Volvo Construction Equipment (CE) has unveiled several futuristic equipment prototypes and innovations at its Xploration Forum in Eskilstuna, Sweden, including autonomous machines, a hybrid wheel loader that cuts fuel consumption by 50% and a radical electric quarry solution.
In the first of three demonstrations, Jenny Elfsberg, director of emerging technologies at Volvo CE, unveiled a prototype autonomous L120 wheel loader that filled a prototype autonomous A25F articulated hauler – before dumping its load and repeating the cycle.
In tests at an asphalt plant in Sweden, the team has already found that the autonomous wheel loader can achieve productivity levels equivalent to 70% that of a skilled operator. Such developments have major implications for the Gulf, which suffers from a skills gap.
Elfsberg noted: “The machines can perform the same task over and over again, along a fixed route, for a relatively long period of time. We are working on developing solutions that have the required safety and performance levels that the market will accept.”
According to Construction Week Online, Volvo astonished visitors to the forum when it presented the company’s prototype electric hybrid wheel loader – a machine that can deliver up to a 50% improvement in fuel efficiency.
The prototype hybrid wheel loader – known as the LX1 – achieves this with individual electric drive motors mounted directly at the wheels, electric hydraulics, an energy storage system, a significantly smaller diesel engine for recharging the battery.
The prototype – which has 98% new parts and a fundamentally new machine design – is also capable of doing the work of a conventional wheel loader a category larger than itself and offers a significant reduction in both emissions and noise pollution compared to its conventional counterparts.
However, perhaps the most dramatic of Volvo’s reveals was its conceptual development of a quarry solution that incorporates its latest developments in both autonomy and electric drive, exemplified by its autonomous, battery-electric, driverless hauler, the HX1.
In partnership with the Swedish Energy Agency, the electric site project aims to transform the quarry and aggregates industry by reducing carbon emissions by up to 95% and total cost of ownership by up to 25%.
“This research project is a step towards transforming the quarry and aggregates industry,” said Johan Sjöberg, technical specialist in site automation at Volvo CE.
“By using electricity instead of diesel to power construction equipment in a quarry we have the potential to deliver significant reductions in fuel consumption, CO2 emissions, environmental impact and cost-per-tonne.”
Martin Weissburg, president of Volvo CE, added: “We are developing technologies connected to electromobility, intelligent machines and total site solutions that will benefit our customers and the environment and play an important part in building a sustainable society.”
by John Bambridge
