23 May 2017

A Swedish waste and recycling company has begun trials of a fully autonomous dustbin lorry, which it claims will increase the safety and environmental benefits of weekly waste collections.

The truck, which is being tested in Gothenburg by waste and recycling operator Renova, attains autonomy by first being driven on a refuse collection route manually and then ‘remembering’ the route.

As a result, the truck knows when to start, stop, turn and reverse, allowing operatives to go about the task of waste collection without having to continually jump on and off the truck.

The system, developed by Volvo Trucks in conjunction with Renova, uses similar autonomous systems to those fitted in an autonomous tipper the truck maker developed for the Kristineberg stone mine last November.

The first time the automated refuse truck is used in a new area, it is driven manually while the on-board system constantly monitors and maps the route with the help of sensors and GPS technology. The next time the truck enters the same area, it knows exactly which route to follow and at which bins it has to stop.

At the first stop with the automated system activated, the driver climbs out of the cab, goes to the rear of the truck, brings out the wheelie-bin and empties it in exactly the way the job is done today. When the operation is completed, the truck automatically reverses to the next bin upon receiving the driver’s command. The driver walks the very same route that the truck takes and thus always has full view of what’s happening in the direction of travel.

“By reversing the truck, the driver can constantly remain close to the compactor unit instead of having to repeatedly walk between the rear and the cab every time the truck is on the move,” said Hans Zachrisson, Strategic Development Manager at Renova. “And since the driver doesn’t have to climb in and out of the cab at every start and stop, there’s less risk of work related injuries such as strain on the knees and other joints.”

Reversing is otherwise a fairly risky manoeuvre since the driver may find it difficult to see who or what is moving behind the vehicle – even if it is fitted with a camera. Since sensors monitor the area all around the refuse truck, if the street is blocked by a parked car, the refuse truck can automatically drive around the obstruction provided there is sufficient space alongside. The automated systems also optimise gear changes, steering and speed, meaning fuel consumption and emissions can be reduced.

The project will continue until the end of 2017 and will be followed by an extremely thorough evaluation of functionality, safety and how well the vehicle is accepted by drivers, waste operatives, other road users and local residents.

22 May 2017

We’ve all climbed into a vehicle and immediately been frustrated by poor ergonomic design: a seat in which you can’t get comfortable, a steering wheel that won’t adjust to your reach, or a simple control that’s buried in a menu instead of falling easily to hand on a dedicated button.

That’s why the UK’s biggest selling van is now also one of the country’s most comfortable places to sit, by virtue of a transatlantic partnership. Under the One Ford development philosophy, Ford Interaction and Ergonomic (I&E) engineering teams on both sides of the Atlantic have weekly meetings to share new ideas and best practices on items like the location and legibility of dashboard controls, the comfort of the armrests or the form of the steering wheel.

As a result, the Transit development team, based in Dunton, UK, benefits from the latest thinking on the world’s best-selling vehicle, the Ford F-150 pick-up truck, making life better for the people who work in these vehicles.

According to Cary Diehl, Lead Ergonomics Engineer for the F-150, he’s happiest when his work goes unnoticed. “I know I’ve done my job when people feel comfortable in a vehicle, but they don’t necessarily know why,” says the Detroit-based engineer, whose work begins when a vehicle is still at the clay model stage.

“Take the steering wheel as an example. Most people can’t tell you the most comfortable steering wheel they’ve ever used, but they can tell you one that they hate. We spent a lot of time optimizing the shape and feel of the F-150’s wheel. The palm swells aren’t too big or obnoxious. For comfort, the wheel cross-section isn’t a perfect circle, and there are no rough edges. The switches are chunky so that they can be operated easily with gloves, and are a certain distance from the edge of the wheel to make them easy to reach and push. You don’t want to accidentally hit them if you’re backing up a trailer.”

Gloved operation looms large in the priority list for Diehl’s team, given the truck’s loyal but demanding commercial users.

“We hear from our customers that something bad only happens when you’ve taken your glove off,” he explains. “For someone doing manual labour or another job that involves wearing gloves, taking them off when you get in the truck can mean forgetting them when you get out again. If you’re parked five minutes from your job site, you might not walk five minutes back to the truck to get them, so it’s important that the driver can leave them on in the truck. As a result, we spend a lot of time thinking about gloved usage in this vehicle.”

Some of the design features that result from a gloves-on design approach include climate control, volume control and radio tuning knobs that are bigger than in Ford’s passenger cars, as well as a continued emphasis on assigning major controls to buttons rather than slavishly following touchscreen fashions. Headroom is greater than average, too, so that site workers needn’t always remove their hard hats.

Working drivers often spend more time at the wheel than behind a desk, so Diehl’s team goes all out to make the F-Series trucks – and by association, the Transit – as comfortable as possible.

“We try to position the armrests properly so that it feels like an armchair,” he says. “Also the beltline armrest [on the door trim] is usable, which is not the case in every vehicle. During the digital design stage we have a virtual ‘box’ for where the armrests need to fall for maximum usability, and we try to get as close as possible to our preferred spot. We work with our safety team and body engineers to ensure that the [internal] structure of the door is optimised to still enable us to provide a comfortable armrest, giving you options to twist, turn and find different comfortable positions so that your back doesn’t get sore as you drive.”

Ergonomic design isn’t confined to the cockpit of a vehicle, either. One example is in the smooth finish of a door handle that’s easy on fragile hands in cold, dry climates, with plenty of clearance to fit a large, gloved hand around it, and plastic rather than chrome on the backside, so that the hand doesn’t slip off when it’s wet. And in the latest Ford Transit, the tie-down hooks and fixing points in the loadspace were relocated to the body sides to make it easier to clean the floor.

Interestingly, the F-150’s ergonomics are designed as much with short, female drivers in mind as tall males, due to the truck’s popularity with horse owners that use it to tow their animals to events. Customer clinics, ergonomic studies and usability testing involving many different user groups are crucial in informing the decisions that the ergonomics engineers make: in the US market, for example, the Transit has recently been updated with several interior changes driven by fleet-customer feedback, such as a low-profile centre console option for drivers who wanted easier access from the cab to the back of the vehicle, or to install computer equipment in the central area.

Digital tools can help, too, such as in assessing sunlight reflectivity to minimise glare. “We sometimes hear comments about black buttons with white lettering looking old-fashioned, but we do that because when sunlight hits it, that combination gives you the best contrast,” Diehl notes.

Sometimes new controls are added to the mix, but in the CV market, any new vehicle technology – particularly if it’s a high-cost item – must immediately prove its worth to some of the most selective and cost-conscious of all vehicle buyers. For example, an earlier switch to electric power steering enabled Ford to add Pro Trailer Backup Assist last year, to help drivers who aren’t experts at reversing with a trailer hooked up. But Diehl says that in other areas, such as infotainment, we can expect CVs to take a different track to the rapid advances in passenger cars.

“Commercial vehicle customers are as advanced as anyone else in their technology,” he acknowledges. “Blueprints are often now viewed on iPads and shared via Dropbox. Farmers have fleets of autonomous John Deere vehicles managing their fields. But we do know that our customers don’t want to take time to learn new systems unless it’s adding value to their day. Our users are passionate about their vehicles but they’re busy, and any investment in time to learn something new needs to be repaid tenfold.

“Pro Trailer Backup needs some setting up, but when it’s done the truck can be handed to just about anybody to back up. If someone already uses an iPhone with Siri and they use Apple CarPlay in their truck, we’re not asking them to invest that time, we’re just building on what they already know. But if I change the volume knob to a touchscreen control, I’m not adding value, I’m just creating frustration.”

22 May 2017

The first ever British double-decker buses to be exported to Switzerland are about to enter service, courtesy of a British bus maker.

Alexander Dennis Ltd (ADL), which has its headquarters in Falkirk, is supplying Swiss operator PostBus with a fleet of 19 Euro VI ADL Enviro500 double deckers, the first of their type to enter service in the country. The buses are powered by a UK-sourced Cummins diesel engine and have a total passenger capacity of 133 people.

PostBus, which is affiliated to the Swiss national post office and runs many of the country’s regional and rural bus services, will take delivery of the new fleet in 2017 and early 2018, with the buses serving the eastern part of the country.

The new double-deckers are equipped with two sets of stairs to the top deck, and have three doors instead of their predecessors’ two. Both decks have dual destination display screens and free WiFi. The vehicles are 13 metres long and four metres high.

The buses will be used predominantly on the Engelburg–St. Gallen–Heiden routes and then subsequently in Obertoggenburg and the regions of Rorschach and Goldach. Double-decker buses are well suited for the winding roads that are common on these routes, where PostBus’s bendy buses would not be capable.

The first two buses to enter service were unveiled to the public in the town of Engelburg on Saturday 20 May 2017.

22 May 2017

A technician working on the commercial vehicles side of the business has won Volkswagen Group’s coveted ‘Apprentice of the Year 2017’ award – the second time in succession that a VW CV apprentice has won the group-wide award.

Damir Zubairi, an apprentice service technician from Citygate Van Centre in London beat apprentices from across VW Group, including its car brands; Volkswagen, Audi, SEAT and Skoda.

Picking up the award at a graduation event in Rockingham, Northants, Damir said he was looking to follow in the footsteps of last year’s winner, Harry Garraway from Heritage Van Centre, and work his way up to the highest rank of Master Technician in the Commercial Vehicles brand.

Having had a passion for all things automotive from a young age, Damir has gone from strength to strength during his three years as an apprentice and was overwhelmed to be awarded the accolade.

He said, “I’m surprised and honoured to have won and now look forward to carrying on working hard, becoming a master technician and going as far as I possibly can within Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles. I encourage current apprentices to give their very best throughout the course. Three years seems like a long time, but the sense of accomplishment when you qualify is second to none.”

Training apprentices in world-class facilities and learning on-hand from experts, the Volkswagen Apprenticeship Programme aims to give all apprentices the skills they need to build their careers.

The programme includes courses for Service Technicians, Parts Advisors and Service Advisors, and combines learning and working in a Van Centre with time at the Group’s National Learning Centre in Milton Keynes.

John Connelly, Apprentice Training Manager, said, “From the very start, Damir established what was needed to become a successful apprentice; to satisfy his thirst for knowledge he was always keen to ask questions and he showed a determination which helped him complete his apprenticeship on time and to a very high standard. He passed his service technician assessment at the first attempt, scoring 100 per cent on his assessment papers. Damir always behaved in a professional manner and his gregarious character gained him friends within his group and the ability to share his knowledge with his peers.”

Erica Belsom, People Development Manager for Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, added, “The Apprenticeship Programme is a great start for anyone looking to launch a career in the motor industry. It’s a qualification that unlocks many doors for future opportunities.”

More information on Volkswagen Commercial Vehicle apprenticeships can be found here.