Volvo Construction Equipment’s on-board ‘Co-Pilot’ system has been nominated as one of three finalists for the prestigious Car HMI awards in the category of ‘most innovative HMI feature’.
Held annually, the Car HMI awards recognise innovation and excellence in the design of human-machine interfaces (HMIs) used in vehicles.
“We are pleased that Volvo CE has been recognized for its innovative capabilities,” Volvo CE design director Sidney Levy says.
“Volvo Co-Pilot is the first step towards an integrated, holistic solution for worksite optimization. Not only does it set a new industry standard but it also puts operators at the heart of the system,” Levy says.
Designed for use on a range of Volvo construction equipment, the automated Co-Pilot system uses a ruggedized tablet computer to provide real-time machine information and to provide the ‘Assist’ functionalities for the machine – Dig Assist, Load Assist, Compact Assist and Pave Assist.
Dig Assist allows operators to complete digging tasks with greater accuracy with level and grade information fed directly into the cab, without the need for the operator to get out and check these manually.
Load Assist has been designed specifically for Volvo wheel loaders in the L110-L250 range and prevents underloading and overloading by monitoring the amount of material being loaded and delivering that information directly to the Co-Pilot tablet in the cab.
Compact Assist is aimed at asphalt pavers and offers two work modes at launch – Intelligent Compaction and Intelligent Compaction with Density Direct. The Intelligent Compaction system monitors, records and displays a pass counter and provides thermal mapping information to the operator. Density Direct can measure the density of a compacted area to ensure it is correct.
Pave assist is also aimed at asphalt pavers and automates many paving parameter and automatically records details required for road authority reporting requirements. Pave assist uses a combination of the thermal mapping, material manager and weather view functions to keep the job on track.