Komatsu Augments Intelligent Machine Control in New Excavator

The PC220LCi-12 excavator with IMC 3.0 incorporates automation enhancements and a “construction-industry first” factory-integrated 3D boundary control.

December 1, 2025

Ryan Gehm

Komatsu’s new PC220LCi-12 excavator with the latest IMC 3.0 is categorized as a software-defined vehicle. (Komatsu)

Komatsu has launched a new excavator, the PC220LCi-12, that features its latest intelligent machine control technology. IMC 3.0 incorporates automation enhancements and a reported “construction-industry first” technology — factory-integrated 3D boundary control — designed to boost operator productivity.

The intelligent machine, displayed previously at Bauma 2025 in Munich, Germany, has many of the same features as the new PC220LC-12 excavator, including a cab that is 28% larger, with 30% more legroom and 50% improved visibility compared to the PC210LC-11 model. Other advantages the new machines offer are up to a 20% increase in fuel efficiency thanks to a new electro-hydraulic system and 129-kW (173-hp) next-generation engine, and up to a 20% reduction in maintenance costs due to longer replacement intervals for hydraulic oil and oil filters and longer cleaning intervals for the particulate filter.

Performance upgrades include increases of up to 7% in lifting capacity and up to 8% in bucket digging force. Both 21-24 ton-class hydraulic excavators are suitable for residential and commercial contractors, performing either basic land clearing and general earthwork or more advanced GPS design-driven site development.

The IMC 3.0 platform is currently only available on the PC220LCi-12. Komatsu plans to expand IMC 3.0 into its new excavators and dozers for future launches, Matthew Moen, Komatsu product manager for excavators, and Darrell Binnion, Komatsu digital products training manager, said in an email responding to questions from SAE Media Group.

3D boundary control can be enabled as an indication, alarm or automatic stop control of all travel, swing and work-equipment functions until conditions are deemed safe. (Komatsu)

“Intelligent Machine Control technology has always increased automation with every new iteration,” they said. “To accomplish this, Komatsu utilizes the architecture of the CAN bus network and other protocols that are capable of faster transfer speeds to accommodate higher data transfer requirements necessary for advanced automation. These capabilities of increased data flow have continued and improved with IMC 3.0.”

IMC 3.0 does not currently utilize AI for the programming system itself, they said. “However, work-equipment sensor data and GPS data can be collected remotely, aiding in advanced troubleshooting and allowing for expanded opportunities in the future.”

Advancing automation

The PC220LCi-12 with IMC 3.0 features factory-integrated 3D boundary control, which allows operators to set a work-restriction surface for height, depth, front, back and side boundaries. The machine is designed to stop automatically when it approaches a restricted zone. 3D boundary control helps operators work across the entire jobsite by remembering multiple restriction zones specific to each work area.

“3D boundary control (3DBC) is a first-of-its-kind technology that allows the operator to set digital planar boundaries as warning zones. These warning zones are tied to real-world GPS coordinates and can be defined horizontally or vertically,” Moen and Binnion explained. “With this feature activated, an operator can move to different parts of the jobsite and maintain a relative position to these warning zones that re-activate when within a user-defined proximity.”

Similar 2D systems require the operator to reset these boundaries after every movement, they added. “3DBC factors the dimensions of the entire machine, from work equipment to counterweight, and travel, too. This technology can be enabled as an indication, alarm or automatic stop control of all travel, swing and work-equipment functions until deemed safe and bypassed by the operator.”

Also compared with 2D systems, the 3D boundary control system can compensate for changes in machine elevation to relate back to restrictions set for power lines, for example, or depth of existing known utilities that are underground.

Compatible with tilt-rotators, IMC 3.0 also introduces Auto Swing to help optimize loading and trenching operations. “Auto Swing automates swing operation of the excavator’s upper body and boom-up operation with two button presses,” they said. “This is based off three teaching inputs from the operator: a dig point, an unloading point and an avoidance height. With a two-button combination, the machine will follow the pre-set path without any inputs on the joysticks by the operator. This same combination will return the work equipment and bucket to the original point set.”

Future updates to IMC 3.0 excavators will take this feature a step further and feature Travel Along Line and Swing to Line, according to Moen and Binnion. “Swing to Line enables operators to select a polyline representing a trench. The machine automatically swings the upper body and work equipment from the trench center to the dump point and back to trench center in one cycle with a two-button press,” they said. “This will help to reduce overswing, improving precision and efficiency.”

“Travel Along Line automates alignment for travel as Swing to Line does for work equipment,” they said. “Once a polyline representing a trench is selected, the excavator automatically aligns itself along the centerline while the operator maintains control of forward and backward travel along line.”

An enhanced payload system is also part of the IMC 3.0 package, allowing for real-time weighing capability with tip-off notification so the operator can identify if they may underload or overload versus the set payload target. The system features the capability to record overall load-out and truck identification as well. These payload records can be synced to the cloud for viewing in an online platform called Smart Construction Fleet.

For owners of PC220LC-12 excavators, these advanced IMC 3.0 features are accessible via a factory kit upgrade, “future-proofing” the investment, according to Rob Macintyre, product manager at Komatsu Europe.

“We pioneered fully factory-integrated machine control on excavators back in 2014,” Macintyre said in a statement from Bauma. “Those more than 10 years of constant development, deep experience of learning from customers and fully supporting them on the jobsite to get the best out of this type of technology, have led to these truly unique assist features we see on IMC 3.0.”

Electric over Hydraulic platform

The PC220LCi-12 is categorized as a software-defined vehicle (SDV), according to Moen and Binnion. “The Electric over Hydraulic platform and advanced automation in IMC 3.0 are linked and leveraged by software,” they said. “Software as a driver for features enables more flexibility and quicker deployment for future updates. As a result, IMC 3.0 updates will be sent over-the-air to provide enhancements for our dealers and customers.”

The new Electric over Hydraulic system being introduced with the PC220LCi-12 gives operators control over their preference for hydraulic flow speeds, they said. “IMC 3.0 scales the smoothness of semi-automatic grade control to the operator’s hydraulic speed settings, giving operators the same feel of semi-automatic machine control that they’ve come to love from previous generations of Intelligent Machine Control.”

With this new system on the PC220LCi-12, Komatsu engineers placed “a strong emphasis on ensuring a familiar response feeling of these joysticks compared to our existing PPC system on our -11 models,” they said. “Numerous customers and internal professional operators were used to ensure as close of similar feeling as possible, given the positive feedback from customers in the field.” The system also allows the capability to further tune each function independently (boom raise/lower, arm in/out, bucket curl/dump, swing, etc.) to suit the operator’s preferences.

“We also now have the capability with this system to introduce joystick mapping capability to where the operator can re-assign the joystick buttons seamlessly, so they are able to adapt the machine to the functions they use most frequently,” they said. “Through the Operator ID function, all of these settings are able to be saved specific to each individual for each start-up.”

The new Operator ID system stores up to 50 profiles. Once an ID is entered, each operator has their personalized settings automatically loaded.