ERGONOMICS & STYLING
94 iVT International Off-Highway 2020
“THE FIRST ELECTRICAL JOYSTICK WE SOLD
WAS FOR A COORDINATE MEASURING
MACHINE IN 1987”
Tomas Pehrsson, co-founder, Caldaro
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system makes it possible to store the energy from
braking or lowering the loads for later use, which
saves fuel.
One reason why digitalization is speeding up
among machine manufacturers is the
development of more advanced controlling
systems. CAN (Controller Area Network)
systems connect several parts in an internal
network, making it a more straightforward
process to transfer signals directly with less
disturbance and over longer distances. Now it’s
much easier to program the movements of a
boom or crane tip with ultimate precision.
Tradition and old habits cause suspicion
among some machine operators who claim they
prefer hydraulic machines because they can feel
when an excavator bucket hits a stone. With a
digital controller, it’s possible to program the
machines so that you get a vibration in the
joystick if the bucket grab hits a stone; this way
you can still ‘feel’ it in your hand. You can also
schedule a crane to slow down the crane tip
before it stops. Essentially you can instruct the
crane to move from A to B and the controller
station is programmed to compensate for
pendulum movements or the wind. is is similar
to how some computer games work, meaning the
younger generation of operators is already
prepared for this.
What the future holds
You don’t have to be strong to operate huge
machines any longer, and overall ergonomics get
better with electronic controllers. It’s comfortable
for the operator to have personalized settings and
when the operator gains more control it makes
the working environment safer.
˝When I started to work at Caldaro nine years
ago, the bigger excavator manufacturers asked
some general questions about electronic
controlling,” says Erik Kauppi, sales engineer at
Caldaro. “Today, I get more speci c questions
about turning from grips on pilot valve to full
electrical controlling by joystick. To me, it’s a
clear signal that the development of heavy-duty
machines is moving to electronic controlling and
electric power.”
e forest industry is also leading the way
in using the web. Operators have a special
social network enabling them to connect with
colleagues, which is valuable since their job can
be quite lonely. It doesn’t stop there; even the
machines communicate with each other. Today
a forest machine can tell the pulp mill how much
wood it has cut down so it knows when to send
out trucks to pick it up.
“Many companies are testing autonomous
vehicles on gated industry areas, but I believe it
will take a few years before we see fully
autonomous electric vehicles on the roads,” says
Pehrsson. “ ere will always be areas where big
machines will have to operate even though it’s o
the electric grid. Even so, the battery producing
branch of Addtech is noticing an increase of
interest in this area. For me, it’s necessary to have
a sense of technological empathy, to really
understand how tech works in the hands of
humans, so it will be appreciated and o er a
feeling of ease and safety. at’s why it was
important for me to initiate Caldaro’s
development of joysticks that could be used in
electric controllers back in the 90s. We have
gained a lot of knowledge and experience
since then.” iVT
Author: Åsa Stenström Info, Caldaro, Sweden
RIGHT: Joystick grip
Viper XT with robust
joystck base C14 with
J1939 protocol
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