Moba offers innovative paving control solution

Designed for use with both North American and European style pavers, the sophisticated paving control system from German firm Moba can make a significant improvement to paving quality.

The unit monitors the heat spread of the mat behind the paver, using an array of sensors to scan the temperature gradient right across the screed.

The concept system was initially developed by the Texas Department of Transportation and then developed further by Moba into this commercially available package.

The system can be set to take measurements every 50mm and the array of infra-red cameras looks straight down on the mat, tracks how the machine is operating and identifies any cold spots.

Analogue signals from the sensors are turned into digital code and recorded by the system. This thermal profile allows the paver operator to adjust the screed, augers or other controls accordingly to ensure a homogenous spread of material.

Because the system logs GPS co-ordinates it can identify cold spots where trucks have stopped and, if necessary, these can be milled out and replaced. The benefit to the user is that areas of the mat where the temperature is dropping can be compacted early on, ensuring that there are no air voids and preventing subsequent water ingress that can lead to potholes forming.

The standard sensor beam features 12 sensors but up to 24 can be fitted if required. A colour touch screen is fitted that shows the paver operator the heat image of the mat as it is paved and the system can record data on to USB sticks or a PC for later analysis.

In addition, a GPS receiver and antenna are part of the package to provide accurate location data. The system comes with Moba's own software and can be fitted to any type of paver.