沃尔沃未来概念挖掘机图文精.docx

沃尔沃未来概念挖掘机图文精.docx

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沃尔沃未来概念挖掘机图文精

THESHAPEOFTHINGSTOCOME

MEETINGTHEFUTURE’SDEMANDSWITHTHETECHNOLOGYOFTOMORROW

ThephilosophyofVolvoischaracterized

byQuality,SafetyandEnvironmentalCare.

Whilethesecommonvaluesarepeople

centered,theyalsocreategreatdemands

ontheproductsthatVolvoCEproduces.

Inordertoleadtheindustryinquality,

safetyandcarefortheenvironment,the

equipmentVolvoCEdesignsandmanu-

facturesmustbeattheleadingedgeof

technologicaldevelopment.

Thisbrochureexaminesthework

ofateamofindustrialdesigners

intheirquesttodesignthe

VolvoConstructionEquip-

mentexcavatorofthe2020s.

Withthecorporatevaluesatthe

coreofthedesignphilosophy,

theendresult–theSfinXexca-

vator—isasymbolnotonlyof

Volvo’sadvancedtechnologicalthin-

king,butalsoofwherethecompany

wantstogoinitssearchforproductexcel-

lenceandcustomerintimacy.

2THESHAPEOFTHINGSTOCOME

SfinX:

guardianofthefuture

TheSfinXprojectwasthebrainchildofVolvoCE’sProductPortfolioand

AdvancedEngineeringdepartment.WorkingcloselywithSwedishindustrial

designhouse,“ProspectiveDesign”andVolvoGroup’sTechnologyCentre,the

teamtalkedtooperatorsaboutwhatfeaturestheywouldliketoseeonnew

machines.Inaddition,thedesignersalsolookedoutsideoftheconstruction

industrytosearchforemergenttechnologiesthatcouldhaveapplications

suitabletoconstructionequipment.Theautomotiveandaerospacesectors

providedrichpickings,asdidlaboratoriesanduniversities.

Theexcavatorwaschosenasthesubjectoftheresearch,asthisisthe

mostcompetitivesectoroftheconstructionequipmentmarket,andalsothe

mostpopularpiece.TheSfinXteamwasnottakingtheeasyoption.

Whilestillrecognizableasanexcavator,

almosteverycomponenthasbeenradically

altered.Theengineisnolongerdieselbuta

smallfuelcell,whichproduceselectricenergy–

butemitsonlyheatandwatervapor.Thisfrees

upspaceinthesuperstructureandallowsthe

enginetoperformasan‘activecounterweight’,

whichmovesinandouttocompensateforthe

forcesontheboom.Hydraulicshavebeenlargelyreplacedandtherehas

beenextensiveuseofnewmaterials–notallofwhichareavailabletoday

andwillneed‘inventing’.Infact,someofthetechnologymaynevercometo

fruition–whileotheraspects（e.g.GPSareavailabletoday.“Wehadtoguess

sometimes,”saysHansZachau,chiefdesignerontheSfinXproject.“Butthat’s

thewholeidea–toimaginepossibleoutcomes.Welearnednottobescared

ofnewtechnologyandradicalconceptsandhavehadthecouragetoinclude

themintheSfinX.”Hungrytodig

Thefinaldesignoftheexcavatorisamixturebetweenspaceage

andprimordial,likeaprehistoricmoonbuggy.Theanimalisticlookis

intentional;SfinXshouldbeefficient,leanandhungrytodig.Purposefuland

alittlemeanlooking.Butit’sstillaVolvomachineandthereforemustreflect

thecorevaluesofQuality,SafetyandEnvironmentalCare.Ithasthefamiliar

outlineofanexcavatorbutthedesignupdatescurrentconceptsofboom,

cab,tracksandsuperstructureinaninnovativeway.ThefamiliarVolvologo

andcolorschemetiethedesignbacktothecurrentmachines.Thereduced

useofhydraulicshelpstoachieveacleanerlooking,moreattractivedesign.

Theexcavatorwaschosenasthesubjectoftheresearch.

THESHAPEOFTHINGSTOCOME3

Powerpack

Thefuturemachineswillnolongerusedieselengines.Thedesignerstoyedwiththeideaofusinggasturbines（effectivelyjetenginesbutsettledontheideaoffuelcells.Fuelcellsconvertafuel’senergyintousableelectricityandheat–withoutcombustion.Becausehydrogenreactswithoxygentoproduceelectricity,itistheoptimalfueltouse,asitsonlyemissionsarewatervaporandheat.Theyarelikebatteriesthatdon’trundownaslongasyoukeepfeedingthemhydrogen.Thehydrogenisstoredinliquidformatverylowtemperatures（circa.-45°C.

Fuelcellsarecurrentlyinthedevelopmentstage（althoughtheautomotiveindustryhasworkingprototypesundereva-luationbutithasbeencalculatedthattopoweranexcavator,afuelcellthesizeoftwonormalsuitcaseswouldbeneeded.Thisfreesupalotofspaceonthesuperstructurewherethedieselenginewouldnormallysit–hencethemachine’sabilitytohavesuchalargecutawaysection.Theengineactsasthemachinecounterweight,whichmovesallthetimetocom-pensatefortheforcesontheboom.Bymovingittowardsthecentreoftheexcavator,itcouldbemadesmallfortransport,movingitrightoutwouldgivemaximumstability.（Zeroswingorlargeswing.

Increasinglyonerousemissionlegislationsarealsolikelytospeedupthemovetohydrogencells–amostenvironmen-tallyfriendlypowersystem.

4THESHAPEOFTHINGSTOCOME

Fluidthinking

orelectricideas?

Theintroductionofelectricitycouldalsodoawaywithhydraulics.Allsystemsthatarecurrentlyhydrauliccouldbeconvertedtoelectricmotors.Noticehowhydrauliccylindershavebeenre-movedasmuchaspossibleandhydraulicpipingabandoned.Thiswouldobviatetheneedtocir-culateoilalloverthemachine.Hydraulicsisanoldtechnologybutitstillhassomelifeyet.Volvobelievesthatgraduallyhydrauliccylindersmaybephasedoutandreplacedbyelectricmotorssitedatthepivotpointsofthestick&boom.

Boomboon

Thecentralconceptwastomakealightboom–becauseeverythinginweightontheboomislostincapacityforliftingordigging.Thesee-throughlatticeallowsvisibilitythroughtheboom,aidingsafetybyreducingtheoperator’sblindspotcausedbysolidmetalbooms.Whilecurrentsteelswouldstruggletocopewiththelargeforcesimposedontheboom,thedesignerareexpectinganewgenerationofhighstrength

steelstobeavailablethatcouldmakethisadesignpossibility.Independentthinking

Theadoptionoffourtracksistomakethemmorewheel-like.Whendrivingonroughgroundtraditionaltracks‘tiptoe’andthecontactareaisquitesmall.Fourtrackshaveamuchhighercontactareawiththeground,aidedbyindependentsuspensiontoeachtrack,suspendedviaaswingarmfromacentralpivot.Eachtrackhasaseparatewheelmotor,whichcanbrake,accelerateandallowthetracktosteertheexcavator.Ontraditionaltracksyoueitherbrakeoraccelerate,leftorright.Trackswillalsouseanon-metalrubber-likematerialthatcancopewithhighabrasionsurfaces.Thefourtrackscanbemovedtoformatraditionaltwotrackappearancetodistributetheweightbetterwhenonsoftground.Thissystem（alsopoweredbyelectricmotorscanbeusedtoextendthetracksoutwardsforincreasedstabilitywhileworking–orinwardsunderthesuperstructurefortransportation.

THESHAPEOFTHINGSTOCOME5Theengineactsasthemachinecounterweight,whichmovesallthetimetocompensatefor

theforcesontheboom.

Drive-By-WireAnotherareawhereaerospaceisdevelopingnewtechnologiesofinteresttotheSfinXteamis‘fly-by-wire’.Thisiswherethereisnophysicallink（solidcables,mechanicallinksorhydraulicpipingbetweenthedrivercontrolsandthecomponentstheyoperate.Insteadcommandsaresent‘wirelessly’tosensorsonthecomponentsorviaelectricwires.Inconstructionmachinerythiswouldenabletheeradicationofhydraulicormechanicalcontrolsandthereplacementwithelectronicandelectricalcontrols.Thesesystems,likeonaircraft,wouldhavemultiple‘redundancy’oncriticalsystems,suchasbrakesandsteering,wherebyasecondaryback-upsystemwouldnotonlyensureconstantperformance,butalsoenhancesafety.Thecominggenerationofexcavators,gradersandwheelloadersislikelytofeaturesomeformofdriveby-wire.Ithaspotentialapplicationsinbraking,steeringandmovingtheboom.Legislationwillalsoplayapartindeterminingwhendrive-by-wirebecomesareality.Arecustomersdemandingdrive-by-wire?

Customersaredemandingsoftleversandeasytousecontrols–anddrive-by-wireallowsthistohappen.Drive-by-wirealsoeliminatestheneedforhydraulicoiltobepipedintothecab–whichcangetveryhot（therebyheatingupthecab.Houston:

wehaveasolutionSatellitetechnologyisalreadyavailableandwillbecomemuchmorepopularinthefuture.VolvoCEisworkingonGPS（GlobalPositioningSystembasedtelematiccapabilitiesforitsfuturepro-TheSfinXexcavatorhoversonanelectro-magneticfield.GPSinformationcanhelptonotifytheoperatorhowthebladeshouldbeplaced.ductrange.‘Geo-fencing’canmakesurethatamachinedoesn’tleaveapredeterminedarea–soundinganalarmandincapacitatingthemachineifnecessary.Alsodatasuchashoursworked,temperature,fuelconsumptionandproductivityinformationcanallbecaptured.Thisnotonlyhelpsprepareservicepro-grams,butalsohighlightsmachinemisuse/abuseandenablesequipmentownerstocalculatelifetimeownershipcosts.Realtimefleetmanagementisnowareality.GPSalsohasoperationaladvantages.Forexample,inexcavatorsorgraders,GPSinformationcanhelptonotifytheoperatorhowthebucketorbladeshouldbeplacedsothatonlythepreciseamountofmaterialisremoved.Thereforethereisnowastedeffortandproductivityiscorrespondinglyimproved.6THESHAPEOFTHINGSTOCOME

MaterialevidenceAsshowninSfinX,metalwillincreasinglybereplacedasacomponentmaterialbycomposites.Thisisbecausetheyareresistanttotheenvironmentandcanberelativelyeasilyrepaired（theyarealsogenerallylighter;canbemoldedintomoreinterestingshapes.Plastics,meanwhile,arelowercost,canbepaintedtoahigherspecificationand–inlinewithVolvo’scorevalues–environmentallyfriendlyplasticsarebecoming