Self-steering Volvo Truck set to Increase Brazil's Sugar-cane Harvest

PR68836

GOTHENBURG, Sweden, June 8, 2017 /PRNewswire=KYODO JBN/ --

     - With Photo

    Volvo Trucks has developed a new self-steering truck that can become a

significant productivity booster for Brazilian sugar-cane growers. The truck,

which is used to transport newly harvested sugar-cane, is steered with great

precision through the fields in order to avoid damaging the young plants that

will form the following year's crop. At present, about four per cent of the

crop is lost as young plants are run over and the soil is compacted by moving

vehicles. This can translate into tens of thousands of US dollars in lost

revenue per truck per season.  

    To view the Multimedia News Release, please click:

https://www.multivu.com/players/uk/8117251-self-steering-volvo-truck-brazil-harvest

    In Maringa, an hour's flight west of Sao Paulo, the Usina Santa Terezinha

Group produces sugar and ethanol from its own sugar-cane crops. In the past

growing season, the company's huge fields have served as a test area for a

prototype vehicle from Volvo Trucks. The truck was developed to examine how

automated driving can make it possible to avoid damage to soil and crops, thus

boosting revenues. The potential for bigger harvests is significant - up to ten

tonnes per hectare per year.

    "With the help of Volvo Trucks' solution we can increase productivity, not

just for one single crop but for the entire lifecycle of the sugar-cane plant,

which lasts five to six years," explains Santa Terezinha's Finance and

Procurement Director, Paulo Meneguetti.

    At present, sugar-cane is brought in from the fields using harvesters and

manually controlled trucks, which drive alongside each other at a low speed.

When a truck is fully loaded and drives off to empty its load, the next one

moves up next to the harvester and the procedure is repeated. The big challenge

for the truck driver is to match the speed of the harvester and at the same

time concentrate fully on driving in its tracks, so as not to trample the

nearby plants that will become the following year's crop.

    Volvo Trucks has solved the problem with a driver assistance system that

automates steering. It ensures that the truck always maintains exactly the

right course when it drives to, alongside and away from the harvester, so that

the plants are not damaged by trampling. With the help of GPS receivers, the

truck follows a coordinate-based map across the sugar-cane field. Two

gyroscopes ensure that not only the front wheels but the entire vehicle is

steered with great precision, to prevent the truck from veering more than 25 mm

laterally from its set course. When loading, the driver can choose to regulate

speed with

the help of the vehicle's cruise control, or to accelerate and brake manually.

Since the driver is released from the burden of the concentration-demanding and

tiring high precision steering process, it is easier to remain focused and work

in a more relaxed and safe way throughout the shift.

    "With this solution we will soon be able to significantly increase the

productivity of our customers in the sugar-cane industry. At the same time, we

will improve their drivers' working conditions and safety. This in turn will

make the job more appealing, and make it easier to recruit and maintain

drivers," says Wilson Lirmann, President of Volvo Group Latin America.

    This summer the research project will transition into the product

development phase, with more vehicles being field-tested. After that, the

solution can be expected to become commercially available in the foreseeable

future. Already this year Volvo Trucks Brazil will offer its VM customers in

the sugar cane industry an advanced GPS-based map-reading system that gives the

driver far better scope for maintaining a predetermined course, even

though actual steering will still be handled manually at this stage.

    The self-steering truck being used for sugar-cane transport is one of Volvo

Trucks' research and development projects for automated vehicles. Tests are

currently under way on an autonomous truck for mining operations in the

Kristineberg Mine in northern Sweden, and an autonomous refuse collection truck

is being tested in Gothenburg, Sweden. The aim is to evaluate how systems with

different degrees of automation can contribute to higher productivity, a better

working environment, and improved safety.

    Facts  

    - Vehicle: self-steering Volvo VM configured for sugar-cane transportation.

    - Automation: System with features such as GPS receivers, dual gyroscopes

     (IMU), stepper motor unit for steering, and driver display.

    LINK to high-resolution images LINK

[http://images.volvotrucks.com/latelogin.jspx?recordsWithCatalogName=Volvo+Truck

s:28205,Volvo+Trucks:28206,Volvo+Trucks:28207,Volvo+Trucks:28208,Volvo+Trucks:28

209,Volvo+Trucks:28210,Volvo+Trucks:28211 ]

    LINK to film LINK [https://youtu.be/uOpjtz0Hluo ]

    For broadcast-quality videos supporting this press release and more, please

visit http://www.thenewsmarket.com/volvotrucks

    Press images and films are available in the Volvo Trucks image and film

gallery at http://images.volvotrucks.com

    Volvo Trucks provides complete transport solutions for professional and

demanding customers, offering a full range of medium to heavy duty trucks.

Customer support is secured via a global network of more than 2,000 dealers and

workshops in more than 120 countries. Volvo trucks are assembled in 15

countries across the globe. In 2016, more than 102,800 Volvo trucks were

delivered worldwide. Volvo Trucks is part of Volvo Group, one of the world's

leading manufacturers of trucks, buses and construction equipment and marine

and industrial engines. The Group also provides solutions for financing and

service. Volvo's work is based on the core values of quality, safety and

environmental care.

    Note to Editors:

    A picture accompanying this release is available through the PA Photowire.

It can be downloaded from http://www.pa-mediapoint.press.net or viewed at

http://www.mediapoint.press.net or http://www.prnewswire.co.uk .

    For further information, please contact:

    Fredrik Klevenfeldt

    Director Public Relations and Social Media

    Volvo Trucks

    Tel: +46-31-322-1106; email: fredrik.klevenfeldt@volvo.com  

(Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/520784/Volvo_Trucks_Sugar_Cane.jpg )

SOURCE: Volvo Trucks