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Self-Driving Trucks Begin Real-World Tests on Ohio's Highways (cbsnews.com)
An anonymous reader writes:
"A vehicle from self-driving truck maker Otto will travel a 35-mile stretch of U.S. Route 33 on Monday in central Ohio..." reports the Associated Press. The truck "will travel in regular traffic, and a driver in the truck will be positioned to intervene should anything go awry, Department of Transportation spokesman Matt Bruning said Friday, adding that 'safety is obviously No. 1.'"
Ohio sees this route as "a corridor where new technologies can be safely tested in real-life traffic, aided by a fiber-optic cable network and sensor systems slated for installation next year" -- although next week the truck will also start driving on the Ohio Turnpike.
Ohio sees this route as "a corridor where new technologies can be safely tested in real-life traffic, aided by a fiber-optic cable network and sensor systems slated for installation next year" -- although next week the truck will also start driving on the Ohio Turnpike.
You're going to find this technology used for platooning long before it is used for unattended driving.
There were already platooning tests in Europe earlier this year where trucks drove autonomously from all over in Europe and met in Spain without a single hitch. Expect to see this soon.
How long before there are in-trip refueling trucks? After all, there's no need to delay your valuable cargo if there's no driver.
The automated refueler will just pull in front, stick a pipe out the back end, and pump a load of fuel (which will initially still be diesel, but will eventually be an electric charge dumped from a supercapacitor bank into the rolling truck. Humans have a hard time managing the precise speeds needed, self-driving trucks will not.
The tech is going to be level 5 very, very quickly. The trucks will go from loading dock to loading dock with no humans, no rest periods, and no need for human support systems like seats, air conditioning, and sleeper cabs.