The beginning of April initiated the reign of smart trucks and cooperative driving. The historic event took place in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, where 6 truck platoons (run on the semi-autonomous basis) arrived to face the EU Truck Platooning Challenge 2016.
The launch of the project is the result of 6-month close cooperation between truck manufacturers (DAF, Scania, Daimler, Volvo, Iveco, MAN), governments and public sector on a multidisciplinary level. A lot has been already considered and a lot is still necessary to work out, as the issue at stake is the future of self-driving trucks.
Autonomous driving technology is at the core of truck platooning concept that involves 2 or more trucks communicating wirelessly and following one another in close succession. It is possible due to advanced vehicle-to-vehicle communication. The system reacts to changes in speed more quickly than human drivers do. Shorter gaps create slipstream for the trucks inside the platoon providing fuel-efficiency, emissions cutback and traffic optimization. Thus, there is more space and safety on the road, as the behavior of the truck group is easily predictable.
First time ever different countries and different companies have united to create the vision of innovative transportation system, which is believed to be our reality by 2025.
