative]
In the construction industry, addressing labor shortages caused by a declining youth workforce and an aging population, as well as improving productivity, are critical challenges. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism is promoting "i-Construction 2.0" (*2), and construction machinery manufacturers and general contractors are advancing various initiatives toward the automation of construction.
Sumitomo Heavy Industries and Sumitomo Construction Machinery have been independently developing autonomous hydraulic excavators (autonomous excavators) (*3) that operate on their own according to the surrounding environment, and have been examining the potential for integration with construction management systems that issue operational instructions to multiple pieces of construction machinery.
Fujita has been working on demonstration experiments where multiple construction machines coordinate and perform construction autonomously based on instructions from its own construction management system, through initiatives such as the Cabinet Office's Cross-ministerial Strategic Innovation Promotion Program (SIP) (*4), and has been exploring the applicability to construction machinery in collaboration with manufacturers.
Against this backdrop, the three companies held repeated discussions aimed at labor-saving and advancing construction sites. They connected the autonomous excavators from Sumitomo Heavy Industries and Sumitomo Construction Machinery and the autonomous crawler dumpers developed through the SIP initiative to Fujita's construction management system to verify the automation of soil loading and transport.
[Overview of the Demonstration Experiment]
This demonstration was conducted from January 19 to February 28, 2026, at the Funabashi Urban Planning Ebikawa Upstream District Land Readjustment Project site in Chiba Prefecture, which is currently under construction by Fujita. The purpose was to verify work efficiency and safety in the common "excavation → loading → transport → dumping" work cycle by coordinating autonomous excavators and autonomous crawler dumpers.
[Roles of the Three Companies]
Sumitomo Heavy Industries: Provision of autonomous excavators that autonomously move, excavate, and load according to instructions from the construction management system.
Sumitomo Construction Machinery: Provision of the ICT-compatible hydraulic excavator (SH200Z) used as the base for the autonomous excavator.
Fujita: Development of the construction management system that instructs each piece of construction machinery (autonomous crawler dumper, autonomous excavator) to perform work; provision of autonomous crawler dumpers that travel to designated positions and dump soil according to instructions from the construction management system.
[Flow of the Demonstration Experiment] *(Parentheses indicate the developer/provider of each technology/system.)
● Centered on the construction management system, instructions (transport requests, start/end of excavation and loading, dumper departure instructions, etc.) are sent to the autonomous excavator and autonomous crawler dumper, respectively (Fujita).
● The crawler dumper travels while recognizing and avoiding surrounding obstacles. It stops at a position where it can receive soil from the excavator and rotates its body to the appropriate direction (Fujita).
● The autonomous excavator recognizes the ground and the soil shape in the crawler dumper's bed in real-time. It performs soil excavation and loading into the crawler dumper continuously (Sumitomo Heavy Industries).
● After loading is complete, the crawler dumper travels again while recognizing and avoiding surrounding obstacles, and performs dumping at the designated location.
[Technical Features]
● The excavator moves autonomously according to the progress of the work. The excavator side determines the optimal excavation location in real-time, enabling continuous loading into the crawler dumper (Sumitomo Heavy Industries).
● The excavator achieves smooth operation speeds close to those of an operator through AI that references operator movements (Sumitomo Heavy Industries).
● Safety functions such as emergency stops, fail-safes, and safe-side operation in the event of communication loss are implemented (Fujita).
[Key Results of the Demonstration]
● Based on instructions from the construction management system, different construction machines successfully completed coordinated autonomous loading and transport of soil on-site.
● Confirmed that the number of people required for the series of tasks from excavation to dumping can be reduced from two to one (one operator for the construction management system is required, replacing the operators for the excavator and crawler dumper). The labor-saving effect will increase as the number of coordinate-capable construction machines increases in the future.
● Successfully performed smooth loading without colliding with the vehicle body by detecting the position of the crawler dumper's bed.
[Future Developments]
Through this verification, we were able to evaluate the practicality of automating soil removal through the coordination of autonomous excavators and autonomous crawler dumpers in a site intended for automation. Moving forward, we will accelerate development toward practical application and full-scale on-site introduction by further improving safety, reliability, and maintainability. Sumitomo Heavy Industries, Sumitomo Construction Machinery, and Fujita will continue to contribute to labor-saving, productivity innovation, and the realization of a safe and sustainable society at construction sites by utilizing ICT, automation, and robotics technologies.
Notes
*1 Definition of terms: "Autonomous" means that the machine thinks and operates (performs optimal actions through machine learning, etc.).
*2 Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism website. "Press Release: Formulated 'i-Construction 2.0' - Productivity Improvement (Labor Saving) through Automation of Construction Sites." Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. https://www.mlit.go.jp/report/press/kanbo08_hh_001085.html (Accessed March X, 2026)
*3 Yusuke Sano et al. "Development of Autonomous Excavator." Sumitomo Heavy Industries Technical Report. 2025. 217. 15-18. https://www.shi.co.jp/tech/tech_report/pdf/217.pdf
*4 Construction of Smart Infrastructure Management System, Sub-task A: Construction of Innovative Construction Production Processes, R&D Theme (a-1) "Development of Automated Construction Technology to Realize Optimization of the Entire Construction Production Process" https://sip-icas-project.org/
*You can also view a video summary of this test at the following URL:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7iYZbNFRVE (Sumitomo Heavy Industries YouTube Channel)
[Background of the Initiative]
In the construction industry, addressing labor shortages caused by a declining youth workforce and an aging population, as well as improving productivity, are critical challenges. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism is promoting "i-Construction 2.0" (*2), and construction machinery manufacturers and general contractors are advancing various initiatives toward the automation of construction.
Sumitomo Heavy Industries and Sumitomo Construction Machinery have been independently developing autonomous hydraulic excavators (autonomous excavators) (*3) that operate on their own according to the surrounding environment, and have been examining the potential for integration with construction management systems that issue operational instructions to multiple pieces of construction machinery.
Fujita has been working on demonstration experiments where multiple construction machines coordinate and perform construction autonomously based on instructions from its own construction management system, through initiatives such as the Cabinet Office's Cross-ministerial Strategic Innovation Promotion Program (SIP) (*4), and has been exploring the applicability to construction machinery in collaboration with manufacturers.
Against this backdrop, the three companies held repeated discussions aimed at labor-saving and advancing construction sites. They connected the autonomous excavators from Sumitomo Heavy Industries and Sumitomo Construction Machinery and the autonomous crawler dumpers developed through the SIP initiative to Fujita's construction management system to verify the automation of soil loading and transport.
[Overview of the Demonstration Experiment]
This demonstration was conducted from January 19 to February 28, 2026, at the Funabashi Urban Planning Ebikawa Upstream District Land Readjustment Project site in Chiba Prefecture, which is currently under construction by Fujita. The purpose was to verify work efficiency and safety in the common "excavation → loading → transport → dumping" work cycle by coordinating autonomous excavators and autonomous crawler dumpers.
[Roles of the Three Companies]
Sumitomo Heavy Industries: Provision of autonomous excavators that autonomously move, excavate, and load according to instructions from the construction management system.
Sumitomo Construction Machinery: Provision of the ICT-compatible hydraulic excavator (SH200Z) used as the base for the autonomous excavator.
Fujita: Development of the construction management system that instructs each piece of construction machinery (autonomous crawler dumper, autonomous excavator) to perform work; provision of autonomous crawler dumpers that travel to designated positions and dump soil according to instructions from the construction management system.
[Flow of the Demonstration Experiment] *(Parentheses indicate the developer/provider of each technology/system.)
● Centered on the construction management system, instructions (transport requests, start/end of excavation and loading, dumper departure instructions, etc.) are sent to the autonomous excavator and autonomous crawler dumper, respectively (Fujita).
● The crawler dumper travels while recognizing and avoiding surrounding obstacles. It stops at a position where it can receive soil from the excavator and rotates its body to the appropriate direction (Fujita).
● The autonomous excavator recognizes the ground and the soil shape in the crawler dumper's bed in real-time. It performs soil excavation and loading into the crawler dumper continuously (Sumitomo Heavy Industries).
● After loading is complete, the crawler dumper travels again while recognizing and avoiding surrounding obstacles, and performs dumping at the designated location.
[Technical Features]
● The excavator moves autonomously according to the progress of the work. The excavator side determines the optimal excavation location in real-time, enabling continuous loading into the crawler dumper (Sumitomo Heavy Industries).
● The excavator achieves smooth operation speeds close to those of an operator through AI that references operator movements (Sumitomo Heavy Industries).
● Safety functions such as emergency stops, fail-safes, and safe-side operation in the event of communication loss are implemented (Fujita).
[Key Results of the Demonstration]
● Based on instructions from the construction management system, different construction machines successfully completed coordinated autonomous loading and transport of soil on-site.
● Confirmed that the number of people required for the series of tasks from excavation to dumping can be reduced from two to one (one operator for the construction management system is required, replacing the operators for the excavator and crawler dumper). The labor-saving effect will increase as the number of coordinate-capable construction machines increases in the future.
● Successfully performed smooth loading without colliding with the vehicle body by detecting the position of the crawler dumper's bed.
[Future Developments]
Through this verification, we were able to evaluate the practicality of automating soil removal through the coordination of autonomous excavators and autonomous crawler dumpers in a site intended for automation. Moving forward, we will accelerate development toward practical application and full-scale on-site introduction by further improving safety, reliability, and maintainability. Sumitomo Heavy Industries, Sumitomo Construction Machinery, and Fujita will continue to contribute to labor-saving, productivity innovation, and the realization of a safe and sustainable society at construction sites by utilizing ICT, automation, and robotics technologies.
Notes
*1 Definition of terms: "Autonomous" means that the machine thinks and operates (performs optimal actions through machine learning, etc.).
*2 Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism website. "Press Release: Formulated 'i-Construction 2.0' - Productivity Improvement (Labor Saving) through Automation of Construction Sites." Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. https://www.mlit.go.jp/report/press/kanbo08_hh_001085.html (Accessed March X, 2026)
*3 Yusuke Sano et al. "Development of Autonomous Excavator." Sumitomo Heavy Industries Technical Report. 2025. 217. 15-18. https://www.shi.co.jp/tech/tech_report/pdf/217.pdf
*4 Construction of Smart Infrastructure Management System, Sub-task A: Construction of Innovative Construction Production Processes, R&D Theme (a-1) "Development of Automated Construction Technology to Realize Optimization of the Entire Construction Production Process" https://sip-icas-project.org/