Equipment World Digital Magazine
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conventional machine and a sloped machine architecture that Meese is especially interested in. "The vis- ibility has been increased so much, you can see anyone who's close to the machine," he says. "That's a great feature, particularly in some of our tight areas." Volvo says the L120-size LX1 is "fundamentally a new machine," with 98 percent new parts, and capable of doing the work of a L150-size wheel loader. HX1 In researching how to create a quarry site that relies primarily on electric power, Volvo took a hard look at how aggregate is moved in today's quarries. It was particu- larly interested in what it says is an inherent vulnerability in relying on large haul trucks to carry these loads: When one of these large haulers goes down, the entire op- eration suffers. As an alternative, Volvo is pro- posing the HX1, an autonomous, battery-electric load carrier. As conceived, a fleet of these smaller unmanned carriers will be able to move the same amount of aggre- gate as one large haul truck, and if one carrier goes down, it will be a substantially smaller hit to a quar- ry's production. Autonomous machines Volvo has also targeted autonomous machines, and presented two ret- rofitted units at the forum: an A25F artic and a L120E loader. Pitting the autonomous loader against a conven- tional manned machine in a repeti- tive one-hour load-and-dump com- parison, Volvo says it found that the autonomous machine "could reach the equivalent of 70 percent of that of a skilled operator's productivity levels when loading and unloading." Programmed to work together while carrying out a specific set of actions on a predefined route, the automated duo isn't ready for market yet, although early field tests have been conducted at an asphalt plant in Sweden. "It's still early days for this technology," says Jenny Elfsberg, director of emerging technologies, "and we're working on develop- ing solutions that have the required safety and performance levels that the market will accept." One research hurdle: getting the machines to communicate with each other and with a central control point. "That's crucial when it comes to avoiding collisions and facilitating the efficient flow of equipment," she says. Where to now? Despite all the heavy iron evidence present at the event, Weissburg says the biggest shift in Volvo CE's technology approach is the early involvement of customers in concept machines. "Without a full knowledge of machine applications, we're inno- vating in the dark," he says, adding: "This won't be accomplished by Volvo alone, but by a full ecosystem of customers, academia and govern- ment agencies." At the center of Volvo CE's techno- logical approach, is what the compa- ny is calling the Volvo Concept Lab. "This will be a place where we can ask questions, an area to play and communicate," says Dave Ross, vice president of advanced engineering and verification. "It gives agility to a big organization. The green machines are not for sale, but for learning." November 2016 | EquipmentWorld.com 46 technology | continued Volvo's autonomous artic and wheel loader duo, still in early stage prototype, has been tested at an asphalt plant in Sweden. The use of a smaller engine on the LX1 hybrid loader creates increased visibility from the cab.