Advances in automation for construction vehicles
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Two new automated systems, Click&Dig and a perception sensing system, are being introduced on CASE Construction Equipment’s wheel loaders to improve productivity and safety
At CNH’s CASE Construction Equipment plant in Lecce, southern Italy, a team of young engineers is working toward a long-term goal of creating fully autonomous construction vehicles. The team, led by Advanced Electronics Manager Andrea Gravili, this year reaches a milestone, with two important automated functions coming to the market.
They are Click&Dig, which has three automated processes for wheel loaders — AutoDig, AutoDump and AutoMetering — and a perception sensing system, an AI-based system of cameras and sensors that detects obstacles and people around the vehicle to improve safety and support the operator’s decision-making.
I don’t spend eight hours a day every day in my car, but operators spend eight hours a day working in our vehicles. The most important part of our job is to help them do their jobs better, in a more comfortable way
Precision and productivity
The purpose of the advanced electronics team’s work is not to replace operators, according to Antonio Venezia, Director of Electronics for Construction Equipment at CNH. “I don’t spend eight hours a day every day in my car, but operators spend eight hours a day working in our vehicles,” he says. “The most important part of our job is to help them do their jobs better, in a more comfortable way.”
Click&Dig represents a significant step forward from the basic automatic functions available on construction vehicles up to this point. The automation will be fitted to CASE wheel loaders in the factory and supports operators with digging, dumping and metering — the process of spreading out the load from the bucket. As well as reducing operator fatigue, it increases precision, for example ensuring that the wheel loader dumps precisely one ton, or whatever the order size may be, of the material it is carrying into a delivery truck.
Click&Dig can also record the way an operator wants the maneuver to be carried out, so that it is repeated, even as the operator gets tired.
Details of the CASE 1021G+ X-Drive wheel loader.
Customized safety
CNH’s perception sensing system was trained using AI to recognize different types of obstacles typically found on a construction site, from piles of rocks to other vehicles to people, says Gravili. Perception does not rely only on what it can ‘see’. “When the system is looking behind the vehicle, it can recognize or detect obstacles using both a camera and a radar,” he explains. “If there is dust on the camera, we can rely on the radar.” The operator is then alerted to press the brake.
The system had to be trained differently to the obstacle recognition systems used by the car industry, says Venezia. On a construction site, vehicles do not always need to completely avoid each other as cars do on the road. They may need to come close, for example when a wheel loader is collecting from or delivering material to another type of vehicle.
Perception also uses monitoring inside the cabin of the wheel loader and can be programmed to recognize the operator’s face when they climb inside. The vehicle then offers that operator’s customized settings at once. CNH is developing Perception’s capabilities so that in future, the monitoring system will recognize changes in the operator’s level of attention and fatigue, compared with their baseline, says Gravili, and offer prompts to help keep them more focused.
In the longer term, construction vehicles could be operated remotely when working in isolated or hazardous locations, with no one in the cabin at all. CNH already showcased a remotely operated prototype, the CASE 1021G+ X-DRIVE, at the BAUMA construction equipment trade fair in April 2025.
Details of the screen with Click&Dig (left) and Perception (right) functionalities.
The future of automation
In the longer term, construction vehicles could be operated remotely when working in isolated or hazardous locations, with no one in the cabin at all. CNH already showcased a remotely operated prototype, the CASE 1021G+ X-DRIVE wheel loader, at the BAUMA construction equipment trade fair in April 2025. This prototype is equipped with the new Click&Dig automation features, which minimize operator fatigue and maximize comfort and productivity.
Venezia says that rather than wait ten years to craft a fully autonomous vehicle, CNH is developing and deploying the elements of an autonomous system, with the intention that they will all work together as “an orchestra” in future.
“The idea is to start the journey of digitalization today, and that each piece developed will be an important part of the future product,” he says. So, the Perception system has been taught to work with Click&Dig and the team is working on a new AI assistant which is being taught to work with both systems. It will offer the operator advice on the most effective way to perform a particular maneuver, after evaluating their way of working for a couple of cycles.
Gravili works very closely with the university in Lecce to hire engineers with skills in AI and automation. The team’s work is cutting-edge — Perception has four patents on various elements of the system and Click&Dig has the same number.
“We want to bring innovation to construction and look to the future with bright eyes,” says Venezia.
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