Valtra has become the first tractor manufacturer in the world to unveil a windscreen display, showing off the new feature at the 2017 Agritechnica Show. SmartGlass is not a typical head-up display (HUD) that you find in cars and aircraft, as tractor use requires a much stronger visual display. Valtra came up with a nanotechnology solution that utilises a thin electroluminescent membrane laminated inside the glass.
“Electronic inputs activate symbols in the membrane. This technique is extremely reliable in even the most demanding conditions,” explains Petri Hannukainen, PhD and Research and Advanced Engineering Team Lead.
His team is currently working on an application that would display the load, height and bucket angle of the tractor’s front loader on the windscreen. SmartGlass can also be used to display the driving speed, PTO speed, hydraulics data and even navigation, for example.
SmartGlass will be made available to customers in about one year’s time.
