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The precision assist you need...
to take your best shot

Cat Trials have gained a cult following since they were
launched. And for a good reason. Where else would you
get to see Cat machines playing life-size video games or
going head-to-head with an international soccer player?

Archie Lyons, Creative Director, Global The idea was to use two different autonomous
Strategy and Activation, explains, “Cat Trials machines, the mighty 794 AC Mining Truck
are an opportunity for us to demonstrate and the brand new, smaller and more
our products, service and technology nimble, 299D3 Compact Track Loader.
in a new and different way that not only
shows how we can help partner with our Jagath Samaraweera, Commercial Support,
customers in their businesses but also, Global Mining Division, was pulled in to help
surprises and delights them in the telling.” turn this into reality. “Right away, we knew
we needed a huge area in which to make
The latest in the series is Trial 12. It this possible. Plus, it had to handle both the
features autonomous Cat machines going weight of the Cat 794 and have the necessary
head-to-head with the aforementioned infrastructure needed to run autonomy
international soccer player, DaMarcus machines.” Caterpillar’s Demonstration and
Beasley, a USA player capped 126 times Learning Centre in the Tinaja Hills, just outside
for his country. So, for Archie and his team, Tucson, Arizona, was the perfect location.
it was a natural fit. “Autonomy is all about “Because we had run virtual trials before the
Landing page: precision, performance and safety. It’s also shoot, everything went exactly as expected,
cat.com/trial12
about being hands-off, so that led us to as is the way with autonomous machines. In
To find out more about soccer. Something a lot of our customers fact, the only problem we encountered was the
the products featured in
the video, please contact have a real passion for. So, we hope it will wind, which was only an issue for DaMarcus.”
licensing@cat.com really cut through the business clutter and
resonate with them on that level too.” Behind all of this is some serious technology
that is making life easier for Cat customers.
The pitch was simple, create an obstacle Joe Forcash, Engineering Manager, Cat
course for both man and machine and then Robotics, has been working on autonomy at
have them work seamlessly together to Caterpillar for over a decade now. “When we
achieve their goal. In this case, literally. look at autonomy technology, it is all about
the 3Ds: dirty, dangerous and dull. As of now,
we have 500 autonomous Cat trucks working.
They’ve travelled 90 million miles, moved
four billion tons of material, and we’ve had
zero lost-time injuries. So this is an exciting
new step for us, our customers and our
industry. And this trial is a great introduction.”

Or, as Archie says, “We wanted to show
that whatever the Caterpillar customer’s
business goals are, we are here to
help you take your best shot.” ■

Cat Magazine 21