OREANDA-NEWS. Construction machines are real heavyweights – but they still have to be moved with millimeter precision, so optimally designed cabins are essential in the construction vehicle field, especially since they are the daily workplaces of many people. This is where the Continental solutions for vehicle electronics come to the fore. The international automotive supplier, tire manufacturer and industry partner provides flexible, individually adaptable human-machine interfaces that make the driver’s tasks easier and enable more efficiency at work. Visitors to bauma can experience part of the product portfolio close up: in the original cabin of a compaction roller at the Continental booth. The roller’s interior fittings include an ergonomically designed, modular driver’s workplace, a camera system with 360-degree monitoring, fully programmable instrumentation solutions and electrical sun protection.

Modular driver’s workplace improves ergonomics

Anyone could be comfortable in this driver’s cabin, because the modular driver’s workplace by Continental is extremely flexible and user-friendly. Its fitments can be adapted to match many applications and meet customer requirements. All the switches are positioned within easy reach. Overhead switches can also be replaced by additional panels where required. Continental is constantly developing ways to expand the possibilities of the driver’s workplace. A minimalist cabin style can be implemented, for example, or a comprehensive premium version with cameras, multimedia applications and displays such as the innovative MultiViu Professional12 instrument cluster. This fully programmable instrument cluster possesses a high-resolution 12.3-inch color TFT display, a real-time 2D graphic display and a video display. It eases the driver’s workload by presenting all the relevant information of his machine clearly – as animated text, scales, bar graphs or symbols. 

Monitoring and controlling functions with the MultiViu High terminal

The fully programmable MultiViu High terminal can be additionally integrated into the system – and it provides drivers with even more information. This means that building contractors can monitor and control all the functions of their machines. What’s more, the high-resolution 12.1-inch touchscreen display shows drivers additional information like geodata and camera data, enabling them to operate the air conditioning and media outputs efficiently and easily. It is also possible to define driver-specific authorizations and various driving modes. MultiViu High can be adapted to meet customers’ individual needs and can also be connected to the ISOBUS system. Thanks to numerous interfaces like CAN, audio, USB 2.0 and WLAN, the instrumentation platform can be integrated into a very wide range of systems. The display can be easily operated with a rotary pushbutton fitted into the armrest.

 

The whole vehicle in view – thanks to innovative camera systems

Continental will also present the ProViuMirror and ProViu ASL360 camera systems at bauma. ProViuMirror is a powerful alternative to exterior mirrors. Two cameras are mounted on each side of the vehicle. Their recordings are transferred to two right and left displays. Compared to conventional exterior mirrors, this technology significantly increases the visible area and maximizes driving safety. 

The ProViu ASL360 panoramic camera surveillance system provides a complete exterior view of the vehicle from the cab. This reduces risks of collisions when maneuvering, and other road users or obstacles are detected every time. Several micro-cameras fitted on the outside of the vehicle capture the sides, the rear and the front of construction machines and trucks in real time, using a super wide angle lens of 180°+ and high resolution. An electronic control unit merges these camera images in such a way that the driver gets a bird’s eye view of his vehicle on a display in the cabin. The system – also available for retrofitting – not only offers safety benefits, it also guarantees more efficiency, since it speeds up maneuvering and reduces loading and unloading times. By reducing the likelihood of accidents, downtimes and repair costs are also reduced.

 

Effective sun protection increases driving safety

Blinding sunbeams in the driver’s cabin are now a thing of the past. Now drivers can darken their windshields with the infinitely variable, electric sun protection system by Continental. This not only increases driving safety, it also keeps the heat out of the cabin and takes the strain off the air conditioning. The “Intelligent Glass Control” darkening effect is achieved by special films applied to the glass. Electrical control signals then change the amount of light that the films allow through.