The Chinese translation is being made; the original is shown for now.
Japan’s Tier IV has begun joint development of autonomous driving systems for three dump truck models with Komatsu to realise the practical application of dump truck autonomous driving technology at quarrying and civil engineering sites in Japan and North America.
EARTHBRAIN Inc, a subsidiary of Tier IV, and Komatsu have been collaborating since September 2025 toward the practical application of autonomous driving technology for construction machinery. Through this joint development, the two companies say they will accelerate the collaboration toward its introduction in Japan and North America by 2027.
Tier IV and Komatsu are focusing on two rigid dump truck models widely used in mining – the HD785 (maximum load capacity 93.9 t) and HD605 (maximum load capacity 64.1 t), as well as the HM400/460 ADTs (maximum load capacity 42 t), which are used at quarrying and civil engineering sites but also smaller mines and quarries.
By combining Tier IV’s autonomous driving technology with Komatsu’s vehicle design and implementation and vehicle control technologies, the partners say they will jointly develop and validate autonomous driving systems that can handle real-world use cases such as loading, transporting and dumping.
Furthermore, by linking EARTHBRAIN’s control system with this system, Tier IV says it will promote the practical application of automated solutions that include operation management of entire sites, not just for individual vehicles.
Tier IV, Komatsu, and EARTHBRAIN aim to accumulate operational knowledge on site through demonstration tests and field implementation, aiming to realise automation solutions that customers can easily adopt and continuously utilise. “By reducing labour and ensuring safe, efficient vehicle operations, we contribute to improving safety and productivity on site.”
Back in 2025, Komatsu and Pronto, the Silicon Valley-based off-road autonomy pioneer, announced a strategic collaboration to deploy Pronto’s autonomous haulage technologies to quarry operations in the North American market. The partnership centred on the launch of Komatsu Smart Quarry Autonomous, powered by Pronto, a system that integrates Pronto’s autonomy technologies into quarry-sized haul trucks and ties into Komatsu’s Smart Quarry solutions.
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