C3 Report -- If the thought of self-driving cars is unsettling to some, then the prospect of autonomous big rigs may seem downright scary. But the idea came closer to reality this week when Daimler’s Freightliner commercial truck division introduced the first self-driving semi in the U.S., and announced that it had received a license from the state of Nevada to test the vehicle on public roads.
Before you envision robot big rigs roaming the highways, you should know that Daimler estimates that it will be at least 10 years before its self-driving 18-wheeler will be ready for the road. And the Freightliner Inspiration Truck that the company unveiled in Las Vegas is far from fully autonomous. But like self-driving cars, autonomous trucks will one day be common. The benefits of the technology are too numerous to not become part of the transportation future.
The Freightliner Inspiration Truck that debuted at a press event this week—which drove across the Hoover Dam as part of a publicity blitz—uses technology already available in vehicles from its sibling Mercedes-Benz C-Class. Steering Assist is part of Mercedes-Benz’s Distronic Plus adaptive cruise control system, it uses a radar sensor to maintain the distance to a vehicle ahead and a camera to detect markers on the road to keep the car in its lane.
The difference between Mercedes-Benz Steering Assist and the technology on the Freightliner Inspiration Truck is that a C-Class has sensors in the steering wheel to detect whether a driver’s hands are on the wheel. When a driver removes his or her hands for more than a few seconds, the system issues an alert. And if the driver doesn’t grab the wheel after a few more seconds, the Steering Assist system is deactivated.
The Freightliner Inspiration Truck doesn’t have the steering wheel sensors, so the driver can operate the vehicle hands-free until the system detects a situation such as an intersection or slow traffic ahead, warns the driver, and eventually deactivates the system.
The Freightliner Inspiration Truck isn’t a true self-driving vehicle like the futuristic Mercedes-Benz F-015 Luxury in Motion concept the automaker unveiled at CES. But it is a first step on the path toward autonomous big rigs—and will offer substantial benefits. As Daimler board member and head of the company’s Trucks and Buses division, Wolfgang Bernhard, noted at the Las Vegas debut of the Freightliner Inspiration, the main advantages of the technology are saving lives, emissions, and money.
Bernhard noted that 90 percent of crashes can be prevented by autonomous technology because it can significantly reduce accidents caused by driver distraction and drowsiness. He also said that autonomous technology will create significant fuel savings and in turn reduce emissions.
Daimler officials also suggested that the increased efficiency enabled by of autonomous trucks could help lower the cost of consumer goods. In 2012, semis transported about 70 percent of all freight in the country, and the global trucking industry is expected to triple by 2050. A side benefit is that the driver can be more productive behind the wheel, handling logistic and maintenance issues on the fly.
Martin Zeilinger, director of Advance Engineering for Freightliner, said that the driver and the technology “will be a partner” and that a “skilled driver is an essential part of the equation.” After all, the technology simply allows the driver to somewhat disengage on long highway stretches, and can’t perform complex maneuvers such as parking.
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