Volvo’s ‘The Hamster Stunt’ Youtube video upload – demonstrating its Dynamic Steering – has been viewed more than 3.4 million times in little over a week.
Charlie the hamster, incentivised by a large carrot was calm and focused throughout the nail biting test, which saw the 15-tonne Volvo FMZ veer perilously close to the road’s edge, which naturally enough was on a quarry cliff with a sheer drop into a lake.
Minor modifications were required for Charlie’s benefit and safety, namely a specially modified hamster-wheel that was attached to the truck’s steering wheel, and allowed for a carrot to be dangled within the hamster-wheel, to ‘influence’ Charlie’s steering decisions.
The carrot dangler was in fact an experienced stunt driver, who operated the accelerator and brakes. Star of the show, however, was Charlie, spurred on by the prospect of a juicy carrot twice his size, he proceeded to steer the large truck through the twisting quarry track.
How does dynamic steering work?
Volvo’s ‘dynamic steering’ allows truck drivers to steer heavily laden loads effortlessly.
An electric motor replaces the driver’s muscle power, says Jan-Inge Svensson, software engineer of the new system.
“At low speeds, a heavily laden vehicle can be steered with just one finger. Driving on the highway, the system has unbeatable directional stability,” says Svensson.
Dynamic steering works using a conventional mechanical steering system coupled with a hydraulic servo and electronically controlled electric motor, which all combine to adjust steering thousands of times a second.
At low speeds, the electric motor adds force and at higher speeds it regulates steering, and compensates for irregularities such as side winds or bumps on the road surface. The system’s ECU continuously processes information received from on-board sensors.
The test was carried out in a Spanish quarry, and on hand was the stunt driver, Charlie’s trainer and Volvo technical personnel.
Volvo says that: “The film shows how the big truck gently and safely makes its way up a twisting, narrow hilly track in the quarry.” But did Charlie get the carrot? Watch video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7N87uxyDQT0&feature=player_detailpage
For those thinking this may have been enhanced in video editing, Sten Ragnhult, systems hardware developer at Volvo Trucks who was on site in Spain says: “I assure you this is for real – the hamster really did steer the truck.”
