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Self-Driving Big Rigs Become a Reality
drinkypoo writes: We've been discussing the importance of automating over-the-road trucking here on Slashdot whenever self-driving vehicles come up in conversation. Jalopnik reports that the Freightliner "Inspiration Truck" will be the first autonomous commercial truck to drive on American roads. It's been given the green light to start testing its self-driving technology on the roads of Nevada. A human will be present at the wheel at all times, and will take control whenever the truck is in more populated areas. "Given a big trucks' long stopping distances and limited maneuverability, driving one requires the ability to correctly predict what's going to happen far out ahead. That requires foresight and intuition that are difficult to program into computers."
If a self driving big rig is going to make freeway driving better for the rest of us, then I am all for it.
I have personally encountered truck drivers weaving side to side, tailgating and making sudden lane changes (the worst one was also in heavy rain just as I was about to pass a truck) - and I don't even drive that much. I blame all that activity on drivers who either don't pay attention, are possibly sleep deprived and/or are trying to make some arbitrary (and possibly illegally imposed) mileage requirement. If that can be eliminated then the roads will be a safer place to be.
On the other hand I also see on local roads, signs that say things like "Truckers - the GPS information for this road is wrong - you cannot get through this way". So I am interested in knowing in general how route planning will be made for all driverless vehicles, as it would seem that local knowledge and common sense will (currently) always trump a computer selected route. Worst case scenario was that tech journalist who took the wrong road in northern CA (?) in winter and got stuck in snow and died.
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Erm its already sorted out? There is a human in the car/truck you know for that exact reason.
It detects an unusual situation and gets the fleshy to take over.
And once a set of road works are mapped, the cars can learn from others that have already gone through.
Ideally the councils/counties would actually have some ability to control the autonomous cars, specify road closures and stuff like that before the car even gets close.
Strip mining companies spend millions on giant trucks whose only function is to shuttle minerals on a private road, from the bottom of the mine to the unloading dock. Until the technology of driving robots has clearly proven itself in a setting like this, it should be kept off the public streets and highways.
The technology of driving robots has already clearly proven itself in mining. For instance:
https://medium.com/war-is-bori...
(from a google search for "robot mining truck")