Hot of the heels of Google’s proposed self0driving car, Mercedes-Benz has revealed that they have a similar plan in mind. Except they’re thinking on a bigger scale – self-driving trucks.
The German automaker recently announced that their planned self-driving truck has in fact completed its first public road test. And the results were;t too shabby either.
Dubbed the ‘Mercedes-Benz Future Truck 2025′ (way to go on the originality there, Mercedes…) the truck actually successfully drove itself on a stretch of the A14 Autobahn in Magdeburg, Germany. This is the first time a truck was driven autonomously.
According to the company, the truck reached speeds of up to 85km/h, which is pretty impressive considering the fact that it’s a pretty big truck, driven completely by itself.
Daimler board member, Dr. Wolfgang Bernhard, said that the truck of the future is the one that drives itself. He also said the the futuristic truck will incorporate all of the technological genius that Mercedes cars already have:
“…[sic] a more sustainable transport system to the benefit of the economy, society and consumers. Using various systems already pioneered in Mercedes’ road cars–radar cruise control, automatic braking, lane-keeping assistance and more–the company promises “optimally executed” acceleration and braking for smoother traffic flow and reduced consumption and emissions”
This means that the self-driving truck will be more efficient, safer and have better connectivity than the human-enabled trucks we have today.
What about the humans (truckers) that make themselves a living off driving these trucks to destinations far and wide? Well, Mercedes says that they will still have a place in the ‘truck of the future’.
With the proposed ‘Highway Pilot’, truckers will be able to let the truck do the driving while they take a well deserved break. Think of to like auto pilot for truckers.
However, just as is the case with Google’s self-driving car, Mercedes is still trying to sort out legalities for their future truck. This could take well up to 5 years, but considering Mercedes only plans to have their future truck on the road by 2025, that would be enough time.
Check out the ‘future truck’ video below:
Source: Motor Authority
No comments:
Post a Comment