Some of you may recall the iconic drawings of detective Dick Tracy, of comic book fame, talking into his wristwatch—most likely relaying valuable information back to headquarters. I doubt that when those drawings were penned anyone looking at them thought that some day we’d have the capability to talk into wristwatch type-devices. Yet here we are, 15 years into the 21st century, and that “wristwatch” technology is here (Apple Watch), but with some sophisticated technology that is beyond the comprehension of Mr. Tracy.
So what does this have to do with trucks? Recently, some fairly amazing new technology has been making its way into commercial vehicles and giving us an idea of how truck transportation and trucks will be operating in the future.
Just introduced
For example, last month, Daimler Trucks North America (DTNA) unveiled the Freightliner Inspiration Truck, which the company said is the first licensed autonomous (Webster’s synonym: “self-directed”) commercial truck to operate on an open public highway in the United States. Developed by engineers at DTNA, it promises to unlock autonomous vehicle advancements that reduce accidents, improve fuel consumption, cut highway congestion and safeguard the environment.
The vehicle is comprised a variety of advanced onboard technology systems from sensors that monitor movement around the vehicle and communicate and/or adjust or activate vehicle components—such as engine downspeeding, collision avoidance actions and braking, braking, etc.—during driving. While this truck is not a driverless vehicle, it does hint at what the future might hold as technology continues to advance and the transportation industry continues to evolve. In the meantime, there are some huge advantages to the technology that has already been built into that truck.
Also offered
I recently had a chance to take a ride in a Peterbilt Model 579 concept truck (autonomous truck), which incorporates existing, individual systems already available for today’s commercial vehicles that will likely be included in future truck offerings. Among the existing technologies on the vehicle are: radar-based adaptive cruise control (ACC) that automatically accelerates and decelerates to maintain safe following distances; and lane departure warning systems (LDWS) which use cameras to detect lane edges and striping and alerts the driver if the vehicle is drifting outside of its lane. Peterbilt pointed out that these are technologies that will be incorporated in to future generations of autonomous vehicles.
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