The global automotive industry has been competing to develop autonomous vehicles in the 2020s with the goal of putting them on real roads. So what happens if an autonomous vehicle actually jumps on the road? The first-ranked candidate is a truck that takes charge of logistics.
Competition in this area is quieter but hotter than cars intended for the general public. Daimler, Volvo, Wayne, Uber, Tesla and others are spurring development to realize trucks capable of fully autonomous driving in this market.
Daimler has released its Freightliner Inspiration in 2015. It is a truck that can drive freeways with semi-autonomous driving capability. Daimler emphasizes that the logistics of the near future will change.
Daimler also introduced a technology called Highway Pilot for autonomous driving of the vehicle. This technology is aimed at commercialization in 2025. The highway pilot grasps the surrounding situation in real time through cameras located around the car body and radar mounted on the front grille. The camera can recognize distances up to 100m and radar up to 250m.
In addition to autonomous driving, it supports functions such as passive driving as well as existing cruise control. Detect the lane on the road and drive safely. The autonomous driving situation itself can be managed through the network, which helps to monitor the logistics smoothly.
Of course, the biggest advantage of such a truck is its safety. According to Daimler, the autonomous mode of the vehicle can reduce driver sleepiness by 25%. The truck has been approved for driving in Nevada and has been on trial for the past several years.
One of the advantages of autonomous trucks is platooning. Freight liner Inspiration Because trucks communicate with each other, a proper distance can be maintained. Acceleration / deceleration is also possible to communicate safely while communicating with each other. The ability to maintain proper headway distance allows the truck to optimize the air resistance it receives, saving an average of 5.3% if three trucks are driving on the same track and 6% on five.
Plaat tuning refers to a technique in which a plurality of trucks communicate with each other in a group rally. It is expected to reduce vehicle accidents as well as fuel savings. Reducing the distance between trucks can reduce energy consumption, as mentioned earlier. This is expected to reduce pollution by 20%.
The flat tuning is interlocked and maintains the inter-vehicle distance and travels in unison as if it were one. Reducing the distance between cars can reduce air resistance and increase the fuel economy of the vehicle that follows. In the state of flotation, Wi-Fi communicates with each other through Wi-Fi. If the leading vehicle finds an obstacle in front of it, the information is sent to the succeeding vehicle following it, and the follower vehicle can change the lane on the basis of it and effectively overcome the obstacle and cut off the cause of the congestion.
According to a study by the Dutch research institute in 2016, using flat tuning can reduce fuel consumption by 15% and mitigate traffic congestion. Europe also hosted the European Truck Plaquing Challenge, an event for the development of flat tuning technology in 2016. Daimler, Volvo and Scania were involved in the event, driving up to 2,000 km.
Autonomous trucks are taking a step toward practical use. In 2016, Uber successfully managed to carry a large trailer with 45,000 Birdweiser cans of beer to a distance of 160km.
It uses autonomous driving technology developed by Otto, a subsidiary acquired by Uber. When you enter the highway, the autonomous drive switch located on the dashboard is turned on and running. Budweiser said that he paid $ 450 to Otto for the transportation charge. Uber has taken over Otto, spurring the development of autonomous trucks and preparing for the transportation service UberFreight.
Tesla has announced that Semi, an electric trailer in 2017, will start production in 2019. This car does not use fossil fuels like a diesel engine, but runs on lithium-ion batteries only. Once charged, you can travel up to 800 km continuously. Zeroback is about 5 seconds in the electric vehicle, and even if you connect the 36 ton cargo normally used in the US, it has excellent acceleration up to 20 times.
Of course, this car also supports Tesla’s self-propelled autopilot, and it can be flatched to run alongside several previously announced vehicles. Reducing air resistance, lowering power consumption through group driving and reducing operating costs through this. According to Tesla’s claims, the cost could be reduced by more than $ 200,000 over two years, and the cost could be recovered for two years.
Wei also said that it will carry out road test of autonomous truck in March this year. He has been developing self-propelled trucks by transferring the autonomous driving know-how accumulated since Google to heavy trucks.
Of course, the trailer for a truck is bigger than a regular car, and its rotation and braking are also different from ordinary vehicles and have a lot of squareness. Therefore, it is not possible to apply existing autonomous driving technology as it is, and it is necessary to develop technology for autonomous driving truck. In the future, Weimo aims to integrate autonomous trucks into the business between shipper and transporter in cooperation with a terminal network such as factories, logistics centers and ports.
Embark, which is developing autonomous trucks, succeeded in crossing the US through autonomous driving in February. Immediate start was established in San Francisco in 2016. Audi and Space X engineers came to the site, which was supported by the Wi-Combiner.
Autonomous driving technology, which is under development, is not using high-resolution maps because it is a structure that carries data and obtains data through vehicle sensors. It is possible to flexibly cope with a completely new route even if the user does not input detailed route information in advance.
As soon as he tried to prove it, he ran the planned route five days after challenging the US crossing through autonomous driving, moving 1,000 km from Los Angeles to El Paso and back to Jacksonville for 3,900 km. Keeping the average distance of 110km / h while maintaining the inter-vehicle distance, the overtaking proceeded through the lane. Of course, this time, it took five days because the assistant driver was on the ground, but if it was fully autonomous, it could be traversed in two days. It is also one of the benefits of autonomous trucks.
According to McKinsey, in 2025, one third of trucks in the United States each year are expected to feature autonomous driving. Of course, some companies that are developing autonomous trucks are aiming to commercialize hybrid-type trucks that help man and man-made intelligence drive each other. When this type of operation is taken, human beings enter a highway, such as a complex city street, and artificial intelligence drives them. The American Trucking Associations believe that autonomous trucks will be similar to the way a pilot monitors an autopilot on a plane, such as a passenger plane. Most passengers are autopilot only when coordinates are entered when a man takes over the landing stage and cruises to his destination. Autonomous trucks will also be in this form.
Experts believe that autonomous trucks can become reality within the next five to ten years. Of course, there are limited issues such as highway restrictions, and there are legal issues to be resolved. However, the introduction of autonomous driving on highways is likely to significantly reduce driver deaths. It is no exaggeration to say that trucks are responsible for most logistics in the United States. In this regard, it is likely that trucks are likely to become early adopters for the autonomous market. The fact that it can be put to practical use on a much simpler highway rather than a complicated urban area can be an attractive condition for the first introduction.
In 2014, Mercedes-Benz launched the concept model Future Truck 2025. As is the case with the Tesla semi-concept truck, the design of the headlamps on the front of the car makes the future feel more like a flat.
Of course, the real thing to think about as a future is to be able to determine the situation through autonomous navigation through radar and various sensors that detect the surrounding situation. The truck makes it a bit of a hiccup when it comes to autonomous trucks. In the driver’s seat with the same design as the hotel room, you can comfortably prepare the next routine and display the images taken in real time with the rear camera.
Trucks are a big part of logistics. There is a lot of driver burden with many long distance, and it is likely to lead to an accident. This is why efforts to reduce this burden are ongoing.