The Komatsu Smart Quarry Autonomous, powered by Pronto, was a finalist for the CONEXPO-CON/AGG 2026 Next Level Awards, which recognize equipment and technologies that demonstrate measurable potential to advance operations. The technology awards highlight solutions that apply emerging automation and digital capabilities to real-world jobsite challenges, with the winner determined by votes cast during the show.

Smart Quarry Autonomous is part of Komatsu North America’s expanding technology offering for quarry aggregate operations. With it, the global leader in mining and construction equipment aims to make hard work easier by digitally transforming quarry aggregate operations through its Smart Quarry suite of solutions, including Smart Quarry Site.

“Quarry operations are under pressure to keep production moving despite ongoing labor challenges,” said Michael Gidaspow, Chief Digital Officer at Komatsu North America. “Autonomous haulage can help address ongoing workforce challenges by reducing reliance on skilled operators, helping to mitigate the impact of absenteeism and shift changes, and enabling more predictable haul cycles across operating hours.”

Smart Quarry Autonomous is designed to be deployed quickly and economically without the need for extensive site infrastructure or a dedicated control center. The solution can be installed as a retrofit on select Komatsu haul trucks, enabling quarry operators to adopt autonomy in stages, matching the sensor stack to the specific complexity of their haul roads and environment.

The autonomous system uses AI (artificial intelligence), onboard computing, and sensor-based perception technologies to navigate mapped haul routes with minimal setup. System configurations are determined based on on-site requirements and applicable commercial agreements.

“We have decades of experience with autonomous haulage in large-scale mining,” said Jason Anetsberger, Komatsu’s Senior Director for Customer Solutions. “Now we’re bringing that expertise to quarries of all sizes. It’s a solution that helps drive productivity beyond what was previously possible and can support efforts to enhance safety by facilitating the removal of workers from areas of potential hazard.”

Komatsu’s dealers support Smart Quarry Autonomous through hardware installation, system deployment, training, and ongoing service. Components are supplied through Komatsu’s distribution network, helping ensure consistency, supportability, and long-term service readiness.

Komatsu North America and Pronto, the Silicon Valley-based off-road autonomy pioneer, announced in August 2025 a commercial partnership focused on providing a practical and scalable path to autonomy for open-pit quarries and aggregate producers in North America.

Pronto management said that partnering with an industry leader like Komatsu is about accelerating the future of heavy industry.

“Previously, the most advanced autonomy was reserved for the largest mines,” said Anthony Levandowski, CEO of Pronto. “By combining Komatsu’s trusted hardware and vast support network with Pronto’s scalable, intelligent autonomous platform, we are fundamentally changing the game.”

In February, Pronto announced a major expansion of its product portfolio with the introduction of AHS VLR and AHS VLR 360. These new editions complement the company’s flagship Vision-Only system, creating the claimed industry’s first tiered autonomy architecture—called Pronto Editions—designed to address the specific physics and economics of every mining environment, from regional quarries to Tier 1 ultra-class operations.

The announcement follows Pronto’s recent operational milestone at Heidelberg Materials’ Lake Bridgeport quarry, where the company’s Vision-Only AHS successfully hauled over two million tons of material in a mixed-fleet environment in less than eight months of operations. While the Vision-Only edition remains the standard for cost-effective quarry automation, the new VLR editions are engineered to conquer the extreme operational demands of deep-pit hard rock mining.

The expansion is driven by the fundamental physics of heavy haulage. While computer vision provides exceptional semantic understanding for quarry-class trucks, the massive kinetic energy of 400-ton ultra-class haulers requires detection ranges that exceed the limits of vision alone. Furthermore, the 24/7 operating mandates of global mining require perception systems that can penetrate dense fog, dust, and snow—conditions that can frequently ground optical-only systems.

“Autonomy is not a one-size-fits-all proposition,” said Levandowski. “The physics of stopping a 100-ton truck in a Texas quarry are radically different from stopping a 400-ton hauler in a Chilean blizzard. We proved that Vision is the killer app for quarries, delivering the lowest total cost of ownership in the industry. Now, with VLR and VLR 360, we are bringing that same ‘AI-first’ intelligence to the world’s most challenging mining operations, fortified with the active sensing required to guarantee uptime in zero-visibility conditions.”

The first deployments of AHS VLR 360 are already underway in production mining environments. The VLR Editions retain Pronto’s signature OEM-agnostic theme, capable of retrofitting any haul truck platform, including the industry’s largest haulers, such as the Komatsu 980 and Caterpillar 798.