Ok, I admit.
I do have an engineering itch, and it has to do with being naturally creative and curious, as well as technique-savvy, and with having been this way for as long as I can remember myself.
A hypothesis to consider
What if several construction machines (and vehicles too) can be controlled by one and the same (or slightly modified) control lever?
WHAT?!?!?
Well.. Why not?
Meet “Intuitive Primary Control"
Once in the autumn of year 2016, when working at Volvo Construction Equipment, I visited with colleagues from Driveline Systems at the customer center for a lecture. The following night, I got a Eureka moment, how to construct a generic single control lever for an excavator, realizing that the joysticks of an excavator are not a very bright idea. There must be a better, more intuitive, primary control, was my thought - for all the three major construction machines' platforms that Volvo CE has.
That's where it started from - a single lever for all these machines: the wheel loader, articulated hauler and the excavator (the excavator could also need a lever for movement control, which I coined to Generic Movement Control).
What if there would be a single (ONE) control lever that can steer the movement of the machine or the vehicle longitudinally (i.e. control the propulsion and perhaps also the safe braking force) and the (safe and gradual) lateral steering of the machine/automobile?
And specifically for an excavator (which I seem to favor for some reason, due to the versatility) - what if the two joysticks can be replaced by and reduced to one intuitive lever?
These two joysticks, which the construction equipment is holding onto so keenly, are born out of the necessity of hydraulics, once upon a time, and demand an excruciatingly long training of some 4-5 years to even begin mastering this machine - what if this training time can be reduced drastically, thanks to intuitiveness and thus, diminished cognitive load?
What if this control lever can be mounted for either hand (meaning you don’t have to curse your being left-handed or crippled)?
What if all this versatility of the excavator arm, with or without a tilt-rotator (the tilt-rotator fascinates me!…), can be managed with one hand, and the other can be used for something else - your phone, steering wheel, another lever - for a second assembly??!?, if someone dares building such versatility for anything else than special demolition machines?
What if all can be learned in a fraction of the time, thanks to being more intuitive than the less-than-intuitive pair of joysticks?
What if you now can, with this one control lever, control this wonderful excavation machine remotely?
And when you’re done with excavation, you use the same control for controlling one the wheel loaders or dump trucks in the fleet?
Well, if this is possible, which it is, then we are going to take a good leap into a brighter future, an easier one to master, which gives us (hopefully all of us, not just our boss) a whole lot of peace of mind and ease of work. And fun too!
Primary Controls
Primary controls (implies there are also secondary, etc) are the controls - levers, steering wheels, wheels, joysticks etc - for steering and moving a vehicle, and more generally, for controlling the main function of a machine.
A wheel loader has its primary function as lifting its assembly with a bucket, a fork or any other attachment, but also control moving around with this assembly+load.
A road vehicle is mostly used for travelling on paved roads from point A to point B, with several attributes which can be more or less important, such as ease of carrying goods or people, speed, comfort, maximizing performance on roads or off-road, or whatever. But the main goal is longitudinal movement and controlling speed, propulsion, wheel torque and hence, travelling and slight lateral steering.
A wheeled excavator is a machine with its primary assembly of 3-4 joints, which should be able to be a versatile version of all-in-one lifting and excavation, while being able to move freely from one spot to another on a fairly good ground (as a contrast to a crawler excavator).
All of these examples have their own requirements on controls and steering the moving parts and main assemblies.
Secondary controls are the buttons and levers/pedals, which are not necessary for the primary functions of the machinery.
Therefore,
road vehicles have (must have) a steering wheel and means for controlling the vehicle movement, as well as the torque/propulsion of the wheels in respect to the ground, since (as we know all too well) ground movement speed is quite crucial for safety of the passenger/s and surrounding traffic, if not merely for filling the money in pockets of the police/authorities.
Wheeled excavators, beside the function of moving on the road (steering with a steering wheel), have the assembly, i.e. the excavation arm, and the swinging function too, which is traditionally being controlled by a pair of hand joysticks, a number of additional buttons to control various functions of the excavator and it’s excavator arm. The excavator is sometimes equipped and configured to have a tilt-rotator, which is one of the most exciting accessories for an excavator, with a plethora of additional functions and (on the other hand) a versatility that is difficult to master.
If this sounds too good to be true, I understand. I do get it.
But it's not all pink blossom in a master operator paradise.
There are quite a few things to consider in the context:
Ergonomy - reducing physical and cognitive workload is highly dependent on the forming, resistance of joints, the placing of the hand and the arm (we are considering one arm-hand positioning/action, and hence, more load on one side), so placement, range of motion, resistance and configuration - all need careful attention and usability studies.
hand in hand with ergonomic constraints, the assembly of the device, the mass production and life cycle of joints, buttons and other components, but especially the needed resistance force and the range of motion must be built in.
Modification of the lever, by the user (on the spot) in order to accommodate different people with different physics and varying preferences.
I made a couple of rough prototypes from scrap metal and electronic junk, which were successfully used as a proof of concept. The prototypes (two different concepts, actually) were shown to be functional on an excavator simulator (ORYX), and on a prototype excavator.
So, yes - it is possible, feasible and doable, but it requires a less-than-raditional mindset than the common machine makers of today.
This control lever itself can be (and will be) made for you if you intend to have it (currently, by a small Swedish firm that excels in such specialty levers).
Can it be patented? Yes.
But why should anyone keep such a thing for himself?
Beside the obvious reason, that is, to become seriously wealthy and pay lots of income tax, I would like to share this marvel of technic creativity with all who have interest to utilize it.
And some day, I might be respected for it, get an extra cup of coffee, or something.
A perfect job? Remember “Make stuff useful”? The ability to play with engineering, and enjoy being creative for the betterment of humanity?
HMM.. Yeah, that will suffice.
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