Asphalt compactors aren't known as the most difficult machine to operate on the job. Although compactors perform a critical function especially when smoothness specs are at stake, many contractors put their less-seasoned operators on them.
But what if these machines didn't even require an on-board operator?
Enter Volvo Construction Equipment's CX01 asphalt compaction concept, a planned ConExpo reveal that had to wait until the recent Utility Expo to get in front of contractors.
"We just wanted to examine what the future of compaction would look like," Justin Zupanc, head of Volvo CE's asphalt compaction development team, told Equipment World at the show. "We wanted to create a better operator's environment, reduce fuel consumption and exhaust emissions and boost productivity."
"Better operator environment" translates to no cab. Instead, a connected fleet of CX01 single-drum units directed by a downloaded compaction plan would be either be remotely controlled by an operator or controlled autonomously.
Volvo already has an autonomous system on its TA15 haulers, now in customer testing, and the plan is to test a similar system on the CX01, Zupanc says.
The CX01 does not have an articulation joint "so there's no balance point, there's nothing that we can steer away from," Zupanc says. Volvo solved this by using a split-drum — which has two halves that can be operated independently — kept upright by using a self-balancing control system. (The split drum comes off of its current 9-ton class machine sold in Europe.) To turn, operators can vary the rate of speed of each half of the drum. "You can make a fairly tight turn," he says.
