* England - Driverless trucks plan picks up speed
-- They weigh 44 tonnes, travel nose-to-tail in convoys and communicate using a combination of WiFi, cameras and radar. And if you look in the cabin and see a driver without his hands on the wheel do not panic — that is all part of the plan...
Driverless lorries have been touted as having the potential to transform the haulage and logistics industry, cutting workforce costs and fuel bills while improving productivity... But a substantive question remains about the lorries: just how much space can the “road trains” safely leave between the vehicles’ bumpers?... Volvo has done tests in Sweden, and found the gap could be as little as four metres, which would leave a breaking time of just 0.2 seconds if the convoy, known as a “platoon”, were travelling at 44mph. If a second’s breaking time were required, that would mean a distance of 22 metres for a platoon travelling at 50mph... Linked by wireless communication, radar and camera systems the lorries brake simultaneously when the leader of the pack slows. The technology, which has been tested in the US and in other parts of Europe, sees the front truck use lane-sensing technology to stay inside the lines, while others in the convoy follow behind... Although each lorry will have a driver in the cab, once on the motorway the lorries drive themselves — with the driver taking control to leave the motorway and depart to difference destinations... Driving in platoons would not necessarily initially save haulers money, cautioned Malcolm Bingham, a director at the UK’s Freight Transport Association, as the cost of the technology would outweigh the likely fuel cost savings. But, he added, the technology was “a useful stepping stone to full autonomy”, which would allow haulage groups to run trucks continuously, avoiding the costs of driver breaks or restrictions on working hours...Driving trucks close together is not only safer but also more fuel efficient, according to industry estimates. Savings range between 5 per cent and 20 per cent from lower fuel use by trucks at the back of the convoy, because they encounter less wind resistance...
London, ENG, UK - The FT, by Peter Campbell - March 12, 2016
* Europe &USA: Silicon Valley vs. Detroit?
--Six of the largest European truck brands — Volvo, Scania, Mercedes, Iveco, MAN and DAF — will next month criss-cross Europe as part of an EU programme to trial the platoon approach... Nissan has announced plans to introduce fully autonomous vehicles by 2020, while others companies, such as BMW and Mercedes, already have some “lane control” abilities in existing cars. The industry says driverless cars could eliminate the vast majority of road accidents because machines do not get distracted or fall asleep... General Motors has bought a San Francisco autonomous vehicle start-up for more than $1bn, as the race intensifies between Detroit and Silicon Valley to control the future of driving...
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