KAMAZ with an unmanned control system: everything you wanted to know, but were afraid to ask

The future is getting closer to us. The first robotic cars appear on the roads of the USA and Great Britain. Many car manufacturers are working on their own projects with auto-drones, this applies to cars and trucks. In the second case, there are much fewer projects than in the first: at the moment it is known that Mercedec-Benz and KAMAZ, together with Cognitive Technologies, are developing their drone truck .

Cognitive Technologies in the project acts as a developer of an autonomous car control system, and KamAZ will finalize a truck for such a system. I asked several questions regarding the designed system and the project itself to the developers from Cognitive Technologies, and received answers that I hasten to publish.

What kind of hardware do you use (lidar, or video recognition from cameras, or both, and something else?)

Recognition from video cameras is used. In addition to this, radars for the analysis of close obstacles, inertial sensors, GPS / GLONASS sensors are also used. Lidars are planned to be used for building maps of localities, and not for production cars.

Did your previous achievements in the field of AI come in handy on this project, and if so, what exactly and how (algorithms? Employees with experience?)

Of course, the developments in the field of image analysis and machine learning are used. Since the beginning of the 90s, our specialists have been engaged in the analysis of two-dimensional images. Since the early 2000s, we have been actively analyzing road scenes.
In addition, many team members worked on creating fast algorithms. In this area, we consider ourselves professionals. KAMAZ project participants are among the coaches for sports programming of the MISiS team - a repeated finalist of the world championships.

How many people work in a team?

25 people are working on creating the core. The total number of teams is 50 people.

Do you rely on some open source libraries or farmworks, or do you write everything from scratch?

Yes. We use open source libraries, for example OpenCV, because we believe that it makes no sense to double-code the well-known algorithms.

Are you doing everything yourself or are there partners with experience in similar developments?

Key developments we carry out independently. But, of course, partners are involved in related issues, for example, in solving hardware and engineering problems, as well as tasks using non-optical types of sensors, for example, microwave radars (NITU MISiS).

What do you think about v2v and i2v, do you intend to use it somehow?

v2v will certainly be used in tasks such as movement in a column. As for i2v, it is absolutely possible.
In our developments, we focus on the processing of video data, on the so-called passive methods of computer vision, which is important in cases where there is no possibility of communication, in adverse weather conditions, etc. But this does not prevent us from using other methods in addition to the main model, such as cartographic information, rfid tags, etc.

Were your railwaymen and metro interested in your developments? The idea is to make an unmanned train easier - the rails are smoother and less traffic. Some subways already have drones.

No, they were not interested. But our technologies are able to effectively solve the problems of this class. Moreover, since we are able to recognize pedestrians within the framework of the road scene, it will not be difficult for us to transform this task, in particular, into the problem of safe train access to the platform.

Are there any specific hints in terms of legislation? Arrangements with regional or central authorities?

We are actively studying the state of the legislation in the field of creating unmanned vehicles and are developing the necessary amendments to the legislation in order to subsequently introduce them into government structures or legislative bodies. We study foreign experience. Our proposals to amend the legislation providing the possibility of moving a truck on the basis of the KAMAZ chassis on the roads of the Russian Federation was supported at the end of last year by Dmitry Medvedev, about which a corresponding order was issued to the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Russia. Also, to achieve the best result in this area, an interdepartmental working group was created in conjunction with the Agency for Strategic Initiatives. The first results of her work are expected to be available in the month of May this year.

Do you plan to build a testing ground in Russia for testing drones like these or those ?

Currently, there is a ready-made project to create a testing ground for unmanned vehicles based on the KAMAZ chassis in the Republic of Tatarstan, which will be located in the immediate vicinity of the KAMAZ enterprise. It already has a name - "Valley of Robots." It is assumed that its infrastructure will be organized on the principle of maximum comfort for technicians. The project was supported by the head of the republic R. Minnikhanov.
While the test site in Tatarstan has not worked, testing of unmanned vehicles is carried out at the Ministry of Emergency Situations, in agreement with the leadership of this department.

How do you calculate in what year drones on public roads will be universally allowed?

Based on the experience of implementing strategic projects supported by the country's leadership, the organizational outline of the tasks is carried out quite quickly. Another thing is that the project developers face many problems that require detailed study. It is worth saying that completely all the organizational and legislative problems associated with the movement of unmanned vehicles have not yet been worked out in any country in the world. These are issues of insurance, and the preparation of national standards, etc.
We believe that the preparation of major changes to the legislation will be completed by 2019, and in 2020, an unmanned KAMAZ will be able to enter the roads of the Russian Federation.

In what year did the usual manual controls completely disappear from the machines?

A person must definitely have the opportunity to intervene in the management process. This is necessary, for example, in emergency situations, extreme driving conditions, etc. This opinion is unanimous among the main developers of unmanned vehicles. Moreover, according to experts, only 40% of drivers are ready to completely abandon manual control. Therefore, manual controls will remain in the foreseeable future. Although it is precisely for the tasks of unmanned cargo transport, this task looks more attractive than for a passenger one.

In what year will manual vehicles be banned (will robot cars be allowed)?

Today the question of the ban is not worth it.

What are the competitive projects besides the robot truck from Mercedes-Benz?

All leading automakers have announced the creation of unmanned versions by the 20s. This is a global trend. Undoubtedly, the possibility of unmanned driving will be a competitive advantage.

When is the commercial version of KAMAZ with an automatic control system expected to be released?

We expect this to take place in 2020.

Are there any calculations on the possible economic benefits of a company such as KAMAZ from the introduction of an automatic car control system?

They are, but intended for official use. (You can open them only with the permission of KAMAZ and this may take some time.)
But an example of the effectiveness of how to solve the problem of creating an unmanned vehicle based on the KAMAZ chassis can be given. If we consider the situation of the movement of an ordinary truck with a driver and cargo from point A on the territory of Russia to point B, then it is obvious that the tariff rate for insurance of the driver, transport and cargo will be appropriate and will take into account the human factor for a number of parameters, including working out traffic rules, etc.
In the case of an unmanned vehicle, given that there will be an independent observer in the cockpit, who will be able to take on the control process in critical situations, obviously we will have tighter control over the traffic situation, with virtually zero probability of violation of traffic rules. Obviously, the tariff insurance rate for all parameters will be different.
We can also say that creating the opportunity for unmanned traffic will become a competitive advantage for KAMAZ, and will increase its margin. KAMAZ plans to strengthen its position in the international market.