Volvo engineers have taken one Lego Technic model out of the toybox and onto site – in a move it says will fuel its own imagination into the future
Thanks to a collaboration between Lego Technic engineers and designers plus Volvo Construction Equipment the dream of many a child has become a reality.
Volvo CE has created a prototype of a wheel loader that is fully autonomous, self-learning and battery powered.
The company says it has the ability to make decisions, perform tasks and interact with humans.
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The LX03 prototype is the creation of Volvo CE and Lego Technic
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While the machine is not commercially available, Volvo says the collaboration with Lego adds a new element to the design and construction.
“Our two companies have enjoyed an extremely successful partnership over the years in which we have collaborated on several Lego Technic models,” says Lego Technic head of product Niels Henrik Horsted.
“But this is the first time we are making a real machine based on a model and not the other way around – and that is what makes this a truly unique project.”
The LX03 is a five-tonne wheel loader, which Volvo CE says can easily be made larger or smaller.
It shares a driveline with Volvo’s L25 electric loader, which means it has zero emissions, produces minimal noise and offers runtime of up to eight hours.
The 5.9m-long machine can reach speeds of 38km/h and has a working load of 2,000kg.
Volvo CE president Melker Jernberg says the LX03 is “pushing the boundaries of both technology and imagination and the result is beyond anything the world has seen before”.
The company also says the LX03 can be programmed to complete heavy, dangerous or repetitive tasks and is equipped with a ‘brain’ that can adapt to different scenarios and work safely and smartly.
Volvo CE says that while there are no plans for the LX03 to become commercially available, the company’s engineers “expect that valuable insights from the LX03 will feed into applications for today and tomorrow”.