Question for Excavator/Crane/Heavy Eq Operators

[Heavy4629]

Hey Guys,

I'm an engineer considering customizing a pair of AR/Smart glasses for use by excavator/crane operators. One idea is pairing the glasses up with cameras, so that the operator sees blind spots (lifts, drops, demolition) through the video feed on the glasses instead of having to look down at a display in the cabin.

I'm leaning towards an application where the operator simply has various important machine info, data and alerts streamed to the glasses rather than video. This would help the operator avoid looking around the controls and displays around the cabin for important information/data.

Would any of these applications be helpful to operators?
Which of these two applications would be more helpful?
How much time would the second application help an operator save (if any) Per event? Per day?
Any suggestions of what information/data would be very helpful to display on the smart glasses?

I'd love to hear from any operators. Your opinion will be very valuable!!

 

[RedNeckRacin]

I don't see alot of value in it honestly. There are already blind spot cameras on new equipment. One thing to really focus on if you do decide to try this is strive for durability. It needs to be twice as robust as you think it needs to be. Some machines run to well Over 10,000 hours and honestly, if my smart glasses system goes down I'm not going to spend the money to repair it. I just spent several grand to repair a older JD dozer because it has the bare minimum of electronics on it.

 

[Heavy4629]

Thanks a lot for that feedback on cameras/video! Do you think important alerts, data or info on smart glasses might be valuable? Cheers

 

[rustyshakelford]

Thanks a lot for that feedback on cameras/video! Do you think important alerts, data or info on smart glasses might be valuable? Cheers

Like redneckracin said it's another fail point. A large majority of the operators don't like the latest greatest, some still have flip phones. This isn't a field that is strong in technology besides the use of gps. Generally blue collar guys that want to run the equipment in a quiet and smooth as possible cab and go home. I'm on the younger end of the spectrum and I would have zero use for them. It would be a distraction. Check out

Heavyequipmentforum

Brett

 

[Heavy4629]

Like redneckracin said it's another fail point. A large majority of the operators don't like the latest greatest, some still have flip phones. This isn't a field that is strong in technology besides the use of gps. Generally blue collar guys that want to run the equipment in a quiet and smooth as possible cab and go home. I'm on the younger end of the spectrum and I would have zero use for them. It would be a distraction. Check out

Heavyequipmentforum

Brett

Thanks, man! This is very helpful. Would you say this is likely to be the case for crane and excavator operators?