Among its many other products on display, Bobcat has revealed a loader concept for the first time in Europe at Intermat 2024, a construction equipment show being held in Paris.
Known as the RogueX2, it is said to be a testbed for technologies developed as part of Bobcat’s innovation roadmap, accelerating the manufacturer’s progress toward a more sustainable and connected future.
This autonomous, all-electric machine has been built to evaluate customer perceptions and, as Bobcat itself explains , challenge the paradigms of traditional kinematics and machine functionality.
Although this machine is being shown at a construction show, the concepts and features it is carrying will also be of interest to agricultural machinery manufacturers as they look to move the farm tractor forward.
Bobcat robotics
This is the second iteration of the robot, which was first unveiled in 2023 and follows on from the RogueX.
Both the RogueX and RogueX2 loaders are all-electric and autonomous concept machines that produce zero emissions at the point of use and feature a lithium-ion battery, electric drive system.
While these features are now commonplace in robotics, one significant development is that the lift and tilt kinematics are electrically actuated with no hydraulics involved.
These concept machines are specifically designed to explore the idea of how work machines of the future can be designed and optimised for upcoming technologies and assume that operators will not need to be accommodated, so no cab is provided.
The original RogueX was fitted with tracks, and it uses advanced workgroup kinematics to offer a functionality that combines vertical-path, radial-path and variable-path lift capabilities in one machine.
RogueX2 on the other hand, was designed with wheels instead of tracks to optimise the electric battery run time.
It also features axial flux motors, which gives the machine greatly increased tractive effort. The RogueX2 is still in the research and development phase and is not yet commercially available.