Mar 13, 2016 @ 03:00 AM 4,189 views
U.S. Army Truck Test Could Accelerate Autonomous Driving
http://www.forbes.com/sites/trucksdotcom/2016/03/13/u-s-army-truck-test-could-accelerate-autonomous-driving/#1514453a2c16Post written by
Jaclyn Trop
I am an award-winning journalist and automotive reporter, dividing my time among the car cultures of Los Angeles, Detroit and New York.
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In a move that could pave the way for self-driving commercial trucks, the U.S. Army plans a highway test this summer of driverless convoy technology.
In a move that could pave the way for self-driving commercial trucks, the U.S. Army plans a highway test this summer of driverless convoy technology.
The experiment will examine how the vehicles communicate with one another, with nonmilitary vehicles and with the roadway infrastructure through radio links. The trucks, for example, will send their speed and location to roadside transponders that will reply with data such as lane closures and speed limits.
The test will take place in June with at least four vehicles on a stretch of Interstate 69 in Michigan.
For now, drivers will keep control of the trucks, but the Army plans tests on the interstate of driverless capability — robotic control of the vehicles, said Douglas Halleaux, an Army spokesman.
“It won’t be in June, but it won’t be long,” Halleaux said.
The autonomous vehicles have been tested in self-driving mode before but not on public roads.
“We’re very sensitive to the safety of our engineers and our neighbors on the roadways,” Halleaux said.
The Army is “taking this extra step with the radios before we make the big plunge to give our engineers and the public confidence in the trucks’ capabilities,” he said.
The case for the Army is clear: Vehicles that could drive themselves as well as or better than soldiers would leave fighters free to perform other tasks.
“Army line-haul convoys currently require at least two personnel in each vehicle, not including escort or protection vehicles,” said Paul Rogers, director of the Army’s Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center in Warren, Mich.
Taking soldiers out of truck cabs in war zones would reduce the potential for causalities, Rogers said.
It’s even potentially important outside of the battlefield. Robotic driving could prevent dangers such as driver fatigue and human error.
“Autonomy enhances mission safety and keeps our war fighters from unnecessary risk,” Rogers said.
How quickly the commercial trucking industry embraces this type of technology will depend on three factors: federal regulations of autonomous driving, the public’s perception of risks on the road and the profit potential for trucking companies that adopt the technology.
