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The self-driving truck leaps from the drawing board, promising a revolution

WOLFGANG BERNHARD Self-driving can reduce fuel consumption by around 5%

EAGLE EYE Inside the self-driving truck

25th July 2014

By: Irma Venter

Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

  

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The future changes constantly. Where it once favoured the car over the horse, then the introduction of new, fuel-efficient, low-emissions engines, it is now inhabited by the self-driving car and truck.

In fact, the debate around self-driving vehicles, or autonomous drive, has in recent months eclipsed the conversation around reduced carbon dioxide emissions, and whether we will all drive around in electric vehicles by 2020.

Rather, the question is: Will we be driving at all?

Google perhaps pushed this question to the fore, while the automotive industry would have preferred to talk about emissions and drive systems a little while longer. If you take the fun out of driving, where does that leave automakers and their talk of torque and comfort?

The ambitious global tech company earlier this year unveiled its podlike, two-seater self-driving car. It has been described as dull, cute, revolutionary and/or functional.

The absence of a steering wheel made Google’s intentions clear. It is not about driving pleasure.

Why drive if you can do other things in the monotonous flow of traffic? Such as search Google. View some advertising along the way. Buy a few apps. Catch up on your email.

Why even own a vehicle, when one can be made available on demand, ordered using your phone?

Established car and truckmakers will, however, not simply hand over their industry, and their wallets, to global tech companies.

In July, Daimler Trucks & Buses unveiled what it described as “the truck of the future” in Germany, building on the autonomous drive success already achieved with its luxury S-Class.

In August 2013, Mercedes-Benz, a member of the Daimler group, unveiled an S-Class limousine that drove the 103 km between Mannheim and Pforzheim, in Germany, without any driver input.

The 2014 truck that drives itself is called the Mercedes-Benz Future Truck 2025. It is equipped with the intelligent Highway Pilot system, which enables it to drive completely autonomously on freeways at speeds of up to 80 km/h.

Tech Feast
The Highway Pilot system can be compared to an autopilot system in an aeroplane, or on large sea vessels.

Highway Pilot is a combination of radar sensors at the front and sides of the truck, a stereo camera behind the windscreen, precise three- dimensional maps and vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communication.

Daimler Trucks & Buses demonstrated the vehicle on a section of the A14 autobahn near the city of Magdeburg, in a series of situations simulating real-life traffic conditions, such as the truck autonomously veering right for a police vehicle to pass.

How is this possible?
Take the situation involving the police vehicle.
A message appears in the truck’s display: “Emergency vehicle approaching”. The information comes from a police car, by means of vehicle-to-vehicle communication.
The truck automatically moves over until it reaches the lane marking, clearing the way for the fast-moving police car, and then returns to the centre of its lane, all without the driver placing a finger on the steering wheel.

“The Future Truck 2025 is our response to the major challenges and opportunities associated with road freight transport in the future,” said Daimler management board member for trucks and buses, Dr Wolfgang Bernhard, at the event, attended by Engineering News.

He said the advantages offered by self-driving trucks are increased efficiency and improved safety. For example, the truck is able to steer itself on long, monotonous stretches of road where driver fatigue typically sets in.
This enables the driver to become a logistics operator, freeing him or her to handle other tasks.

Optimally executed acceleration and braking phases also enable the future truck to reduce fuel consumption by around 5%.

The truck does not aim to replace the truck driver, who has to remain in the cab to take over whenever warned to do so, explained Bernhard.

His or her presence – awake, not asleep – in the driver seat is monitored by a seat occupation system, but there is no need for the driver’s hands to remain on the steering wheel. The seat is even allowed to turn away from the steering wheel.

The smart truck can follow road turns, as well as brake, for example, but not overtake, or take an on- or off-ramp.

It is also not suitable for use on all road conditions, as Highway Pilot requires good- quality, clearly marked infrastructure and map material.

Bernhard added that it is too early to talk about the price of the self-driving truck, but noted that there is emphasis within Daimler on ensuring customers can afford the vehicle.

He said the truck uses many components and technologies that can already be found on Mercedes-Benz cars, such as the S-Class.

Wait a Minute, Google
“We aim to be the number one manufacturer in this market of the future, which we believe will offer solid revenue and earnings potential,” noted Bernhard.

German Parliamentary Secretary of State to the Federal Transport Minister, Katherina Reiche, said at the Magdeburg demonstration that the German government believes auto- nomous driving will change traffic patterns; that it is “the future”, and that Germany has to secure its position in this market.

She also noted that Europe would like to stay ahead in the automotive race, and that it would not like to follow the lead “of other continents”.

She said Google had strengths the European continent does not have, and vice versa, adding that autonomous drive is a strength of Germany, and that it “should stay that way”.

Reiche said Germany would like to cooperate with the US, however, in setting up standards for the autonomous drive industry, with protectionism serving no purpose.

This is important as Germany is a major vehicle exporter, also to the US.

Reiche said the expectations for autonomous drive “are huge”.

“We want to do everything to support [the German auto industry]. The automotive fireworks must continue.”

Timing Tied up with Legislation
If the legislative framework for autonomous driving can be created quickly, the launch of the Highway Pilot is conceivable by the middle of the next decade.

“We have to clarify many issues, such as regulatory, social and legal issues, but we will do everything we can to make this a reality,” said Bernhard.
A small amendment to the international Vienna Convention on Road Traffic earlier this year agreed that drivers could take their hands off the wheel of self-driving cars, as long as the self-driving systems can be deactivated or overruled by the driver.

Article 8 of the Convention stated that every driver shall be able to control his or her vehicle at all times.

Mercedes-Benz truck product engineering and global procurement head Sven Ennerst says technology is ahead of legislation in this instance, and that national changes now have to be made in Germany to accommodate autonomous driving, following on from the amendments to the Vienna Convention.

Reiche indicated that her Ministry has started round-table discussions on the matter, bringing together various groups to define the legal and technical issues around autonomous driving.

These include the question of liability in case of an accident, ownership of the data generated, impact on the insurance industry, and consumer trust.

Reiche said the first results from the round- table are expected by the end of 2014.

Consumer acceptance is of utmost importance, especially if a heavily loaded truck is involved.

Ennerst stated that 90% of all accidents are caused by drivers.

“Machines do not get tired, or have a bad day.”

He believes the current acceptance of assisted- drive systems already in use today, such as systems that pre-emptively brakes in case of an imminent accident, is at around 90%. This should aid the acceptance of autonomous drive among the public.

The US is not a signatory to the Vienna convention.

However, local legislation development is continuing. For example, the US state of Nevada passed a law in 2011 that allows for the test driving of autonomous vehicles.

It’s a Revolution
The quest for autonomous drive is not a sudden, 2014 light-bulb moment, says director at RWTH-AACHEN university’s faculty of information management in mechanical engineering, Professor Sabine Jeschke.

It started in the 1950s, with the US pursuing an electronic highway project, where the infrastructure had to change to allow autonomous driving. This was, however, found to be less than economically feasible.

Later attempts in the 1970s and 1980s found computational power and image detection lacking.

Everything has changed, however, with the dawn of the fourth industrial revolution, explains Jeschke.

The first industrial revolution saw the start of mechanical production by using power; the second, the use of centralised power infrastructure; the third, the use of digital computing, with the fourth, the current information revolution, driven by bandwidth and computational power, where “everything is networked”.

“As artificial intelligence is accelerating, we are seeing extreme paradigm shifts,” says Jeschke.

Daimler views its self-driving truck as part of this revolution, especially through its envisaged system of vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communication.

Imagine all Daimler trucks ‘talking’ to each other on the highway – for example, telling each other of problems ahead. Advising each other to avoid a certain traffic jam and take an alternative route?

“The truck will be a fully networked swarm being,” says Mercedes-Benz head of trucks Stefan Buchner. “It will be part of the Internet of Things.”

The Internet of Things is a concept that points to the further development of the Internet, whereby everyday objects have network connectivity, allowing them to send and receive data.

Vote: Yes or No?
One of the important questions facing the auto industry in its next big step is whether the public will accept self-driving vehicles into their environment. Will they cede their power to control a vehicle, or are self-driving cars and trucks merely the fulfilment of boardroom dreams and egos?

A research study by KPMG provides three insights, and they do not necessarily favour current auto giants.

The first insight is that, while consumers still have many questions about the safety, liability and operation of self-driving cars, their receptivity increases significantly when presented with the right value proposition.

Shorter commute times, plus reduced traffic-related variability, plus the ability to use the vehicle in self-drive or human-operated mode, equal a strong incentive for consumer adoption.

Companies that get the value proposition right and deliver a mobility/driving experience that is emotionally pleasing, could dominate the market, predicts KPMG.

The second insight from the research report is that powertrains may not matter. People may not care how fast their cars accelerate if they are not driving. If this is true, consumers may as well order their next vehicle from Apple or Samsung – brands they also trust.

The third insight is that mobility on demand could expand significantly with the self-driving car, possibly obviating the need for families to buy more than one car.

KPMG asks: “If the car you want, shows up when you want it, where you want it, does it matter if you own it?”

It is difficult to argue with the KPMG findings, but perhaps there are exceptions, as always, especially in countries such as South Africa, where a car is seen as a statement on the status, dreams and aspirations of the driver.

Marketers have long since elevated the car to more than a mere mechanical machine, and that is one thing you cannot Google – yet.

However, there are a lot of A-to-Bers out there, budget-conscious people who do not care about the newest design and number of horses under the hood. Young people who only want to be connected.

And what about logistics companies which first consider the bottom line and uptime, before they even consider the colour of the truck?

For them, self-driving may just be the solution they are looking for.

Edited by Martin Zhuwakinyu
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

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