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NPORS Machine Control System Training (N030)
Machine control takes the engineer off the ground and the pegs out of the dig, and it is only as good as the operator's ability to prove the system is telling the truth. A day on setting up, checking against a known point and working to the model, on your own machine and your own system.
Why candidates choose Acadame
What makes our N030 Machine Control System different
About this course
The NPORS N030 Machine Control System category covers the guidance systems fitted to excavators, dozers, graders, rollers and other earthmoving machines so that the operator can work to a design level without a line of pegs and a man with a staff. It takes in the components, the daily set up, the checks that prove the system is accurate, loading and interpreting design data, and the judgement required when the screen and the ground do not agree.
The systems fall into two broad families. Two dimensional systems give the operator slope, depth and height relative to a reference such as a laser plane or a set benchmark, and are common for drainage falls, formation levels and trimming. Three dimensional systems position the machine against a design model using satellite positioning or a robotic total station, and let the operator work anywhere on the site to the correct level and line without further setting out. Both change how a machine is used and both introduce a specific risk, which is an operator who stops looking out of the window.
The day is built around trust and verification. What the components do and how they are mounted. Starting the system, entering or confirming the correct offsets and machine dimensions, and selecting the right design surface. Checking against a known point or benchmark before work starts and again after any interruption, bucket change or mast movement. Reading the display against what is actually in front of the machine. Recognising the conditions that degrade a satellite system, such as tree cover, structures and interference. And the discipline of stopping and reporting when the numbers stop making sense.
- What machine control does and does not do, and where two dimensional and three dimensional systems are each appropriate
- System components: masts, receivers, sensors, in cab display and the survey control the system depends on
- Daily set up: machine and attachment dimensions, offsets, selecting the right design surface and confirming the correct file is loaded
- Verification: checking against a known point or benchmark before work, after breaks, after a bucket or attachment change and whenever anything is knocked
- Working to the model: reading the display, cut and fill, tolerances, and reconciling the screen with what the ground actually looks like
- Limitations, failure modes and duties: satellite coverage, tree and structure shadowing, interference, damaged cables and masts, out of date design data, and the duties under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and PUWER 1998 including why the operator category for the machine still applies
How completing this course helps you
- The NPORS N030 Machine Control System category, registered with NPORS and recognised nationally
- An NPORS Red Trained Operator card, or a Blue Competent Operator card where you hold the relevant NVQ, carrying the CSCS logo while your CITB Health, Safety and Environment test is in date
- Operators who check the system against a known point instead of assuming the screen is right
- Fewer reworked levels, fewer people on foot in the dig setting out, and a clear record for the client that your operators were trained on the system
Who should attend?
Civils and groundworks contractors running guided excavators, dozers, graders and rollers, earthworks and bulk excavation teams, highways and infrastructure contractors, utilities contractors laying to fixed falls, quarry and landfill operations, and plant hire companies whose machines go out with systems fitted. It suits operators moving onto a guided machine for the first time and experienced operators who have picked the system up informally and need it recorded properly.
Entry requirements. You should already hold, or be taking, the NPORS operating category for the machine the system is fitted to, because this category covers the guidance system and not the machine. You should be at least eighteen, fit to operate plant, and able to follow spoken and written English well enough for the theory test, though an interpreter or a reader can be arranged on request. Tell us at enquiry which make and generation of system you run, whether it is two dimensional or three dimensional, and who provides your survey control, because all three shape the day. For the version of the card that carries the CSCS logo you need a CITB Health, Safety and Environment test pass at Operatives level taken within the last two years, which we book for you.
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Course content
What you will cover
Classroom on what the system is doing, its components and its limits, then the rest of the day on the machine setting up, verifying against a known point and working to a design surface.
The system, the data and the duties
- Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and PUWER 1998 as they apply to guided machines
- Two dimensional and three dimensional machine control and where each is used
- Components: masts, receivers, sensors, cabling, in cab display and the base or reference the system works from
- Design data: models, surfaces, offsets and the consequences of the wrong file or the wrong surface
- Machine and attachment dimensions, and what changes when a bucket or attachment is swapped
- Verification against known points and benchmarks, and how often it has to happen
- Limitations: satellite shadowing, structures and tree cover, interference, damaged equipment and stale data
- Why the operator category for the machine is still required, and what machine control does not replace
On the machine
- Pre use inspection of the system components, mountings and cabling alongside the machine checks
- Powering up, confirming machine and attachment dimensions and selecting the correct design surface
- Checking the system against a known point or benchmark and recording the result
- Working to a design level and line, reading cut and fill on the display
- Reacting when the display and the ground disagree, and stopping and reporting rather than continuing
- Rechecking after a break, an attachment change or a knock to a mast or receiver
- Shutting down, protecting and securing the equipment at the end of the shift
Method of assessment
How the N030 machine control system test works
NPORS assess the category by theory test and practical test. The practical is carried out on the machine and system you actually use, working to a design surface with a verification check built in.
1. Enquiry and group
Tell us how many people, where, what machines are guided, which system make and generation you run, and who provides your survey control. Four sit the course with one instructor and one machine. We quote per group.
2. Pre course check
We confirm that each candidate holds or is taking the operating category for the machine, agree the system and the design data we will use, check the CITB test where it applies, and take the details NPORS need.
3. Training
Classroom on what the system is doing and where it fails, then the rest of the day on the machine setting up, verifying and working to the model.
4. Theory test
The NPORS theory test covering system components, set up, design data, verification, limitations and the duties that apply.
5. Practical test
You inspect and set up the system, confirm dimensions and surface, verify against a known point, work to the design level and respond correctly when the data and the ground disagree, assessed against the NPORS test specification.
6. Registration and card
We register the pass with NPORS and apply for your card, carrying the CSCS logo where you hold a current CITB Health, Safety and Environment test.
After the course
The screen is a tool, not a witness
Machine control goes wrong quietly. A mast gets knocked getting into a compound, a bucket is changed and nobody updates the dimensions, the wrong surface is selected, or the model on the machine is two revisions behind the one the engineer is working to. In every case the display looks perfectly normal and the machine digs confidently to the wrong level. The only defence is a verification check against a known point, done at the start of the shift and repeated after anything changes, with the result written down.
The other thing worth saying out loud is that guided machines do not remove people from the ground, they change where those people are. Engineers still walk the dig, gangs still work alongside the machine, and the operator is now spending part of their attention on a screen. Machine and pedestrian separation matters at least as much on a guided site as on a conventional one.
- N202 Excavator 360 or N201 Excavator 180 for the operating category the guided machine still needs
- N215 Dozer and N240 Grader where the guidance is fitted to earthmoving machines rather than excavators
- N133 Plant and Machinery Marshal for the separation of machines and people on a busy earthworks site
- CITB Health, Safety and Environment test booked with us where the CSCS logo version of the card is needed
Build your course
Who is coming, and how many
We do not run these to a timetable. The course is built around your people: how experienced they are and how many of them there are, which is what sets the length and the cost. Pick the mix and we will come back with a date and a price.
The course builder needs JavaScript. Without it, tell us how many people and what experience they have and we will price it up.
N030 Machine Control System FAQs
No. Machine control is an additional category covering the guidance system. The operator still needs the NPORS category for the machine itself, and no site should accept N030 on its own as evidence that somebody can operate an excavator or a dozer.
Yes. Laser and slope based systems and full three dimensional model based systems are both in scope, and the practical is built around the one you run. Tell us the make and generation at enquiry so the day is spent on your equipment rather than a generic overview.
The NPORS test sheet gives a one day novice duration with four candidates, one instructor and one machine. An operator already using a system usually takes the shorter experienced worker route. We confirm the length when we quote.
Four on this category, the same as the novice course and the refresher. Some NPORS categories allow six on the experienced route, but the sheet sets N030 at four across all three.
That is the central question of the course. The answer is that operators verify against a known point before they start and after anything changes, and that they stop and report when the display and the ground stop agreeing rather than digging on and hoping. A system nobody checks is worse than no system at all.
No, and the course is specific about that. Satellite based systems lose accuracy under tree cover, beside tall structures and in deep cuttings, and can be affected by interference. Knowing when the system should not be relied on is as important as knowing how to use it.
Yes, and it is much the better option. We use your machine, your system, your design data and your survey control, so what people learn transfers straight back to the job the next morning.
An NPORS Red Trained Operator card, or a Blue Competent Operator card where the holder has the relevant NVQ. Either carries the CSCS logo while a CITB Health, Safety and Environment test pass is in date.
NPORS courses are priced per course, not per person. What you are paying for is the instructor, the registered tester and the machine time, so the figure turns on four things: the category, which route your operators need (novice, experienced, conversion or refresher), how many people are coming, and whether we run it on your site or at one of ours. It is also why a squad works out considerably cheaper per head than sending operators out one at a time. Use the course builder on this page: tell it who is coming and it works out how many days the course takes and how many times it has to run, which is what the price is built from. Then ask us and you will get a figure for that exact group rather than a list price with conditions attached.
We run NPORS courses across the UK rather than out of one fixed centre, and for most categories the better answer is that we come to you: your operators are assessed on the machine they will be using anyway, nobody loses a day travelling, and for a group it costs less. If you would rather come to us, we have centres at Trent House in Stoke, Pride Park in Derby, Europa House in Manchester and Kingsway House in Liverpool. Tell us where the work is and we will say honestly which way round makes more sense.
There is no fixed timetable to wait for. NPORS courses here are run to order, which means the dates are built around your programme rather than ours, and a single operator or a full squad can normally be booked in within a couple of weeks. If you have a card about to expire or a start date to hit, say so when you enquire and we will work to it.
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