TuSimple Holdings, an autonomous driving technology company, announced that it has successfully completed China’s first fully autonomous semi-truck runs on open public roads without a human in the vehicle and without human intervention.
The “Driver Out” run was conducted on the designated public roads approved by the Shanghai government, including Yangshan Deep-water Port Logistics Park and Donghai Bridge. Over the course of approximately 62 kilometers (38.5 miles), the company notes that TuSimple China’s autonomous truck demonstrated its capability to navigate complex road and weather conditions in both urban and highway environments within the port area. This included traffic signals, on-ramps, off-ramps, lane changes, emergency lane vehicles, partial lane closures, fog and crosswinds.
According to the recent press release, the Driver Out run was operated by TuSimple China’s autonomous driving without remote human control of the vehicle, and without traffic intervention. In order to ensure public safety, the TuSimple China team say they worked closely with government regulators and law enforcement and implemented a safety vehicle to ensure safety during the run.
