Freightliner's autonomous future

When Daimler AG, one of the biggest auto groups in the world, claims that an event is worthy of being in the same company as the introduction of the first car, the first microchip processor and the internet, it indicates it's serious about making it so, even if it isn't. So, with the help of Nevada Governor, Brian Sandoval, the automotive giant organised the world's biggest projection screen for the presentation of Freightliner's 'Inspiration Truck': the wall of the Hoover Dam.

The truck itself almost faded into insignificance, as the dam's massive concrete wall was turned into a breathtaking auditorium – for a truck release. And the projection power needed to put the video and slide images – a Guinness World Record 1.17 million lumens, says Daimler – must have soaked up quite a bit of the dam's power-generating capacity of 1.3 gigawatts.

The occasion was the launch of the world's first autonomous truck licensed for use on the public roads. It took Nevada, a state of vast open spaces, to make it possible. In doing so, Governor Sandoval outsmarted Germany's Burgermeisters, who couldn't bring themselves to issue a licence for the Mercedes-Benz 'Future Truck 2025' version that was trialled on a stretch of autobahn near Magdeburg, west of Berlin, on Thursday, July 3.

So AV (Autonomous Vehicle) 010 was born and the Governor went for a spin in the custom-built Freightliner based on its Cascadia Evolution, with Dr Wolfgang Bernhard – global boss of Daimler Trucks – behind the wheel (as a spectator).

The truck uses a suite of cameras, radars, sensors and microprocessors but, most importantly, it requires no infrastructure modifications from road authorities. As Herr Bernhard put it, "just make sure the painted lines are in good shape".

The system manages everything a driver would normally control, using data ranging from GPS data, live topography, road conditions, road markings and, of course, other traffic. Its 'eyes' include two radars: a long-distance unit with a narrow field of view and a short-range beam with a wide angle for events and markers along the side of the road, along with a stereo camera to recognise signs and other roadside objects. All of that is tied to the GPS system, which itself uses topographical software to help manage gearbox mapping and engine torque control.

As 90 per cent of all truck accidents in the US are a result of driver error, using digital safety systems to eliminate most of those issues could potentially have a huge effect on injuries and fatalities among truck drivers and the other road users who are sometimes in the way.

Daimler's Hoover Dam bonanza turned out to be a suitable compliment to the potentially game-changing technology of Freightliner's latest venture.

See the clip below for a peek into Freightliner's vision of tomorrow's trucking...