Autonomous Trucks?

Autonomous cars are a passion of mine. But, I understand that there will be some hurdles that will have to be jumped for an autonomous car to be in the hands of the average consumer. Therefore, I believe that autonomous technology will first begin with autonomous semi trailer trucks.

Trucks seem to be the most logical option for the tech to first enter. For example, everyone has had one of those moments where they have to pass a semi that is swerving and swaying in its lane. You are so nervous that it might sway right into you and when you pass it, you exhale a deep sigh of relief.

So, the public understands the safety aspect of autonomous trucks: they will drive themselves and eradicate the thousands of truck driver related car crashes on the roads. No more fatigued drivers swaying in their lanes from countless hours on the road. The roads would be a safer place.

There are already companies developing autonomous trucks. The big boy in the space is Otto, founded by ex-Google self-driving and secret robotics people. They are in stealth mode but their idea is to provide trucks with an aftermarket option to be fully autonomous.

What they do it outfit the whole truck with LiDAR sensors (so the computer can visualize the environment) and a bunch of other cameras and sensors to allow the software on board that does the autonomous driving to have a full view of the environment. This creates an autopilot feature where the driver can just press it in the middle of the night and sleep in the back while the truck makes the money driving those long miles itself. The driver then wakes up refreshed and takes the helm.

Otto has tested their three Volvo trucks over 10,000 miles and Nevada and Texas allow for someone to be sleeping in the truck while it drives. California banned the tech, but there are plenty of other highways out there.

Autonomous semi trucks are going to light up the market in the next couple of years. Oh, I forgot to mention, Tesla is going to make their own autonomous semi too so it must be an idea worth looking into!