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World’s Largest Battery Powered Dump Truck is Being Developed

Komatsu HD605-7Komatsu HD605-7

Komatsu HD605-7

As electric vehicles are becoming more and more popular around the world, researchers are trying to find ways to adapt the technology to heavier duty applications.  Due to the large size of projects and amount of money in the industry, the mining industry has seen its fair share of technological advancement. Several manufacturers, like Komatsu, have developed and released driverless dump trucks for mining operations in the past few years.  A team of companies in Switzerland is now working on a gigantic battery powered dump truck that will be tested for 10 years.

Using the body of a used Komatsu HD 605-7, a 50 ton (45 metric ton) behemoth of a vehicle, the research group will replace its existing diesel engine with a 5 ton (4.5 metric ton) battery pack that provides 700 kWh of storage capacity. 700kWh is as much as 8 Tesla Model S cars.

When the truck travels downhill into a quarry, it will actually generate more electricity which will power it back up the hill.  The group hopes that the power generated going downhill will actually be more than is required by the uphill travel with an empty load, allowing it to work longer without a charge.  Over its 10 year test, it will be expected to transport material from a mountain ridge down to a valley around 20 times per day.

The vehicle will travel through slopes up to a 13% incline and each decline is expected to generate 40 kWh. The project is expected to cost in the millions of dollars. 

Full story: Meet the E-dumper, the world’s largest electric vehicle | Phys.org

As electric vehicles are becoming more and more popular around the world, researchers are trying to find ways to adapt the technology to heavier duty applications.  Due to the large size of projects and amount of money in the industry, the mining industry has seen its fair share of technological advancement. Several manufacturers, like Komatsu, have developed and released driverless dump trucks for mining operations in the past few years.  A team of companies in Switzerland is now working on a gigantic battery powered dump truck that will be tested for 10 years.

Video feeds on a construction site are not only great for timelapse videos, they can potentially help stop intruders who enter your site.

On August 18th, around 200 new tools were showcased at the annual DeWalt Media Event.  This particular event was held in Nashville, Tennessee, where you can’t escape country music no matter how hard you try.

Below are what we thought were the highlights of the event.  Let us know what new release you’re most excited about!

Falls from height is one of the leading causes of death among construction workers and ladders are a major contributor to that number. According to the CDC, falls from ladders caused 64 fatalities and 11,500 injuries in the construction industry alone in 2011. There are many things ladder users can do to make their work safer, like setting it at proper angles on level ground, checking for damage, and maintaining 3 points of contact, among others. One technology company is trying to take some of the thinking out of ladder set up.

When construction companies initially started to adopt mobile technologies like tablets and smartphones, there was a race between many construction technology companies to be the future leader in the area.  As the years rolled on, it became less and less likely that one app was going to be the end-all-be-all, like AutoCAD became in the architectural design world.  There’s not one app out there right now that provides every single function that a construction company needs, because each company is very unique.  The solution? Integration.

In March of this year, Elon Musk announced that Tesla would begin taking orders on their Solar Roof Shingle concept.  Tesla Solar Roof is a solar power roof system that eliminates the need for bulky solar panels installed over top of traditional roof materials.  Instead, the shingles themselves, which come in a variety of different styles, are the solar panels.

At the company’s second quarter earnings report, Tesla announced that the first solar roof installations have been completed.

[guest post] The progress of construction sites is usually captured by taking still photos of different areas that have been subject to change. Documenting a full construction site requires a lot of pictures (usually more than ten per room), and even then not every corner of a room can be captured.