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Built Robotics’ ATL uses a combination of the LIDAR technology, IMUs, and extremely accurate GPS technology to perform simple but arduous tasks like digging a hole once the parameters for the task have been defined.
Equipment World variables on our roads, autonomous mining and construction equipment— which operates on enclosed, strictly defined sites with comparatively few variables— is likely to be operating long before these cars of the future become commonplace.
One of the companies that is pushing the envelope when it comes to technology and loaders is Built Robotics. Founded by ex-Google engineer Noah Ready-Campbell, Built Robotics aims to disrupt the USD130- billion excavation industry with its fleet of autonomous earth movers. The company’ s autonomous tracked loader( ATL), revealed in October 2017, uses a combination of the LIDAR technology, inertial measurement units( IMUs), and extremely accurate global positioning system( GPS) technology to perform simple but arduous tasks like digging a hole once the parameters for the task have been defined. The LIDAR is specifically designed to work in the high-vibration, highimpact world of construction excavation, while the lasers also allow the robot to measure the amount of material it has scooped up. This is the first demonstration of Built Robotics equipping construction vehicles with technology that allows them to conduct dangerous and / or repetitive work with very little human intervention
And while self-driving cars are meant to avoid contact with their environment,
Volvo CE construction machines are in a different boat altogether: they need to come into contact with the ground they are meant to be removing, and thus the programming can be a lot less precise, assuming that the site itself is geofenced and workers and machines are kept apart from one another. However, the LIDAR does have to be specifically engineered to cope with the rough conditions, and with modifications to help detect how much dirt it is hauling around at any given time.
Volvo concept and prototype loaders Volvo Construction Equipment( Volvo CE) is heavily invested in researching and developing innovative equipment for the construction industry. At present, the company has a number of concept and prototype vehicles that it is developing, some as part of currently ongoing research projects, in a bid to discover new ways to improve on-site operations.“ Volvo CE is at the forefront of technological development,” says Volvo CE president, Martin Weissburg.
Volvo CE’ s LX1 electric hybrid wheel loader deposits a payload into the HX1 concept machine – an autonomous, fully electric load carrier.
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MAY 2018