Design Challenge - November 2009

POPE DESIGN

The off-road heavy equipment industry has progressed in leaps and bounds over the years on fuel efficiency, low environmental impact on the worksite and, more recently, diesel emission standards. But other than biodiesel, off-road heavy equipment of today is still heavily dependent on fossil fuel. So for this challenge, to potentially power a piece of off-road equipment I looked at the abundant free forces of Mother Nature: wind, water and sun.

That said, there will never be enough surface area for solar panels on a front-end loader to power anything much more than the running lights. Not to mention solar panel durability issues on anything that’s off-road and heavy equipment. Solar is off the list, until panels become much more powerful and durable. A futuristic bulldozer that’s powered by cold fusion, fuelled by the condensation collected in the air around it, would be really cool, but it’s a concept more than decades away. The one source of renewable energy that could generate substantial power is wind.

Wind sails on a backhoe will go nowhere. But an off-road mobile wind turbine that has a self-erecting tower, and is powered by onboard batteries charged by the wind turbine, could go wherever there is wind. The vehicle could be used to power pneumatic drilling rigs for wells and holes for explosive charges, to just about any pneumatic tool or machine. It could be used to power construction on new remote housing developments. It could also be used to power remote drilling rigs and mobile research labs in extreme environments such as northern Canada and Antarctica.

The mobile wind turbine could also help to build remote transmission lines. RT Cranes, converted to a diesel-electric drive train, could transport and set themselves up on the worksite. The crane can then plug into, and run off, the power generated by the portable wind generator. A street-legal version of the mobile wind turbine could be leased out for temporary installation at schools, business parks and industrial estates without the cost of permanent installation.

The mobile wind turbine could also act as a mobile power source for military purposes. It could power anything from a small mobile military camp to a fleet of wind turbines powering a military base camp. Less reliance on the internal combustion engine for power reduces the constant need to haul around heavy and flammable diesel fuel.

This machine would compete in the 20-30hp walk-behind loader and small skid-steer rental market. Because it’s a cab-forward operator’s station and is designed for the less experienced operator, it is impossible to back the machine over yourself, like you could with a walk-behind machine. You also can’t get yourself pinned or crushed between the loader and a house or tree, as is possible with a walk-behind. The operator driving at the front of the machine while standing up gives superior visibility all around the machine, and easy and quick access to the operator’s station and low learning curve intuitive controls also make it ideal for landscape and small nursery use.

It takes only one person to set up the wind turbine. The blades are mounted to the turbine with power-assisted equipment on the carrier and four outriggers are fully extended. Hydraulics and a winch unfold the two-piece boom to form the tower. The boom and turbine blades never go outside the outrigger’s footprint. As long as you have wind and you can level the carrier and fully extend the outriggers, you can set up and generate electricity. Maintenance and downtime are made easier as no special equipment is needed to get access to the turbine. Plus the rig could be remotely and automatically triggered by a national weather service warning to automatically lower its boom when destructive winds are forecast.

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BIOGRAPHY

I would have to say just about 100% of my Matchbox and Tonka toys were trucks and construction equipment. Basically I have been fascinated with heavy equipment for as long as I can remember.  I received a B.S. for Industrial design at University of Bridgeport and I have been an industrial designer for 15 years. The last 12 of those years have been specializing in heavy equipment. I have worked on projects for several different OEM’s while I was employed at Teague and later as a design consultant. I’ve had the pleasure to work on projects from a 400 ton dump truck to a powered wheelchair. I also have a bad habit of designing conceptual construction in my spare time.

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