WABCO Holdings Inc. has announced that it is working with Peloton Technology on truck platooning solutions, integrating commercial vehicle-to-vehicle communication and other automation technologies that further improve safety and fuel efficiency.
By electronically linking two or more tractor-trailers to form virtual road-trains on highways, platooning increases fuel economy by more than 7%, namely up to 4.5% for the lead truck and up to 10% for following trucks due to improved aerodynamics, according to independent evaluation by the North American Council on Freight Efficiency (NACFE) and further validation by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT).
WABCO and Peloton plan to use their respective technologies—namely, WABCO’s OnGuardActive collision mitigation system and Peloton’s proprietary platooning technologies—to advance platooning technologies. WABCO’s OnGuardACTIVE collision mitigation system offers the 77GHz radar sensor, a key enabler of the platoon’s trucks. When necessary, it provides active braking to avoid or mitigate impending rear-end collisions. Peloton’s systems enable platooning through advanced vehicle-to-vehicle wireless communication, enabling tractor-trailers to accelerate and brake together and safely operate at closer distances to gain aerodynamic efficiencies. Peloton’s Network Operations Center supervises the platooning trucks, allowing platooning only where, when and how it is safe to do so. Peloton’s system also processes real-time data gathered from sensors linked to other vehicle active safety and automation systems, including WABCO’s OnGuard emergency braking system and from WABCO’s source of instant digital information about the vehicle’s systems and their performance.
“WABCO shares our mission of increasing safety and efficiency for fleets and other transport customers. Today’s announcement builds on our past work together, and we continue to be excited about the synergy with WABCO, a global technology leader in advanced driver assistance and active safety systems,” said Josh Switkes, Peloton’s chief executive officer and founder. “Working with WABCO we can make trucks and drivers safer on highways whether in platoon or operating individually.”
“We are excited to expand WABCO’s strategy to offer differentiated solutions and services that empower tomorrow’s fleets, and working with industry-leading Peloton Technology demonstrates how WABCO is mobilizing vehicle intelligence to support driving automation,” said Jacques Esculier, WABCO’s chairman and chief executive officer.
Additional technology partnerships
In addition, WABCO signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with a global tier-one automotive industry supplier headquartered in Asia to bring active steering and other technologies to the commercial industry through a new joint venture (JV). The MoU sets a framework to establish a JV agreement for a new business that will develop, manufacture and sell electronically controlled active steering systems for the global truck and bus market.
The JV will leverage WABCO’s braking, vehicle control and advanced driver assistance systems expertise with its partner’s steering system technology and capabilities. This integration will result in significant innovation for advanced safety-enabling solutions that support automated driving through intelligent control of both the longitudinal and lateral movements of vehicles, WABCO stated.
Separately, as disclosed today, WABCO has joined forces with Mobileye, a global leader in advanced driver assistance systems and autonomous driving technologies. They intend to develop solutions for commercial vehicles that will combine Mobileye’s leading vision system and mapping technology with the control and actuation technologies from WABCO’s portfolio of electronic braking, stability and emergency braking systems in combination with capability for active steering control. The WABCO-Mobileye solution will benefit commercial vehicle manufacturers and operators through more advanced safety capability to help reduce the risk of accidents.
