Robohub.org
 

Autonomous truck platoons travel across Europe

by
14 April 2016



share this:
Platooning. Photo: Dan Boman

Platooning. Photo: Dan Boman/Scania

A dozen trucks arrived in Rotterdam after traveling across Europe in the European Truck Platooning Challenge. Six different truck makers participated: Scania, Daimler, Volvo, IVECO, MAN and DAF.

Truck platooning involves a convoy of connected trucks that drive and react as a single unit. Acceleration and braking are linked and controlled by computers and WiFi, allowing vehicles to drive much closer together without sacrificing safety while reducing drag and also the cost of drivers and fuel. Each of the six truck manufacturers demonstrated their own platooning technologies.

It is estimated that fuel savings of up to 10% can be achieved with equivalent reductions in CO2 emissions by this type of slipstreaming.

Each of the test vehicles was connected by WiFi, which allowed for the close platooning that wouldn’t be possible with human drivers. Trucks used an advanced Wifi-P connection, developed by NXP, and specially designed for automotive applications. The hi-speed WiFi system enables trucks to drive close together and communicate with each other. Everything that the driver in the first truck sees in front of him is projected onto a screen in the second truck.

“The technology is still very much an assistance feature,” said Jeremy Carlson, senior analyst for autonomous driving at IHS Automotive. “This type of automated vehicle handles 98 percent of the miles, but you still need to have a human driver ready to take some of the scenarios that come with large trucks, including navigating narrow city roads.”

Truck platooning could happen within the next 10 years and most manufacturers are investing in the technology. Daimler recently announced it was investing more than $500 million into its truck platooning technology, and research reports have forecast that more than 7.7 million truck platooning systems could be on roads around the world by 2025.



tags: , , , , , , , , ,


Frank Tobe is the owner and publisher of The Robot Report, and is also a panel member for Robohub's Robotics by Invitation series.
Frank Tobe is the owner and publisher of The Robot Report, and is also a panel member for Robohub's Robotics by Invitation series.





Related posts :



Open Robotics Launches the Open Source Robotics Alliance

The Open Source Robotics Foundation (OSRF) is pleased to announce the creation of the Open Source Robotics Alliance (OSRA), a new initiative to strengthen the governance of our open-source robotics so...

Robot Talk Episode 77 – Patricia Shaw

In the latest episode of the Robot Talk podcast, Claire chatted to Patricia Shaw from Aberystwyth University all about home assistance robots, and robot learning and development.
18 March 2024, by

Robot Talk Episode 64 – Rav Chunilal

In the latest episode of the Robot Talk podcast, Claire chatted to Rav Chunilal from Sellafield all about robotics and AI for nuclear decommissioning.
31 December 2023, by

AI holidays 2023

Thanks to those that sent and suggested AI and robotics-themed holiday videos, images, and stories. Here’s a sample to get you into the spirit this season....
31 December 2023, by and

Faced with dwindling bee colonies, scientists are arming queens with robots and smart hives

By Farshad Arvin, Martin Stefanec, and Tomas Krajnik Be it the news or the dwindling number of creatures hitting your windscreens, it will not have evaded you that the insect world in bad shape. ...
31 December 2023, by

Robot Talk Episode 63 – Ayse Kucukyilmaz

In the latest episode of the Robot Talk podcast, Claire chatted to Ayse Kucukyilmaz from the University of Nottingham about collaboration, conflict and failure in human-robot interactions.
31 December 2023, by





Robohub is supported by:




Would you like to learn how to tell impactful stories about your robot or AI system?


scicomm
training the next generation of science communicators in robotics & AI


©2024 - Association for the Understanding of Artificial Intelligence


 












©2021 - ROBOTS Association