New application puts Volvo haulers on the map

Haul Assist application now features real-time tracking map to help improve traffic flows on site

THE latest update in a suite of applications offered for the Volvo Co-Pilot interface, Haul Assist now features a real-time tracking map that helps improve hauler fleet traffic flow on site, along with the efficiency-boosting On-Board Weighing feature.

Maps can do much more than helping to get from A to B. The new Map feature on Volvo’s updated Haul Assist application now allows operators to monitor the hauler traffic around the site and proactively adjust their driving according to traffic conditions, especially around load and dump zones.

Operated via Volvo Co-Pilot – the company’s award-winning in-cab interface with its 10in high-resolution touch-screen – Haul Assist’s Map functionality allows operators to not only identify their position, but also the position of other haulers fitted with the technology. This knowledge is said to come into its own on sites with restricted visibility, allowing operators to see where other haulers are, thereby reducing potentially dangerous situations.

In all circumstances, being able to monitor traffic flow helps operators anticipate the optimum arrival time at load or dump areas, thereby avoiding congestion and waiting times, and improving overall site efficiency.

The application works by using the hauler’s in-built GPS function for positioning purposes and combines it with a digital connection, via Volvo Co-Pilot, to communicate with other machines. The system can also record how fast the hauler is travelling and emit an alert to remind operators to maintain a safe working speed.

The Map function can plot out haul roads and preferred routes to help operators navigate their way around the site. It can highlight when the hauler is approaching a pre-defined section of narrow or single lane road, and even visualize meeting/passing areas. The map can also highlight any reference points or notable areas of the site.

Load and dump zones can not only be visualized on the map, but can also trigger certain sub-functions, such as activating On-Board Weighing information. On-Board Weighing helps to optimize the haul cycle by ensuring every hauler journey moves the correct payload. The highly accurate system eliminates under-loading, for good productivity, and overloading, that increases machine wear and fuel consumption.

The system monitors the amount of material moved, providing useful data and a real-time view of the productivity of each hauler. This can help when monitoring the production against targets for each project. The addition of Map enhances On-Board Weighing even further, giving the ability to include GPS co-ordinate data in its reports, allowing the ability to measure material moved from-and-to different co-ordinates.

According to Volvo CE, Haul Assist’s ability to capture and store detailed production information in Volvo Co-Pilot gives a real boost to the efficiency of the operation. The data can be exported over the air to a cloud portal or via a USB storage device, and used to create a report, either manually or automatically, on a daily or weekly basis.

Built on the Android operating system, Volvo Co-Pilot is designed in a way that makes it easily scalable as future software updates, additional functionality and new applications are developed. The system is 3G-compatible when equipped with a SIM card, allowing the system to automatically and wirelessly receive software updates without any action needed by the owner or operator.

In addition to Haul Assist, Volvo Co-Pilot also serves as the interface for several other applications, including Load Assist, a complete load weighing management system for Volvo wheel loaders, as well as the Volvo Intelligent Compaction system, Compact Assist with Density Direct, which offers the industry’s first real-time density-mapping tool, available exclusively for Volvo asphalt compactors.