75 years of testing

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by: 14 OP
~ 1 year, 10 mos ago Mar 27, '24 3:35pm

75 years of testing

Spent most of my day out at the Caterpillar Peoria Proving Grounds near East Peoria. It was started 75 years ago. Rare media tour of the massive area where they test machines before putting them on the market. Including autonomous tractors that can be operated remotely.
More tonight on WMBD and WYZZ News.

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Replies:

3
~ 1 year, 10 mos ago Mar 27, '24 3:58pm

Including autonomous tractors that can be operated remotely.

@DennisinPeoria : Are they autonomous or operated remotely? Or are they semi-autonomous?

14 OP
~ 1 year, 10 mos ago Mar 27, '24 5:59pm

@PeoriaChronicle :
Autonomous. No driver needed. Operated remotely

19
~ 1 year, 10 mos ago Mar 27, '24 6:27pm

Always wanted to go there. Seems like everyone I know except for myself has, lol.

3
~ 1 year, 10 mos ago Mar 27, '24 6:31pm

Autonomous = "free from external control or influence"

An autonomous tractor would be one that steers itself (like a self-driving car). A remotely-controlled tractor would be one that has an operator steering it from another location (remotely). They're different things.

14
~ 1 year, 10 mos ago Mar 27, '24 8:15pm

*Edited

Peoria Morning Star ran an article February 26, 1949 entitled, "Caterpillar Co. Moves From Old Proving Ground." The prior location on 160 acres along West Washington Street in East Peoria had been established in 1940 when it was still "out in the country."

14 OP
~ 1 year, 10 mos ago Mar 27, '24 8:47pm

@bn13814 :
It's definitely a whole lot bigger than 160 acres now. Took about 7-8 minutes to get from main campus through roads and areas used to test machines, before getting to the building that had the simulated autonomous dozers. And yes, they can be remote controlled, but that's the technology used for driverless units.
Had an issue with the pickup truck transporting media back and forth not starting due to a dead battery. So had to wait for another truck to come get us, lol. And they had us walk through areas with lots of potential "action shots", but..no videos or photos allowed. Which I understood, but later, reporter and I wondered why take us there in 1st place? Would have saved time for those on a deadline, including folks from the Chicago Tribune.
Anyway, here's link to story:
www.centralillinoisp roud.com/news/local- news/caterpillar-sho wcases-testing-

14
~ 1 year, 10 mos ago Mar 27, '24 9:18pm

@DennisinPeoria :

bn13814 : It's definitely a whole lot bigger than 160 acres now. Took about 7-8 minutes to get from main campus through roads and areas used to test machines, before getting to the building that had the simulated autonomous dozers. And yes, they can be remote controlled, but that's the technology used for driverless units. Had an issue with the pickup truck transporting media back and forth not starting due to a dead battery. So had to wait for another truck to come get us, lol. And they had us walk through areas with lots of potential "action shots", but..no videos or photos allowed. Which I understood, but later, reporter and I wondered why take us there in 1st place? Would have saved time for those on a deadline, including folks from the Chicago Tribune. Anyway, here's link to story: www.centralillinoisp roud.com/news/local- news/caterpillar-sho wcases-testing-

@DennisinPeoria : The 160 acres was the prior location in East Peoria.