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RodRadar

Ground-penetrating radar built into the excavator bucket for real-time underground utility detection

Live Dig Radar (LDR) embeds ground-penetrating radar antennas directly in an excavator digging bucket, scanning the ground on every pass and alerting the operator in real time to the position and depth of buried utilities before the next bite, without a separate pre-dig survey or offsite expert analysis.

$6M Series A (announced Sept 2021, led by Brick & Mortar Ventures with Mayer Group, Dysruptek, and HOLT Ventures); PitchBook lists $8.04M in total funding across all rounds — the gap between the two figures is not publicly reconciled raisedGrowth Stage
Founded 2013 · Named customers/pilots include Haskell, Skanska (JFK International Airport reconstruction), Garney Construction, Weitz, Stutsman & Gerbaz, EBMUD, and DMV; distributed in the US, Europe, and Australia via ~17 dealers/distributors (Sitech, HOLT, RDO, Gregory Poole, Thompson Tractor, Boyd CAT, L Lynch (UK), EquipmentShare, and others) and manufacturing partners AMI Attachments and TAG Manufacturing; ~30 employees per Crunchbase (2026)
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WHY IT EXISTS

Why This Tool Exists

The Problem

Excavation crews rely on pre-dig utility locates and as-built drawings that are frequently inaccurate or incomplete, so operators can still strike buried pipes, cables, and fiber lines mid-dig. Utility strikes cause project delays, repair costs, and safety incidents, and the UK alone reports roughly 60,000 strikes a year costing an estimated £2.4 billion.

The Solution

A ground-penetrating radar sensor is embedded in the bottom of the excavator bucket itself (LDR Excavate), scanning a new slice of ground with every digging pass. Onboard algorithms classify the radar returns and push real-time position/depth alerts to an in-cab display (LDR Visualize) without requiring a GPR specialist to interpret the data, and scans are logged to a cloud portal (LDR Insight) for as-dug record-keeping.

USAGE

How You Use It

Delivery Method
Hardware (excavator bucket attachment)In-cab hardware displayCloud PortalMobile App (iOS/Android)
Integrations
Trimble Earthworks (machine-control interface, demonstrated proof-of-concept at Trimble Dimensions)Xwatch Safety Solutions (automated bucket-stop integration)KML export for GIS/survey handoff
Disciplines
Construction, Civil Engineering
Workflows
Data & Automation
Project Phases
Construction Administration
Project Types
Infrastructure, Commercial, Industrial
TRANSPARENCY

Data Transparency

Exactly what this tool uses and how

Input
What it needs
Required:Live GPR sensor data from the LDR Excavate bucket during active digging
Optional:Field-added soil/utility annotations and photos via the LDR Capture mobile app, Prior as-built/utility survey records for cross-reference
Formats:Proprietary radar scan data (format not publicly disclosed), KML (exported "as-dug" maps), JPG/PNG (field photos)
Output
What you get
Format:Real-time visual and audible in-cab alerts showing detected-utility position and depth, plus a synced cloud record of every scan
Fields:Utility position (horizontal), Utility depth (5"-40" / 12.5-100cm detection range, depending on utility and soil type), Time-stamped scan history, Field-tagged photos and notes, Exportable "as-dug" KML maps
Algorithm
How it works
Model:Proprietary ground-penetrating radar signal-classification system (patented Live Dig Radar; specific model architecture not publicly disclosed). RodRadar is a member of the NVIDIA Inception program, giving it access to NVIDIA GPUs and technical resources, but no GPU model, edge hardware, or ML architecture is named publicly.
Accuracy:Not publicly specified — vendor states detection works across "any soil" and "any type of buried utility" at 5"-40" depth, but no independent detection-rate, false-positive, or accuracy benchmark is published
Privacy
How your data is protected
Retention:Personal data held "as long as necessary" to fulfill the stated purpose or contract term; policy states retention periods are reviewed regularly but gives no concrete timeframes
Training:Not publicly specified — the privacy policy does not address whether scan or project data is used to train RodRadar's detection algorithms
Compliance:GDPR (data-subject rights process documented, contact [email protected])
API
Integration
Endpoint:Not publicly documented — no public developer/API portal found
Method:Not publicly specified
USE CASES

Use Cases

  • ·Real-time utility detection during active excavation to prevent strikes on pipes, cables, and fiber lines
  • ·Generating verified "as-dug" utility maps and KML exports for handoff to municipalities or asset owners without a separate survey crew
  • ·Cross-checking unreliable or outdated utility locate marks and as-built drawings against live radar returns before digging further
  • ·Automated excavator bucket-stop safety response when a utility is detected (via Xwatch integration)
  • ·Machine-control workflows combining live utility detection with grade-control systems (Trimble Earthworks proof-of-concept)
PRICING

Pricing

Free
Not applicable — hardware attachment product, no free tier
Pro
Not publicly specified — sold through dealers/distributors; one reported dealer agreement (SITECH Tejas, first U.S. dealer) was valued at $1.4M, but this is a distribution deal, not a per-unit price. An online ROI calculator is available but no list price is published.
Enterprise
Contact RodRadar or an authorized dealer for pricing
Sources & Research NotesResearch date: 2026-07-17
Data Sources (18)
Fields Checked (16)
problem, solution, deliveryMethod, disciplines, projectTypes, yearFounded, vendor, website, fundingTotal (Series A amount + lead investor, consistent with seed_facts), customerBase (named logos + dealer network), input-formats, output-fields, algorithm-approach, privacy-compliance (GDPR), control-features, useCases
Not Found (7)
public API documentation/endpoints, AI training-data policy, specific cloud hosting region/provider, SOC 2/ISO formal certification, public pricing/list price, independent detection-accuracy benchmark, exact total customer count
About this research: This record summarizes the cited sources and fields checked. A research date does not establish hands-on testing. Consult the original sources for current details and limitations.
ALTERNATIVES

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