Daimler has allowed three of its self-driving trucks on public roads, assigning them to drive from Stuttgart to Rotterdam as a fully connected platoon. In addition to demonstrating the scope of Daimler’s autonomous driving technology, the road trip is part of the European Truck Platoon Challenge which aims to accelerate the emergence of automated platooning on Europe’s roads.
The European Truck Platoon Challenge, introduced by the Netherlands during its EU Presidency, aims to facilitate the progress of autonomous truck platooning due to its ability to reduce congestion, reduce accidents caused by human error and make significant reductions in the quantity of trucks. Carbon dioxide emitted by trucks on the road.
While participating in this challenge, all trucks making the road trip from Germany to the Netherlands are connected via Wi-Fi and rely on the Daimler Connected Highway Pilot system. Unlike regular trucks, which need to leave a gap of 50 meters (164 feet), autonomous truck platoons can sit only 15 meters (49 feet) apart. This means that a convoy of self-driving trucks takes up just 80 meters (262 feet) of freeway space, compared to 150 meters (492 feet) for a regular convoy of trucks under human control.
They can follow closely together thanks to the Connected Pilot system, which lets other trucks in the formation know about a sudden braking situation in just 0.1 second – or 1.3 seconds faster than the average human would respond to a set of brake lights. However, there are drivers on board the platoon who are responsible for controlling all the assistance systems on board the vehicles.
Daimler is also quick to point out the fuel-saving potential of truck platoons. Because the trucks are traveling close together, they can take full advantage of the air stream coming from the leaders, which can lead to a 10 percent improvement in fuel economy numbers and a reduction in the amount of carbon dioxide emitted on the trip. This may seem like a small saving in isolation, but if the entire European fleet achieved similar reductions, the effects would be huge.
“We consider platooning an important part of the integrated approach in which all road transport stakeholders contribute to reducing fuel consumption and CO2,” said Dr. Wolfgang Bernhard from Daimler. “Driving in a convoy is one of many examples of increasing freight transport performance at scale with connected trucks.“
The convoy left Stuttgart on Monday and is expected to arrive in Rotterdam on April 6.
The video explaining the faction can be viewed below.
Source: Daimler
Update (April 7, 2016): Daimler trucks arrived in Rotterdam in April as planned, entering the local shipping port alongside MAN, Iveco, Volvo, Scania and DAF trucks.
Platoon – how it works
