Updates to Volvo Dig Assist make grade planning faster and easier for operators

“It’s simple by design. If you use a smartphone, the Dig Assist app on the Volvo Co-Pilot display is a very similar experience — it quickly becomes second nature for operators,” said Matthew McLean, product manager, excavators, Volvo CE.

Several new features give operators even more options and precision, while maintaining the intuitive, easy-to-use aspects of the system:

• A new customizable interface for In-Field Design makes it easier to draw shapes for building foundations and custom trenches.
• A new angle grid screen makes it faster and easier to draw shapes in Plan and Profile modes. With the angle grid, operators can touch the screen and drag the corners of the shape they're drawing to easily keep their side parameters square or in line.
• Operators can configure the top bar to show more information, including angles of the bucket relative to the surface, the pitch and roll of the machine, distance to line, and a compass if desired.
• The ability to use Trimble Earthworks with Dig Assist, or upgrade to have Topcon 3DMC, whichever is preferred.
• The ability to use Dig Assist with additional attachments, including a SteelWrist Rotator, Tilt Bucket and Tilt Coupler.
• Team Viewer enables a dealer and Volvo technicians to access the Volvo Co-Pilot display remotely to help customers diagnose and solve issues in real time.
• Additional joystick presets allow multiple operators to set their own preferences when using a single machine.

Dig Assist, which Volvo introduced in North America in 2017, is available on 20 of the company’s medium and large crawler and wheeled excavators. Last year, Dig Assist Start, the basic package of the machine control system, was made standard on new EC220E to EC480E crawler excavator models. Machines that currently run Dig Assist can be updated to the new version via a software update from their local Volvo CE dealer.

Take Dig Assist Even Further

With Dig Assist, operators can also use the semi-autonomous Volvo Active Control system, currently available on EC220E, EC250E and EC300E excavators. It uses the machine’s computer to guide the digging process and prevent operators from digging below the programmed depth. With its speed and precision, Volvo Active Control can cut grading time by up to 45% compared with conventional grading.

Cab View: How Dig Assist Works

For operators who want to get started using Dig Assist, a new playlist is on the Volvo CE YouTube channel that covers basic setup and use. Additionally, Volvo CE has written a three-part blog series on Dig Assist, including screen grabs of the app with helpful tips and tricks.