Santa Clara-based SafeAI, a company known for making autonomous heavy equipment, teamed up with a Japanese construction company to retrofit a Caterpillar 725 haul truck with a fully electric drive train, a first for the heavy industry.

Lithium-ion battery packs may power pick-up trucks these days, but fossil fuels still rule the roost when it comes to heavy equipment. The energy demands of the heavy industry are so huge that even original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) such as Caterpillar have only begun to showcase battery-operated devices.

This makes SafeAI's achievement even more noteworthy since the company has been able to retrofit an existing vehicle, thereby increasing its lifespan and addressing a valid concern that has been rising in the face of the popularity of electric vehicles these days. The project, including planning and design of the retrofit and installation of autonomous and electric components, took about five months, SafeAI told Interesting Engineering via email.

Advantages of autonomous electric truck

The advantages of hauling cargo with an electric truck are obvious in the emissions that it can save. However, SafeAI's strength is not in retrofitting the truck with an electric drive train but in making its operation fully autonomous.

In a press release, the company states that removing the need for employees to operate or even refuel the truck can make the workplace much safer, especially in light of the heavy charging infrastructure needed for such a truck.

Unlike human-operated haul trucks, an autonomous haul truck can work around the clock, thereby improving productivity. Moreover, the lower costs of operating an electric vehicle can improve cost efficiencies in this challenging economic environment. An added advantage of retrofitting vehicles is the reduction in capital expenditure compared to buying a new fleet of electrified haul trucks.

Sustainability and Beyond

SafeAI has been working with Obayashi for over three years to address pain points in construction using automation. The collaboration has helped improve environmental performance at work sites by 13 percent with automation alone. Now, by swapping the diesel with electric ones, SafeAI estimates that operators can reduce emissions by another 60 percent, the press release said.

"When we started working with SafeAI, our partnership focused on safety and productivity," said Sugiura Shinya, General Manager of Business Innovation at Obayashi. "Now, we're setting our collective sights on our next goal: to usher in a sustainable future for construction."

SafeAI regularly uses retrofitting to install its autonomous technologies into heavy equipment. For the electric drive train, it teamed up with AVIA Engineering, which has expertise in the electrification and mechatronics of trucks.

"Our team, in collaboration with SafeAI and Obayashi, is proud to have successfully integrated a fully electric powertrain and is looking forward to seeing where this first step can take us," said David Sánchez, owner and CEO of AVIA Engineering.

"We're bullish on the combination of autonomy and electrification in heavy industry, and we want to do everything to help companies make the transition," SafeAI said in the email. The company is also keen on collaborating with industry partners in retrofitting smaller electric autonomous vehicles.

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Source: Interesting Engineering