Hello Everyone! We are a team of graduate students at the Integrated Innovation Institute, Carnegie Mellon University. We're presently researching the construction equipment sector, to identify opportunities for product and service innovation. This thread is an open ended question, to seek your inputs. As long term users & customers of construction equipment, what are some of your frustrations, disappointments, and wishes about this segment? What do you envision to be the future in this space? Please feel free to share any other relevant experience as well. Feedback maybe about specific equipment that you use, or project/site management, or any other relevant topic. Your inputs are most appreciated.
Welcome to Heavy Equipment Forums, sidzart. I grew up a few miles from your campus, and if you look across Forbes Ave., you can see where I went to high school. (That is, if you haven't built another building in between there yet.) For our members that aren't familiar with it, CMU is really a world class institution, particularly when it comes to cutting edge technology. If you suggest something in this thread, chances are good that it could become reality.
Thanks for that intro! As a side note, are there any other forums you would recommend, for seeking inputs? Could be any related space that pertains to this industry, not necessarily a heavy equipment forum. So far I've found a demolition forum.
My suggestion would be to read the thread "Where are the Mechanic's" Print it out and hand it out to you group. These problems are now seen in all "The Trades"
This is going to sound frivolous, but it's a real issue. A minor one maybe, but still real. I operate multiple types of equipment in my business and none of it is in the larger sizes some of the other folks here use. There has been a lot of attention focused on operator comfort in the larger equipment sizes, especially in anything that has a cab. Heat, A/C, etc... The smaller stuff? Sot so much. When you spend a whole day in the seat of something it has an effect. There isn't a single piece of equipment I own that I don't wish had a wider seat so that I didn't have to empty my hip pockets, not to mention an adjustable ride height to accommodate the length of my legs. Then there's the pounding my back takes. On the equipment I own that has a ROPS, as opposed to an enclosure, I have a canopy to protect me from the sun, or the rain. But you know what would be great? An adjustable sunshade to address glare that isn't direct, and other type of screening to mitigate the weather a bit. I don't mean a full enclosure, just something to cut down on wind and rain somewhat. Or on the really trivial side, cupholders that are either in front of the operator or at least within his peripheral vision, and which are somewhat isolated from the rest of the machine so my Coke isn't getting constantly shaken up. Or for that matter, 12v power ports. Now obviously there are all sorts of products I can buy from the aftermarket, and do, but I'm thinking that a couple of hundred dollars worth of minor accessories on the lower end machine aren't going to make a huge difference to someone buying something that costs tens of thousands of dollars, but it would make the long days in the seat a wee bit easier. Wider, more comfortable seats would obviously be more expensive than that, but would still be a small percentage of the overall cost of the machine. All this stuff, this "comfort" stuff has been around for a while now and has become fairly common on the larger machines. Companies have bought into it because an operator is a valuable asset that is far more difficult to replace than a hunk of metal, and improving his productivity by keeping him in the saddle more pays off. Pushing the stuff down-market would have the same justification and while you obviously wouldn't be doing anything as extensive or elaborate on a $35k machine as you would on a $350k one, I for one wouldn't mind.
Good visibility to the corners of the blade on a dozer. Visibility in general, with any machine. I think cameras are wonderful, but I wouldn't want to have to rely on them. As for track hoes, smooth travel pedals. Single travel pedal doesn't hurt, either. I like to track with my feet always, so the smoother the travel function is, the smoother I can operate.
There needs to be more field service mechanic input into design and engineering - the older Bobcats are a perfect example of designing a machine without the forethought of repair in the future. I tend to take care of my equipment and keep it long after it's paid off and the warranty is over, with the cost of new iron a small operation doesn't have a choice if you want to make money. Cat does the best job in this category in my opinion but they also drop the ball as well. On my 321DL the two fuel filters are under a cover that has to be taken off and crammed into a tight space that is aggravating to get into. Then there is a hand prime pump that's tucked in there too. Why they didn't add an electric prime pump to that machine like a 953C has? That one part would've made the task somewhat less aggravating. It's a $220K machine new, another $100 wouldn't make a difference. Hydraulic hose and electrical wiring routing is another that makes one scratch their head. A piece of equipment vibrates and runs in all sorts of rough environments, more care should be taken in routing these items to keep them from rubbing against each other and all the other components of the machine. Great topic and I have more input as time allows.
No issue is too frivolous for our team. Thanks you for these feedback. We hope to hear more insights from the community.
@CM1995 Thanks for sharing these inputs, we hope you will be able to give us more input! Particularly the "dream" part.
A cap to keep the sun out of the eyes to help seeing may be safer for everyone around heavy equipment then the hard hat. A cap or hat to keep the sun off the face to avoid skin cancer may be safer for operators then the hard hat.
It is not a long time frame before there will be no operators. Drones are already fighting our wars. If a plane can fly itself just how long do you think it will take to make a bulldozer autonomous? The last human connection is maintenance and repair. A machine has to be shut down every so many hours to change fluids and filters so as to prevent contaminants from reaching a level that will cause premature wear. Machines have to be inspected for damage to tires and wear on undercarriage parts that regularly wear out. All of this takes away from production time. I see a maintenance station that will drive up to the machine, hoses are hooked up for fuel and lubricants when needed. A communications link is established and all shift operation is down loaded. Performance analysis is completed, wear factors are considered by machines with maintenance and repair planning scheduled and the machine goes back to work in minutes instead of hours. Quick coupler fittings for fluid fill and drains as well as sample connections have been around for years.It would only take a central hook up location for a machine connection to work for every compartment on the machine. Computers now tell us what, when and where there is a fault and it doesn't usually take a lot of thought to figure out the problem and fix it. In the future if human hands are required why do they have to think at all. The computer will tell them what part to change, where the connection is bad or which wire is shorted out. Changing cutting edges and ripper teeth are now a command item. Don't even need a human to order parts, computer has a direct link to the manufacturer and parts are ordered as part of the machine operation. Nope it won't be long and all the fun of human accomplishment will be done for us.
In my neck of the woods there are a fair number of track loaders equipped with blades on them mainly for terrace building. There are some advantages of going this route verses a regular dozer. That being said one big disadvantage is that you lose the option of being able to tilt the blade sideways. To my knowledge, there have been a few that have tried to engineer a tilt mechanism on a track loader but with limited sucess. One that i know of tried to incorporate tilt in a hydraulic quick coupler. This particular attempt ended up with the blade being approx 2 ft further out in front of the machine which thru off the balance of everything and was a nightmare to operate. I don't know if there would be much demand for something like this in different parts of the country or not. Just my 2 cents worth.
Good point John and the mining industry is heading towards this rather rapidly. However I believe I'll be long gone before this technology makes it down to the small type operations. Until it's cost effective to build a GPS model to cut in a private driveway or grade a small commercial site I think this technology will be reserved for mines and large scale grading operations. It's difficult enough to work around the other trades on a congested commercial site, everyone would have to have the same technology in order for it to not run amuck. Then again just look how fast the technology is moving, what do I know.:beatsme
visibility has suffered tremendously with excuse of tier 4 especially on the larger cat wheel loader's and excavator's it's like they said forget about the visibility just make the hood big enough to cram all of the exhaust B.S. in their. my operator's have had numerous backing collisions because of it.
By the early 2000's I believe we reached the pinnacle of design for operating ease, comfort, visibility, access, etc. Now most of those gains have been given up in the name of low emissions becoming top priority. Along with that came all of the electronics to run everything, and running in close proximity to the heat generated and held in by the emissions systems causes all kinds of trouble. Running dozers in the D-8 class, the undercarriage used to be the largest operating cost other than fuel. Now I can say that with my current D-8T, I have spent more money in electrical related repairs than I have in undercarriage in the first 13,000 hours. This is beyond frustrating, and all new equipment seems to be progressing this direction. The machines are mechanically the best ever built, but they are routinely sidelined by hard to find and intermittent electrical faults. My other complaint is that despite the robust mechanical construction of the modern machines, I fear they will have a much shorter life than the old machines did, due to the complexity of the electrical systems and the lack of parts support after they reach the age the manufacturer no longer supports them. There are 50 year old machines still running, but in 50 years from now the then 100 year old machine will be easier to run than the one that is new today. I guess that is more of a rant than a suggestion, but I could not help it.
Since you're taking orders for robotic equipment, I'll disagree with Mitch and suggest that robots will take over the large and some small jobs too. I'd like a "wall-e" style brush clearer with a chainsaw arm, wrap around girdling clamp, magnifying glass for the sprouts, herbicide injector, etc. With species identification and optimal eradication techniques, maybe some artificial intelligence to do trials to improve it's methods, because it would obviously record and recheck every target. How do you double blind a robot BTW? The next one I want is a less mobile unit that could even be moved every night by the owner/operator, no self propulsion required. This one would have a large focusing mirror and lens, or arrays of each. Same species identification programs but that would determine "burn time" only, no other fun destructive devices. The next one is much more fun, an "RG Le Tourneau Hamster Wheel Tree Crusher". Unlike the first two that were solar powered, this one would have to be diesel, or nuclear fusion, your choice. This one will move by two different methods,for low resistance work an off balance sphere inside of the outer sphere driven with electric junk, think a combination of a Japanese high speed train with this guy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rVd1clYCi4 . If repeated ramming by a 60'+ steel ball fails to topple the tree, then feet will extend to lift the side away from the obstacle and the inner weight will be employed to set a rocking motion to the tree until it falls. Please send an estimate for the last one, not sure I have the cash at the moment. But the first two I'm sure would be affordable if you can spread the development cost around a little:beatsme
I agree 100% if you look on youtube or instagram they are already doing that with R model macks
I personally think it will take a long time to completely phase out operators in machinery, utility work is a good example of why it wouldn't work. Unless of course you had a very accurate map of where each main or service feed is located for it dig around. I'm no expert, but why not make a rear engine dozer like the Cat 943/953/963/973's? Get some better blade visibility. I'll echo CM's complaints about repairability, they really should consult mechanics when designing a new machine, take the Cat small track machines for instance, they crammed a boatload of steel lines stacked on each other down the side of the chassis, which is great till you have to remove most of them to replace the blown line at the bottom of the stack. Same with most mini excavators I have come across, alternator and starter are on the inside of the engine compartment in the hardest spot to get to. Better EROPs would be very nice,poor placement of small things like air/heat vents or cup holders or radio can get aggravating at times. Another one I'll comment on is the new E/H controls, Cat has perfected them pretty good, same with Takeuchi, but they still need a good bit of work, quicker response times and such. Another one that would be nice, doubt it will ever happen but here goes, A standardized aux. hydraulics wire loom for the attachments, that way a Cat power angle harley rake or blade will hook right up and work on a Case, or Bobcat. A good question is, how much time does your team have?
Carnegie Mellon University has an ongoing partnership with industry stakeholders. Every year students reach out to the industry to obtain insights. We do understand there are several possibilities and existing solutions for automation and autonomous operation. Our team is specifically focused on identifying a more near term realistic solution, that meets market needs. The solution need not necessarily be part of the machine itself, but also something that aids in performing the relevant activity, it's safety or coordination, etc.