Keeping an eye on the road, the driver of this truck taking the highway south of Stockholm has everything a conventional trucker does. With one detail: whoever sits in these forty tons has no hands on the wheel. The Swedish manufacturer with the iconic Scania griffin isn’t the only one developing autonomous vehicles, but it recently became the first in Europe to use them to deliver goods.
The latter are brought “from point A, to take them to point B, and this completely autonomously,” Peter Hafmar, Scania’s head of automatic solutions, told AFP from outside the manufacturer’s laboratory in Södertälje, in the south. from Stockholm. In this pilot project, the autonomous truck travels between Södertälje and Jönköping in southern Sweden to deliver products to fast food restaurants.
From the outside, the truck looks like a conventional truck, except for a roof rail adorned with cameras and detectors on the sides, reminiscent of insect antennae. Inside, while the steering wheel and seats are where you’d expect, the dash panel is dotted with small gadgets and screens whose cables run to the hidden computer compartment behind the passenger seat.
Lots of trial and error
Sitting in the passenger seat, engineer Göran Fjällid has his eyes glued to the screen of his laptop that receives the videos sent by the cameras of the truck, as well as the text about what the vehicle sees. A second screen shows a 3D visualization of the truck on the road and surrounding vehicles. “If the road markings disappear for a while, then we’ll use the GPS system and (the truck, editor’s note) will stay perfectly on its line,” explains Göran Fjällid.
According to him, the truck drives “better alone than when driven manually.” But according to the engineer, a lot of trial and error was necessary before arriving at this result. Some adjustments will have been necessary, such as the way the truck manages the insertion into the road and its behavior when a vehicle overtakes it.
Göran Fjällid records every unexpected reaction of the truck, such as braking or slowing down for no apparent reason, and then examines each piece of data. All detectors are also calibrated daily before each departure. According to Peter Hafmar, certain technological and legal difficulties still need to be overcome before these autonomous trucks become popular. “We expect them to be ready in the late 2020s, early 2030s,” he explains.
lack of drivers
Will the advent of autonomous trucks be a threat to truckers, one of the most widespread professions in the world? For Mr. Hafmar, these vehicles are first and foremost a response to the lack of drivers around the world. According to a report by the International Road Transport Union (IRU) published in June, in 2021 there were some 2.6 million truckers missing worldwide.
For Peter Hafmar, it will still take time before artificial intelligence can manage all the logistical aspects. At first, autonomous trucks will likely be for long hauls, while the last mile will remain the preserve of drivers, he adds.
Autonomous vehicles have other benefits, too, he notes: Since computers don’t need sleep or rest, trips can be planned at any time of the day or night, when traffic is less dense. Trucks can also drive slower, but longer, to save fuel.
Other companies in the race
Other companies are in the race for autonomous trucks. Startups such as Aurora, Waymo, Emnark Kodiak or Torc (with Daimler) are carrying out tests in the United States. In China, Baidu also announced the launch of an autonomous truck at the end of 2021. In Europe, the manufacturer Iveco, which is collaborating with the startup Plus (backed by Amazon), recently announced the end of its first phase of on-circuit tests and will launch road tests.
On the Swedish side, Einride plans to launch road tests in Germany soon.
Source: BFM TV
