TELEOPERATION OF HEAVY MACHINERY FROM ANYWHERE.
Ultra-low-latency video and bidirectional control over 4G, 5G and satellite networks.
<50 MS
Ultra-low latency
4G / 5G / SATELLITE
Bonded multi-link
FULL HD
H.265 / HEVC
BEYOND LINE OF SIGHT
Long-distance operation
Overview | How It Works | Applications | Technology | Safety | Case Studies | FAQ
Remote operation without limits.
Soliton Zao is an OEM technology that enables manufacturers and system integrators to control construction machinery remotely using ultra-low-latency video and bidirectional control over mobile, 5G, Wi-Fi, and satellite networks.
LIVE TELEOPERATION DEMO — ZAO SDK
Same machine. Any distance.
The Zao technology extends conventional remote control by integrating muti-view vision via cameras with ultra low latency IP connectivity to a remote operator, so you can operate machinery safely and efficiently from anywhere.
Existing remote control
Limited by line-of-sight and short-range radio.
Limited distance
Operator must be close to the machine.
With Zao
Beyond line-of-sight using 4G mobile, 5G and satellite networks.
Zao extends communication distances to far away remote places; existing machine safety functions remain unchanged.
From machine to operator.
Soliton’s Zao Type G solution is an OEM technology for retrofit that enables seamless remote control of construction machinery. Powered by the sophisticated Zao RASCOW2 streaming protocol, it delivers broadcast-quality video and instant bi-directional control signals with ultra-low latency across hazardous or challenging environments. This includes low bandwidth environments or where there maybe high contention on the network infrastructure.
<50 MS
Ultra-low latency
4G / 5G / SATELLITE
Bonded multi-link
FULL HD
H.265 / HEVC
BEYOND 100 M
Long-distance operation
Proven across a wide range of equipment.
Zao is not tied to a single equipment manufacturer or remote-operation system, giving integrators flexibility across existing and new machinery.
CAT
Hitachi
Komatsu
Morooka
Kato Works
Bobcat
OEM REMOTE SYSTEMS
Existing manufacturer remote-control platforms.
RETROFIT ACTUATORS
Bolt-on systems for existing machinery.
HYDRAULIC MODIFICATION
Direct integration with machine controls.
Why Teleoperation Matters.
Conventional remote control is typically limited by line-of-sight and short-range radio communication. Beyond visual line-of-sight (BVLOS) remote operation removes that barrier, allowing construction equipment to be operated safely and efficiently from remote locations over mobile, 5G and satellite networks.
Keep people out of harm’s way
Operate construction equipment from a safe distance. Disaster sites, unstable ground, demolition areas and other hazardous environments can be managed remotely instead of putting operators at unnecessary risk.
Address scarce skilled operators
Remote operation enables skilled operators to control machinery across multiple sites from a central location, helping businesses make better use of limited specialist expertise.
Increase uptime and reduce travel
Operators can support multiple machines and locations without constantly travelling between sites, reducing mobilisation time while improving equipment utilisation and operational efficiency.
Reach hazardous or inaccessible sites
Remote operation makes it possible to work in reconstruction zones, mines, disaster areas, remote terrain and other locations that may be difficult or unsafe for operators to access directly.
Built for demanding environments.
From construction sites and mines to hazardous and remote locations, Zao enables reliable remote operation where distance, safety and connectivity matter most.
CONSTRUCTION & MINING
Remote heavy machinery across construction and mining operations.
TOWER CRANES
Remote operation for lifting equipment and elevated worksites.
HAZARDOUS & REMOTE SITES
Keep operators away from unstable, inaccessible or high-risk environments.
DISASTER & RECONSTRUCTION
Remote machinery for recovery and reconstruction where access is limited.
CONSTRUCTION & MINING
Remote operations at industrial scale.
Zao enables real-time remote operation of heavy machinery in construction and mining — from hydraulic excavators and loaders to haul trucks, drill rigs and crawler dumps.
By bonding cellular and satellite connections with our RASCOW2 protocol, operators maintain full situational awareness and precise control, even in the most remote locations.
WIDE RANGE OF EQUIPMENT
HYDRAULIC
EXCAVATORS
Precise control of digging and loading operations.
WHEEL
LOADERS
Efficient material handling and stockpile management.
HAUL
TRUCKS
Safe operation of 200-ton class heavy haulage.
DRILL
RIGS
Remote drilling in quarries and open-pit mines.
CRAWLER
DUMPS
Transport and dumping in rough and uneven terrain.
TOWER CRANES
Remote operation for tower cranes.
Zao can provide ultra-low-latency video and bidirectional communication for remote operation of tower cranes over available IP networks.
Multiple camera views can give operators visibility of the crane and working area from a remote operator station.
MULTIPLE CAMERA VIEWS
Live views of the crane and working area.
MULTIPLE CAMERA VIEWS
Live views of the crane and working area.
HAZARDOUS & REMOTE SITES
Send the machine. Keep the operator out.
Remote operation enables construction equipment to work in hazardous, unstable or hard-to-reach environments while the operator remains in a safe location.
With Zao, communication can be extended over mobile, 5G and satellite networks, supporting operations even in the most remote areas.
WHEN INFRASTRUCTURE IS LIMITED
UNSTABLE TERRAIN
Operate on slopes, uneven ground and difficult-access worksites.
REMOTE / OFF-GRID
Work beyond radio range or in areas without reliable cellular coverage.
DISASTER AREAS
Keep operators away from hazardous environments where access is restricted or unsafe.
DISASTER & RECONSTRUCTION
Keep rebuilding moving.
Disaster and reconstruction zones can combine hazardous conditions, restricted access and shortages of skilled operators.
Zao enables construction equipment to be operated remotely over available mobile and satellite networks, allowing expertise to be brought to the site without requiring every operator to be physically present.
FIELD EXAMPLE
Kyiv, Ukraine
Remote excavator operation over local LTE networks, approximately 25 km from the construction site.
See the operation from the remote side.
A remote operator depends on clear, real-time visibility of the machine and surrounding work area.
This demonstration shows how multiple camera feeds can be presented at the operator station, providing different viewpoints for monitoring and remote control of cranes and other heavy machinery.
REMOTE OPERATOR INTERFACE DEMONSTRATION
Engineered for real-time control.
Zao combines Soliton’s RASCOW2 transmission technology with multi-link connectivity,
efficient H.265 video compression and bidirectional communication to maintain responsive
remote operation across changing network conditions.
SOLITON CORE TECHNOLOGY
RASCOW2
RASCOW2 adapts the video compression rate in real time as available network bandwidth changes, helping maintain the stream through fluctuating wireless conditions.
RASCOW2 automatically adjusts the video bitrate to match available network capacity.
MULTI-LINK CONNECTIVITY
Multiple LTE / 5G connections can be bonded together, with Wi-Fi, LAN and satellite also supported depending on the deployment.
ULTRA-LOW
LATENCY
Parallel processing and low-latency encoding reduce glass-to-glass delay for responsive remote operation.
H.265 / HEVC
Efficient H.265 video compression delivers high-quality video while reducing the bandwidth required across mobile and satellite connections.
SECURE COMMUNICATION
AES-256 encryption and authentication protect communication across the Zao transmission path.
TESTED GLASS-TO-GLASS LATENCY - POINT TO POINT
≤ 40 ms
LOCAL NETWORK
≤ 50 ms
5G
≤ 65 ms
4G
Two ways to bring Zao onboard.
Choose a complete hardware appliance for faster deployment, or integrate Zao directly into your embedded computing platform.
ZAO TYPE-G
TURNKEY HARDWARE APPLIANCE
A ruggedised all-in-one hardware solution with video encoding, camera inputs, control I/O and multi-network connectivity built in.
READY TO DEPLOY
Minimal embedded software development required.
ALL-IN-ONE HARDWARE
Encoding, camera inputs, control I/O and connectivity in one unit.
IDEAL FOR INTEGRATORS
A practical route for adding Zao to existing machinery and remote-operation systems.
ZAO SDK
EMBEDDED SOFTWARE INTEGRATION
Integrate the RASCOW2 protocol directly into an Nvidia Jetson-based computing platform for a compact, software-defined teleoperation architecture.
DEEP INTEGRATION
Embed Zao into your existing onboard computing architecture.
LOWER HARDWARE OVERHEAD
Combine camera processing, H.265 encoding and RASCOW2 on the same Nvidia platform.
BUILT FOR OEM DEVELOPMENT
Best suited to platforms where size, weight or deeper software integration are priorities.
Teleoperation built around existing machine safety.
Zao extends video and control communication beyond conventional line-of-sight while keeping the machine’s existing OEM safety functions and remote-operation system in place.
VERIFIED WITH CAT COMMAND CONSOLE
In real-machine testing, interruption of the control link caused the CAT machine to stop using its existing comms-loss safety logic.
BUILT AROUND EXISTING
SAFETY
Zao works alongside the machine’s existing remote-operation and safety systems rather than replacing them.
TRANSPARENT COMMUNICATION LAYER
The machine’s existing safety design and remote-operation system remain fully responsible for safe operation.
EXTEND REMOTE OPERATION WITHOUT REPLACING THE MACHINE’S SAFETY SYSTEM.
Zao provides the communication layer; machine safety functions remain governed by the OEM or existing remote-operation system.
Proven in demanding environments.
Zao has been demonstrated in real construction environments where distance,
connectivity and operator safety create practical challenges.
Case study 1
ASAMA, JAPAN
Off-grid ultra-remote operation.
At the Asama erosion-control site, remote construction equipment was operated in a hazardous environment where unmanned construction is essential.
Remote Distance
Approx. 3.5 KM from the field office
CONNECTIVITY
Starlink + multi-link bonding
EQUIPMENT
MC excavator +
carrier dump
CONTROL METHOD
Bolt-on actuators retrofitted to existing equipment
Case study 2
KYIV, UKRAINE
Remote operation for reconstruction.
A Komatsu PC-210LC excavator at a Kyiv construction site was remotely operated from Kyiv Polytechnic Institute using local LTE networks.
Remote Distance
Approx. 25 km
NETWORK
Kyivstar + lifecell LTE
EQUIPMENT
Komatsu
PC-210LC
OPERATOR
Local operator after only a few hours of training
Interested in applying this to your operation?
Talk to Soliton about your use case, equipment and connectivity requirements.
Questions before going remote.
Every machine, network and operating environment is different. Here are some of the questions we are asked most often about integrating Zao for remote operation.
1. Does Zao replace the machine’s safety system?
No. Zao extends the communication path between the machine and remote operator; it does not replace the machine’s existing safety functions.
Safety behaviour remains governed by the equipment manufacturer or existing remote-operation system.
2. What happens if the network connection drops?
The machine’s existing safety system responds according to its own design.
In the verified CAT Command Console configuration, interruption of the control link caused the machine to stop using its existing communication-loss safety logic. Exact behaviour depends on the machine and remote-operation system.
3. What latency should I expect?
Latency depends on the network, camera setup, server architecture and overall system configuration.
Zao is designed for low-latency teleoperation, but actual performance should be validated in the intended operating environment during a proof of concept.
4. Which networks can Zao use?
Depending on the deployment, Zao can operate over LTE / 4G, 5G, Wi-Fi, LAN and satellite connections such as Starlink.
Multiple connections can also be combined using multi-link communication to improve bandwidth and resilience.
5. Can Zao operate where cellular coverage is unavailable?
Yes, depending on the available infrastructure.
Satellite connectivity can be used in locations where cellular coverage is unavailable or unreliable. At the Asama erosion-control project, Starlink and multi-link bonding were used for remote operation outside normal cellular coverage.
6. Does Zao require a static IP address?
Not necessarily.
Zao Cloud configurations can operate without a static IP address. Point-to-point, private-host or other network architectures may have different requirements depending on the deployment.
7. Can Zao work with our existing machinery?
Zao is not tied to a single machinery manufacturer or remote-operation system.
It can be integrated with OEM remote-control systems, retrofit actuator solutions and hydraulic-control modifications. The required integration method and compatibility are evaluated for each machine and control system.
8. Does Zao replace our existing remote-control console?
Not necessarily. Zao is designed to extend the communication path between the machine and remote operator.
Where an existing remote-control system is already available, Zao can transport video and control communication over IP while the existing machine control system remains in use. The exact integration depends on the equipment and control architecture.
9. Zao Type-G or Zao SDK — which do I need?
Zao Type-G is the turnkey hardware route for faster deployment, combining video encoding, camera inputs, control interfaces and connectivity in a dedicated appliance.
Zao SDK is intended for deeper integration into an Nvidia Jetson-based embedded computing platform and is suited to projects where software integration, size or hardware optimisation are priorities.
Soliton can help determine the appropriate approach for your project.
10. Can we test Zao on our own machine?
Yes. A joint proof of concept can be used to validate machine integration, network performance, video, control behaviour and operational requirements in the intended environment.
A typical process starts by selecting the machine and trial objectives, followed by real-world testing and then validation of the integration approach before a wider rollout.
NEXT STEP
Ready to prove it on your machine?
A joint proof of concept lets you validate Zao in your real environment before moving towards full deployment.
Steps to implementation
01
Select & Scope
We define the integration approach, equipment, network and trial objectives together.
02
Test & Validate
We test video, control and connectivity in the actual operating environment.
03
Review & Plan
We review the results, confirm the approach and define the next steps towards deployment.
Ready to test Zao on your machine?
Talk to Soliton about a proof of concept using your equipment, network and operating environment.