When my kids were small, I remember wanting to get them their first set of Legos. It turned out to be a fairly difficult purchase because the Lego sets being sold in toy stores were much more sophisticated than the simple set of bricks of various sizes that I had when I was a boy. For my children, I had to choose from Star Wars Legos, Jurassic Park Legos, superhero Legos, knights in castles, and on and on.
I just wanted them to have the basic bricks and let them use their imaginations like I did. I didn’t like the “ready-made” sets. How would they ever learn to create?
I’ve since changed my mind on the matter. Through the years I’ve seen these plastic building blocks become more elaborate and grow to encompass more slices of life. I’ve watched my own kids expand their horizons as they put in the time to build. Their creativity wasn’t held back. In fact, it seemed as if the more specific the Lego set was, the more detailed the images in their imaginations became and they were inspired.
That’s why I find it exciting to see Lego Technic teaming up with Volvo Construction Equipment to create an autonomous concept wheel loader of the future called “Zeux.”
In a press release Volvo CE says:
What started out as a fun, informal team building event to inspire The Volvo CE and LEGO® Technic design teams in 2016, gradually evolved into an idea for an actual LEGO® Technic product. Their goal: Design the construction machines of the future. And now the collaboration has led to a number of potentially revolutionary patents.
Arvid Rinaldo, (Brand Communication & Partnerships) at Volvo CE, explains why it is relevant for their designers to work on futuristic construction machines with LEGO® Technic:
“We have enjoyed a truly fun and productive collaboration with the LEGO® Technic team over the past few years. It allowed us to test ideas for new types of construction machines for the future, both in terms of functionality, scale, design and interaction. This model may seem futuristic now, but autonomous, connected and electric construction machines are already starting to be a reality. The Volvo Concept Wheel Loader ZEUX is a realistic next step in the exciting evolution of our construction machines.”
What I like most about it is that the toy will inspire future generations who will be responsible for building the future.
Check out the video:
