Up for the challenge

In early April, six 22-wheelers hit the road from the Belgian capital Brussels, bound for the port city of Rotterdam on the Dutch coast. Tucked in closely behind each was an identical truck-trailer combination.

Ordinarily, the sight of a dozen tailgating trucks on some of Europe’s busiest roads would have attracted little attention. But this was something special: the European Truck Platooning Challenge, the first ever journey of semi-automated truck platoons on public roads.

Each of DAF, Daimler, Iveco, MAN, Scania and Volvo provided a two-truck platoon to show off their autonomous drive tech. And, more importantly, to highlight the limitations of existing infrastructure and regulations.

Because the fact is, the manufacturers are ready to roll.

hill to be confronted by a traffic jam dead ahead. Fog, rain, uphills, bends can be “seen” in advance. Even pedestrians’ and cyclists’ probable directions of movement can be computed, incredible as that may sound.

Here’s another practical example of a scenario tailor-made for this kind of data. When a new route leads through demanding terrain, it is conceivable that the company might book a higher power rating for a brief period, digitally. This is an optimised version of what the company currently markets as Top Torque, which boosts torque in certain gears at full load.

Just as situations on the road and in traffic can be predicted, so such systems are able to predict and prevent breakdowns automatically. The truck will be checked by remote diagnosis, and new software can be installed by remote maintenance employing the so-called flash-over-the-air (FOTA) method. The Teamviewer which is familiar to computer users will become standard on board trucks, too. When it becomes apparent that a visit to the workshop will be necessary in the foreseeable future, this will be integrated into the trip planning, mitigating downtime.

At heart, connectivity is the essential basis for the continually self-optimising truck. That’s to say, a truck that travels intelligently and autonomously along the motorway to its destination – more safely and economically than ever before.