The design process started with a small design team sitting in a conference room in Wichita in early 2016, sketching ideas on paper of what Minotaur would look like, informed with deep market research and company expertise.

The process quickly migrated to computers, where design specs could be moved around to meet performance requirements. For instance, adjusting the linkage points (which define the path the arm would move) to stay within hydraulic cycle times and still meet lift performance requirements meant taking into account the location of the battery, tanks, and other components of a highly compact system. Past real-world testing and field experience informed all such decisions.

The real world testing only added to CASE’s confidence in the design, and engagement with customers will add to it.

“You can model how things are supposed to fit together, but you won’t know how it truly works and feels until you have an operator behind the controls,” said Jacob Benteman, Design Engineer.