Re: Self driving trucks Yep will have big impacts...
Author: Volvos etc.
Date: 04-04-2019 - 21:14
Ever since Uber (I think it was) fiddled with a self-driving car resulting in hitting that woman in AZ, Volvo has gone quiet on self-driving. For both cars and trucks (it's a major heavy truck maker). They're moving ahead on improving the driver assistance further, but are also adding interior cameras and other instruments to watch the driver and make sure the human stays awake and attentive enough. GM does that with its "Super Cruise" too (currently only in selected Cadillacs, but coming soon to merely expensive cars rather than only stupidly so), and limits full functionality (near self-driving) only on freeways that they've mapped in fine detail (sound like PTC?).
Some trucks have been fitted with gear that lets them platoon automatically (essentially tailgating each other behind a lead, human-monitored truck), but it's not ready for prime time yet. If perfected, that would make driving on a highway with those trucks difficult, since there would be not enough space between for merging and in principle they would be like a long train on the highway (think, the equivalent of a truck with a fundamentally unlimited number of trailers). In practice, there would be some limit to allow for safe starting and stopping, and somehow re-engaging chimp brains off the freeway, but it would still be a pain for other drivers to live with.