Wheel loader in the service of research
The collaboration between LTU and Volvo CE continues. A wheel loader will hopefully generate interesting projects in the future.
– Of course we want students and researchers to get to know our equipment and systems, says Peter Wallin, research coordinator at Volvo CE.
– The idea is that the projects will result in the development of new features and innovations that we ourselves are not capable of producing.
Håkan Fredriksson, EISLAB, is one of the researchers who will be involved in some of the projects on the wheel loader.
– The vehicle may in particular be used as an experimental and demonstration platform, e.g. for driver assistance systems and unmanned vehicles, says Håkan Fredriksson.
Experiments for students
Ulf Andersson and Fredrik Broström, Automatic control, are two graduate students who already work in research projects together with Volvo CE. They will use the wheel loader in their experiments with optimum maneuverability for heavy vehicles.
– When they experiment, It is very valuable for their research to have access to this wheel loader, says their supervisor, Professor Thomas Gustafsson.
Currently, plans are being made for the first student projects in which the wheel loader will be used. These will include instrumentation and modeling of the machine and will lay the foundation for the use of the wheel loader as an experimental platform. The projects will start during autumn 2012.
The wheel loader's residence is the Field Robotics Laboratory in Karlsvik, Luleå.
