My priority when visiting the CONEXPO-CON/AGG 2026 next month is to learn about advanced new technologies, especially those related to fluid power and its machinery. This, despite my desire to find the management team at AEM and convince them to change the show’s name, which has all the appeal of trans-fat-laden square tubs of oleo we ate in the ’70s and ’80s. Random observation, I know, but at least I got another use out of the word oleo outside of New York Times Crosswords.
I want to see how deeply electrification has permeated mobile machinery, because despite attention-grabbing headlines, I don’t see electric equipment anywhere professionals are using it. Sure, my good friend, Bob Sacamano, has an electric leaf blower that shares 48v batteries with his lawn mower. We get to enjoy a crisp Michelob Ultra in my front yard while we wait for one of his six batteries to charge up enough to run another fifty-foot strip of grass, while we watch my landscaper make quick work of my entire lawn in the same time.
But this article isn’t about the still-impractical electrification of mobile machinery, which doesn’t get to enjoy the Tesla Supercharger network because graders, excavators, and loaders toil away clearing land where infrastructure does not yet exist. What’s that you say? Your electric micro-excavator can dig up a foot-wide ditch inside a grocery store to lay new electrical wire? Well, ain’t that cute? Just remember to rent that diesel-powered electric generator when you’re sixty-seven miles from the nearest wall socket.
What’s important to me, not only because I’m a fluid power professional but also because I write about fluid power, is how electrification and Industry 4.0 have complemented fluid power rather than replaced it. How a machine is controlled is just as important as its primary method of motivation, and even the most dogmatic hydraulic holdout can see the benefits of data, communication, efficiency, and predictive maintenance.
I won’t pretend to be the authority on machine learning, data analytics, simulation, and autonomous operation, because those engineers and companies leading the field are coming up with great new ideas every week. However, it’s my literal job to learn about the most relevant and current technologies my readers need to hear about, and I hope to expand upon my current foundation on this subject.
What I want from you, the engineering, marketing, and industry professionals exhibiting at the show, is to learn about your great new technology that complements fluid power. I want to know about your sensors, data analytics, or electronic gizmos designed to complement air and hydraulic systems and machinery. If you have the next big technology I should know and write about, invite me to your booth to tell me about at jcosford@higginson.ca
Of all the products and technologies I see, I’ll pick my favorite(s) and write about them in an upcoming article. My only rule is that the product must be developed with fluid power in mind, rather than something that just so happens to work with fluid power as well. I can’t wait to see what you all bring to the table!
