Imagine a vehicle that can haul heavy loads on a Jobsite and has no need for a human operator. This has actually been the case for several years with heavy-duty dump trucks and Jobsite equipment that are capable of driving themselves around the site using GPS mapping, but these vehicles have always been equipped with the provisions needed to allow for a human driver to take over when needed. This of course meant the machines offered a designated front and back of the vehicle, but Komatsu has developed a vehicle that isn’t as easy to discern.
Called the Innovative Autonomous Haulage Vehicle this dump truck doesn’t have a cap, windshield, or any controls for a human operator. There’s nowhere for us to sit in the vehicle and it’s been designed to make the hauling of materials much more efficient. This vehicle does this by having turning wheels in the front and the back, which you won’t know where the front or back is, and it doesn’t need to turn around to haul products from one place to another. This reduces time and the space needed to drive this truck because it doesn’t require the large space that’s needed to turn around and move forward with a load.
With the AWD and all-wheel steering of this vehicle, it can move at the same speed and maneuver the same no matter which direction it’s headed. The only time you even need to bother with the direction of travel is when the load is being dumped because the bed only articulates in one direction to dump its load. Once a team has placed the IAHV in the direction needed it can move back and forth all day, dumping and refilling its load to ensure it can easily handle the job of moving materials from one place to another.
In order to make the most of how this truck can move and the technology of the vehicle, it uses regenerative braking to recharge the hybrid electric drivetrain and is capable of moving massive amounts of weight from place to place. This vehicle can haul as much as 500,000 pounds of payload at a speed of 40 mph using the 2,700 horsepower that’s generated from the massive drivetrain underneath. This makes the IAHV a vehicle that’s easy to enjoy when you see it at work and is one of the most productive vehicles on the job site.
Will you see these monsters on the roads as they head to construction sites near you? No, you won’t. These beasts are made for the Jobsite and programmed to perform on the dig or large construction site only and won’t be unleashed on the public roads, even for transportation from one place to another. These are extremely impressive machines and certainly, show us how autonomous vehicles and all-wheel steering can benefit the construction industry and allow for more productivity than ever before. Enjoy this video and see how the IAHV gets the job done.
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