Construction automation company Xpanner has unveiled the X1 Piling R6, a fully automated pile driving system for utility-scale solar and battery energy storage (BESS) sites.
X1 pairs Xpanner’s automation stack with the Everstar R6 crawler base machine. Operators upload the pile plan, walk the machine to the row and press one button. X1 then travels to each pile, aligns, hammers and holds the pile plumb while the operator supervises from a remote controller.
Conventional pile driving relies on a two-person crew plus separate survey, marking and prep work. X1 folds those steps into one automated cycle. The machine navigates to each pile position using high-precision GNSS antennas and receivers, precision sensors and an Xpanner-developed automation controller, the system automates pile positioning and driving to the required location and elevation — all at the push of a button. One operator runs the machine, and nobody stands next to the mast.
The X1 automation stack is carried over from Xpanner’s proven PD10 platform. Xpanner’s automation has been deployed on more than 67 U.S. jobsites with more than 10 of the country’s top EPCs. On the R6, X1 delivers a 45% faster cycle time than the prior generation.
Key capabilities include:
- Power for hard ground: a 97 kW (130 hp) engine and a high-frequency hydraulic hammer with up to 1,260 J (929 ft-lb) of impact energy and three energy settings to match soil conditions.
- Fine positioning without tramming: the guide rail slides 11.8 in (300 mm) forward and back and 19.7 in (500 mm) left and right, and the upper body rotates 180 degrees, putting the hammer on target from a single setup.
- Range of pile lengths: piles up to 23.0 ft (7.0 m) long, with a maximum driving depth of 15.7 ft (4.8 m). Because the hammer lowers near the ground and piles can be driven flush to grade, one machine handles standard tracker piles, short motor piles and BESS foundation piles without an adapter.
- Built for the field: no mast disassembly for transport, a large fuel tank for long shifts, engine auto-idle, a large-capacity cooler, manual override and e-stop.
Multi-function mast (potential future capabilities): DTH drilling, auger drilling and ground screwing on the same carrier, so one machine can pre-drill and drive.
“Solar and BESS builders are racing to bring new power online for the grid and for AI data centers, and they can’t find enough skilled crews to keep up,” said Henri Lee, co-founder & CEO of Xpanner. “X1 lets one operator drive every pile plumb with a single touch, keeps people away from the mast, and logs each pile as it goes in. It takes the automation EPCs already trust on PD10 and puts it on a more powerful, more versatile machine.”
X1 connects to Xpanner Connect, the company’s web-based project dashboard. Project teams load the pile schedule and coordinates, assign machines and set up a site in minutes. As X1 works, it records each pile’s position, depth and plumb and posts it to a live project map, replacing manual counts, phone calls, spreadsheets and end-of-day reports. Managers can also monitor machine state, cycle counts and alerts across the fleet without a site visit.
The X1 Piling R6 launches commercially on Oct. 26, 2026, through the Xpanner subscription. One agreement covers the machine, the X1 automation kit, Xpanner Connect and Xpanner On-Site Support, with service delivered directly by Xpanner from demo and site validation through training, operation and maintenance. During site validation, Xpanner reviews each customer’s pile schedule to confirm reveal heights and embedment.
The X1 Piling R6 will have future capabilities that include screw driving and pre-drilling.
News item from Xpanner
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