RodRadar – Unique Live Dig Radar® (LDR) technology from Israel is ready to transform standard excavation processes

DigiMessenger #12

Advertisement

RodRadar has designed and developed a technology and platform that automatically detects underground utility infrastructure in real time and directly on-site, without the need for expert analysis. Patrik Eder, Editor at LECTURA, spoke with Moshe Dalman, CEO and Co-founder of RodRadar, and Yuval Barnea, the company’s VP of Sales and Marketing, about Live Dig Radar (LDR) technology and its development, applications, important markets, case studies and data capture.

PE: Can you introduce your technology, Live Dig Radar, to us in detail? Who are the intended users and customers?

MD: The user is the operator in an excavator’s cabin. The customers, include every stakeholder along the whole value chain affected by utility strikes, which cause delays, downtime, and can entail the payment of damages. This includes the contractor, the utility company, the municipality, the general developer - everybody suffers in some way. LDR Excavate™ can eliminate utility strikes in a unique technology by focusing on the operator in the cabin.

PE: So, the goal is to make the operator’s life easier?

MD: Yes, and from a technological point of view, we are very proud that we're able to give the operator in the cabin access to the cutting-edge technology of LDR. It’s a completely new version of ground penetrating radar, capable of detecting all types of utilities at any depth, including the most shallow, and in different kinds of soil.

YB: One of the major problems in the industry is that nobody really knows where utilities are. Even if they do a survey, it is bound to be inaccurate. As Moshe said, we are giving the operator an independent tool to detect and avoid utilities on the job site in real time, without the need of any expert advice. It's empowering for them and the LDR technology is very easy to use – anyone can do it – which is critical.

PE: How long have you been developing the product?

MD: It took us about 6 years of intensive research and development until we had a well-working radar system that we could start commercializing. The LDR product was developed and tested in Israel.

PE: Is there an availability of multiple user or operator profiles per one LDR unit?

YB: Yes, absolutely. Each excavator operator can use the LDR technology independently. And this actually gives the contractor a great added value, as they can see the operational data at all times and know which operator is working properly. This is, of course, an additional value, but the most critical thing is safety — avoiding utility strikes, improving productivity and, of course, the crucial role LDR plays in protecting the environment. Imagine somebody is hitting an oil pipeline - the damage could be huge. So, along with everything else, LDR is also green.

PE: What are the most important markets for you apart from Israel?

YB: Everyone in the construction and excavation industry who is hitting utilities is our target market! But the main focus areas currently are the United States and Europe, as well as Australia - those guys are knowledgeable about the problem and its implications. If we’re talking about Europe, specifically, I’d say they're very open to new technologies, with most innovative products adopted very quickly, including in Germany, the UK, Scandinavia, etc. So, we focus on those markets that are familiar with the problem and understand the value of LDR.

PE: It seems like the most developed markets are the most critical for you. Would you also like to try to get into the less developed ones, like the African market for example or Asia and the Middle East?

MD: Yes, we will be looking to expand into those markets a bit further down the line.

YB: I can give you an example of a developed market in Asia where there is great potential – Japan. They actually invest a lot of money in construction - many Japanese companies bring very large contractors over from other countries - and still hit utilities. Our goal is to focus systematically on providing what is needed in every part of the world.

PE: Would you say that the most important areas in terms of application are the urban areas?

MD: Not necessarily. LDR is applicable everywhere there are utilities. It could be an urban area, but it could also be a village, an airport, a hospital, an army base – any time someone needs to dig, say to carry out repairs, and they don’t know where utilities are buried. All of them are our customers.

PE: Can you shortly describe a case study of one of your clients?

YB: Let’s start in Aspen, Colorado. Stutsman & Gerbaz - one of our clients here at ConExpo - is very advanced and the last thing they want to do is hit utilities. They understand that there is a constant knowledge gap in terms of where underground utilities are located. Then they got the LDR unit. A guy from the Aspen municipality saw what they were doing with it and said: “I am not going to hire anyone else unless he has the Live Dig Radar.” This is immense. He understands the impact. With Live Dig Radar you can finally see into the ground and this actually completely changes excavation.

Another example is Haskell, a very large construction company that has been a great partner. They were the very first company to deploy Live Dig Radar in the field. Their on-site crews have enjoyed using it and its value has been proven time and again.

Die Weiss GmbH Tiefbau Straßenbau, ein führendes deutsches Bauunternehmen aus Baden-Baden, kam nach Israel, um das Produkt LDR Excavate zu testen. Eine Minute, nachdem sie gesehen hatten, wie unser Baggerführer es benutzt, sagten die Gäste: "Darf ich mal? Bitte steigen Sie aus." Oliver, der in dritter Generation in dem Unternehmen arbeitet, entdeckte die Versorgungseinrichtungen auf Anhieb. Ein Betreiber, der seit 45 Jahren in der Branche tätig ist und davon 25 Jahre bei Weiss gearbeitet hat, sagte, Live Dig Radar sei die nützlichste Technologie, die er je benutzt habe.

PE: Are you not afraid that somebody would come here or to any similar show and try to copy your unique technology, try to steal it? Such exhibitions could be a risk.

YB: It is always a risk, but there are a number of aspects that make RodRadar solutions uniquely difficult to copy. One is the resilient and rugged ground-penetrating radar system embedded into a digging bucket. There’s also the fact that it is easy for the operator to use the LDR technology, which provides a great value. I am sure there are people who want to copy it and that’s okay. We are very happy to be moving into the global market and you can see the excitement, which means many companies may try to achieve what we have. My guess is that they will run into many challenges that we have already overcome.

MD: We believe we have a couple of years gap before anybody can imitate what we are doing. By the time they will be prototyping, we will be very far ahead.

PE: What about the data capture? Can you store the captured data somewhere and provide access to them later on?

MD: Data capturing and management is a big part of our forward-looking strategy. We want to give value to the operators, to the contractors, to the municipalities and everybody in the value chain who could use the data collected by the system.

PE: Can you do a recovery of the data if somebody for example loses access to your site?

YB: First of all, they can see their historical information in their tablet. However, the contractor’s back office or management personnel can go into the LDR portal once we give them access and look at what’s been done, what was detected and by which machines. This is of immense value to contractors. This is a gamechanger, but it is only the start. We are building solutions for many other verticals and providing enhanced value to the ecosystem.

PE: You previously stated that one of your clients is the Ministry of Defence of Israel…

YB: They've been using it, but the data is confidential. It's actually very hard to go to the sites, but areas like military bases have the same problem as others. Nobody really knows where the utilities are. Just imagine if somebody hits a fiber-optic line that goes into a very sensitive location and everybody is shut down. The impact can be huge.

MD: We are currently focusing on the civil application of our technology for avoiding utility strikes. The construction market is big enough and there are more than enough opportunities without pursuing military applications.

YB: I want to say one more thing. Have you seen the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law in the US? That means there's going to be a lot of investment in infrastructure and roads. So understand that the number of utilities being packed into the soil and the number of strikes is just going to grow. We want to take part in this and do our best to reduce all possible utility strikes.

<< Previous page "The Future of Telematics" (Ulric Rechtsteiner, AREACONTROL)

Next page >> "Trackunit presented new site-focused solutions and its CO2 emission reporting tool at ConExpo 2023"