VEHICLE & FLEET SAFETY
ROAD ROBOTS
Self-driving vehicles might sound like the stuff of science fiction, but autonomous cars are already being tested on UK roads. The next step is to launch driverless trucks. Tanita Cross examines the potential pros and safety pitfalls of these futuristic fleets.
Four UK cities have got the green light to test driverless vehicles on their roads this year. Funded by £10 million of government money, self- driving cars will soon be cruising around Greenwich, Milton Keynes, Coventry and Bristol. But it’s not only cars that can be controlled by robots. Fleets of driverless trucks are also heading towards the UK.
The technology developed for these vehicles allows a convoy of lorries to travel one behind the other, communicating via Wi-Fi. The truck in front will be in control, although, at the moment, each lorry still requires a driver to be present in case of an emergency. Vehicle movements are monitored by infrared cameras and laser sensors, so the drivers can relax for the majority of the journey.
It almost sounds like fiction, but this technology is already being used overseas. Since December 2008, Rio Tinto Alcan has been using the Komatsu Autonomous Haulage
42
system on its Pilbara iron ore mine in Western Australia. By April 2013, the company had successfully transported more than 100 million tonnes of earth using the fleet.
“RESEARCH INTO THE SAFETY OF
DRIVERLESS CARS HAS HIGHLIGHTED
THAT THESE VEHICLES MIGHT NOT BE ABLE TO PREVENT ALL COLLISIONS.”
Proponents of driverless trucks maintain that they will make transporting goods by road more efficient. Andrew Ashby, Business Development Manager for Automotive and Transport at Plextek Consulting, highlighted: “The communication between the vehicles can enable them
to operate in convoy, which offers the potential for synchronised braking, increased fuel consumption efficiency and the easing of congestion in busy areas,” he said.
Kevin Curran, Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and a senior lecturer in Computer Science at the University of Ulster, agreed: “We can expect increased roadway capacity and reduced traffic congestion. The reduction in congestion comes about because of the reduced need for safety gaps and being able to better manage traffic flow.”
Sceptics will question the safety of allowing convoys of autonomous trucks to drive down motorways. Paul Watters, Head of Road Policy at the AA, thinks motorists could be intimidated by such processions. In an interview with the BBC, he said: “For the car user in particular it does pose worries about platooning lorries taking up a lot of space and blocking others.”
www.tomorrowshs.com
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