Mercedes introduced the robot truck of the future "Future Truck 2025"

Mercedes Corporation, like many other automotive companies, is actively working on the creation of an automated car control system. The work is moving in two directions: for cars (last year it was announced that a new generation of S-class cars will get an autopilot), and for trucks.

Earlier this year, one of the trucks with an automatic control system drove along the roads of Germany , in order to verify the effectiveness of the system. Then the control system was built into a regular truck. Now the company introduced a new type of truck with an updated automatic (or rather, semi-automatic) control system.



All this is called “Future Truck 2025,” and the number in the title hints at a possible date for the commercial implementation of the project. The automatic control system in this truck is “sharpened” for work on highways when it reaches speeds above 80 km / h. The robot control system is not designed to work within the city; a person must drive a truck in the village.



In general, positioning an autonomous control system as an “autopilot for highways” somewhat simplifies the task of developers. There are no cyclists on highways, there are no pedestrians (in any case, they should not be), speed is constant, at least turns. The “Highway Pilot” system automatically determines the lane in which the car will move and adheres to the set course. The camera and the radar help evaluate the car’s environment. As far as you can understand, the computer has the ability to track the surrounding space 360 ​​degrees.



Among other improvements, the “Highway Pilot” can now “communicate” with other cars - of course, subject to the availability of an appropriate transceiver. In principle, many car manufacturers are developing a unified vehicle data exchange system, so in the near future a unified system is likely to appear, with which vehicles of all manufacturers will interact. So, this system can track the behavior of the nearest cars - stop, braking, turns and acceleration. The “Highway Pilot” responds accordingly to changes.



According to the plan, when reaching a speed of 80 kilometers per hour, the driver can go about their business, turning away from the steering wheel, and immersed in the study of the Angry Birds roadmap on the tablet.



The cabin of the new truck is more like a luxury cabin company, and the driver himself is like a passenger on a business flight of any airline.



As soon as there is a need for human participation, the system gives a visual and audible warning, and the driver is taken for the direct fulfillment of duties. If the driver does not respond (he may have fallen asleep), the system gives a sound signal, if necessary, stops automatically.


How can you not sleep here?

By the way, when the automatic system is operating, the LEDs on the cab change color from white to blue.

Via wired