The International bauma Innovation Award honors cutting-edge technology developments related to construction and mining machinery and processes. The show organizers award the prize to research and development teams from companies and universities around the world that are bringing practical leading technology to market readiness while focusing on resources, the environment and people.
Winner of the prestigious bauma Innovation Award 2025 in the “Digitalization” category, Liebherr Autonomous Operations promises to enable fully autonomous wheel loader operation in the near future.
The autonomous driving system is said to redefine efficiency and safety in wheel loader operation. The system, which is at an advanced stage of development, permits complete driverless operation and is particularly suitable for repetitive, monotonous tasks and for work in hazardous zones.
According to company officials, the design features simple, intuitive control via a web application and lets drivers achieve consistent machine performance over an entire shift. Furthermore, operators can switch seamlessly between classic, manual hands-on control or fully autonomous functionality.
Liebherr Autonomous Operations is particularly suitable for repetitive actions and can be used to perform monotonous standard tasks – such as the recurring loading of feed hoppers or loading and unloading from points A to B – independently and without an operator.
At the same time, it lets employees focus on more complex activities that require human expertise. In addition, work in hazard zones – such as areas of a quarry at risk of collapse – can also be carried out by the driverless autonomous system without endangering employees. The self-driving wheel loader can also work independently around the clock, enabling flexible material transport at any time.
A user-friendly interface and web application can graphically define work orders without any special IT knowledge. The machine perceives its surroundings using 3D environmental sensors – without requiring drones or separate surveying technology. On this basis, the machine plans the individual work cycle, executes it independently, and adapts to any changes in the environment or different bulk materials automatically. And it can operate without GPS reception, which allows use indoors, underground, on high demolition walls or under vegetation.
After ten years of development, the prototype demonstrated at bauma is in the final field testing phase and will be launched on the market in the near future.
