Vögele develops heat monitoring technology for paving

1194 Vögele is introducing a sophisticated package that will help contractors boost paving quality. The new RoadScan system is a non-contacting technology that determines temperature across the mat and helps assess paving performance. The system uses infra red technology to monitor temperature across a 10m wide scanning area and measuring up to 2.5m to the rear of the paver.

Marketing manager Roland Schug explained, “We are measuring temperature in 25cm by 25cm areas and with 20 measuring points for each of these areas. We have high quality measurements to within +/-2°C.”

Schug said that the system is more accurate than rival technologies on the market. The existing systems scan from side to side as the machine moves, so in effect they provide a diagonalportrayal of the paving mat. However the new Vögele system gives a more accurate portrayal of the temperature gradient in the paving mat according to Schug. This ensures higher overall paving quality as issues such as material segregation or cooling can be quickly identified. The system allows the compaction team to prioritise areas that are already beginning to cool. The data can be stored for later analysis as well as recording purposes. Schug added, “We have a documentation system measuring the temperature.” He said that the paver operator can see the temperature gradient on the machine’s ErgoPlus screen and said, “You can save the data on an industrial USB stick and you can enter the data in the office using the Vögele customer software.”