TOUCHSCREEN HMI
iVTInternational.com June 2019 35
INTUSI: THE PERSONAL TOUCH
Liebherr’s Bauma Innovation Award-winning
INTUSI (Intuitive User Interface) provides more
than just a connection between operator and
machine. It also provides a form of social media for
excavators in a BIM environment.
“You can connect all the people responsible for
getting a job done through one chat,” explains
Liebherr project engineer Florian Mang. “If
someone has a problem, it opens this
communication, they write a message and then
everyone knows. You have multi-directional
communication, so you don’t have to take your
phone out and call people.”
Multi-use components combine to support
touchscreen control in demanding conditions.
“Liebherr constructs only tough machines,” says
Mang. “Cabin pressures and vibrations can mean a
touchscreen is not as good to operate as active
navigation elements.”
A four-way mini-joystick is integrated into the
right-hand control unit and there is a rotary
push-button, with haptic feedback provided via the
seat system. When the work gets bumpy, the
screen can be navigated remotely by button or
joystick.
INTUSI unifies multiple assistance systems in a
single platform and can automate safety functions
such as turning on lights. INTUSI also promises a
new level of automated personalization in
excavator control. “You can store your settings in
the cloud and apply them to any machine you
drive,” Mang says. “You can just come to work, get
out your Bluetooth-enabled phone, and the machine
will know your identity, completing the interface
just as you left it in another machine.”
Meanwhile, a steering-wheel
switch element developed for
Daimler trucks combines
Blackberry-style touch navigation
with fingerprint detection, allowing
a tractor system to authorize known
drivers for actions like chemicalspraying,
or switch between
personalized ecosystems. “Most
tractors are bought by contractors
and have different drivers with
different approaches to the same
functions. You can put your finger
in the fingerprint detector and it will
automatically change the settings to
your convenience.”
Positive feedback
Haptic and acoustic feedback can
solve the problem of having to look
twice at a touchscreen when driving:
once to push, twice to check your
LEFT: Switches still have a
place in modern HMIs, but
they must be multifunctional,
as showcased in the
automotive world by the
BMW iDrive Touch Controller
ABOVE: INTUSI allows an
operator to save a user
profile and access it again
from any machine
OPPOSITE: Preh’s concept
HMI for off-highway vehicles
features multifunctional
dials mounted directly onto
touchscreens
/iVTInternational.com