Back in 2018, Honda chopped off the top half of an ATV to make a modular platform capable of lugging stuff around construction sites, and installed some autonomous vehicle tech so that it could do so without a human worker on board. That Autonomous Work Vehicle entered its second generation in late 2021, and now the company will show off a new prototype in Las Vegas later this month.
As before, the all-electric hauler can roll between pickup and drop-off points autonomously, or be operated remotely, but a navigation suite based on GPS, radar, LiDAR and camera technologies has been improved to allow for continued operation even where satellite services are unavailable. The tablet-based programming interface has been simplified too, and obstacle avoidance chops have also been enhanced.
The 51 x 119 x 81-inch (1,300 x 3,025 x 2,052-mm) Autonomous Work Vehicle (AWV) is aimed at addressing such things as labor shortages and drives towards greener construction, and can roll a little faster in autonomous mode than the previous generation, at up to 10 mph (16 km/h). The battery bank has been bumped up as well, to 18.6 kWh for up to 10 hours of per-charge operation, and the turning radius has been reduced to 11.4 ft (3.47 m).
![The third-generation Autonomous Work Vehicle can now transport two pallets of equipment/materials around a worksite](https://assets.newatlas.com/dims4/default/e05ae75/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1920x1080+0+0/resize/1440x810!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnewatlas-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F1f%2F86%2Ff0ad731045e283dd186bff3c71d0%2Fawv-2023-selects.00_11_44_04.Still026.jpg)
Rounding out the key upgrades, the bed platform has been lowered to cater for easier loading, and has increased in size to 101 x 51 in (2,560 x 1,300 mm) to accommodate two pallets up to a total loading capacity of 2,000 lb (907 kg). Engineers are also looking into the production of a bunch of attachments and tools for even greater utility at the worksite.
The third-generation AWV prototype is heading to CONEXPO-CON/AGG 2023 in Las Vegas, which runs from March 14 -18, where Honda will invite construction industry representatives to register for field testing of the platform at their build sites. The video below has more.
Source: Honda