Kubota Compact Track Loader Uses Intell-Attach
Intell-Attach allows the Kubota SVL97-3 CTL to recognize a Kubota by Land Pride Attachment when equipped with an Intell-Attach tag. The machine must have a hydraulic hitch in order for the system to function. The switch used to engage the attachment is also used to activate Intell-Attach, says Michael Butler, construction attachment product manager.
Intell-Attach is currently available only for the SVL97-3, Butler says, with no timeline for future rollouts. The first round of attachments available for integration include nine groups, or series: angle brooms, power rakes, cold planers, rotary tillers, stump grinders, snow blowers, breakers, hopper brooms, and skid cutters. He said another group of compatible attachments will be released next year.
How Intell-Attach works
The tag (right) and receiver must be installed by a Kubota dealer, Butler says. The 2x2-inch tag is powered by a replaceable battery; the receiver is installed at the top and front of the cab and uses the in-cab display.
The blank tag is affixed to the attachment, Butler says. The user programs the tag with the MyKubota app, under the Intell-Attach section. Shaking the tag “wakes it up,” Butler says, and the tag becomes visible in the app via Bluetooth signal. The user selects the tag in the app, either scans the attachment’s bar code or enters its serial number, and the tag is activated and programmed for that attachment.
“The tag is now programmed for that attachment,” Butler says. “It knows what motor is in the attachment. It remembers what attachment it’s on. As soon as you pick up the attachment, it ‘wakes up’ the tag and communicates via Bluetooth with the unit: ‘I’m this unit.’ You accept it, and the hydraulics match to the attachment. It automatically set the hydraulics.”
Once the tag is programmed, communication between it and the receiver automatically recognizes the capabilities of the attachment and adjusts the power unit to match. For example, if a low-flow attachment is being used, it will prohibit high flow.
Butler says Intell-Attach will retail for less than $1,000.
About the Author
Frank Raczon
Frank Raczon has covered and influenced the equipment industry for 35 years, including 15 years as senior editor of Construction Equipment, and marketing, advertising, and public relations work with the industry's top manufacturers. In addition to authoring "Caterpillar: Modern Earthmoving Marvels" (Motorbooks, 2015), he has won numerous awards in his career, highlighted by nods from the Construction Writers Association, the Association of Equipment Manufacturers, the Business Marketing Association, and BtoB magazine. Raczon has also won a number of awards from publishing peer groups such as ASBPE and TABPI.