Whitegate, White Lund Ind.Est., Morecambe, Lancs. LA3 3BS
01524 382262

The Autonomous Truck Is Upon Us!

At Propshaft Repairs, we’re far from being solely about propshafts; particularly when it comes to our blog. We love to deliver you moving and shaking from the industry, as well as providing you with fun blogs, such as our Record Breaking Vehicles blog from right at the start of the year. However this week we can provide you with equal parts of both, so strap yourself in as we prepare to take you on a hands-free journey in one of the new autonomous trucks!

Automatic Autobahn

Germany’s Autobahn is infamous for its speedy nature, so generally you could be forgiven for being a little nervy if you were to see someone sidle up alongside you with their hands behind their head. Well, not necessarily anymore! Recent news hit the stands of a freight truck on the road with the fabled Daimler Highway Pilot System installed.

It’s been a long time coming, with conversations and dreams of automated automotives dating back to last century, but they’ve finally made the step up into reality. Using a series of camera sensors and radar, the user can switch the truck into an autonomous state through the simple pressing of a button.

The sensors allow it to remain at safe driving distances away from other drivers as well as gauging its own speed. As the video indicates, it beeps to wake up the driver should there be any traffic discrepancies or if it feels the user is falling asleep. Knowing these autonomous vehicles are on the road could create a worry that people may abuse them and fall asleep at the wheel, but this feature provides a great relief!

Daimler Said of Their New Technology:

The Highway Pilot does not replace the driver, but supports and relieves the strain on them by dealing with monotonous stretches for them and taking care of annoying stop-and-go driving in a traffic jam. In automated mode the driver has control over the truck at all times and in tricky situations can take over driving of the vehicle again.

An autonomous truck also hit the road in May last year of course, however that was specifically designed for the purpose of autonomy. The new Mercedez-Benz Actros truck was already in production and they simply installed the sensors and software… which all sounds fairly simple, doesn’t it? Well, as simple as automated vehicles can get!

Truck driver sitting in cab

Bring On the Future

What an exciting development. It may only be a matter of time before this amazing innovation hits the road en masse, which is both a little scary and ultimately thrilling. Such an innovation opens up so many further possibilities when it comes to transport and automation, we can’t wait to see where this invention takes the future. Hopefully it will lead to some of those less than safe drivers re-assessing their road manners!

If you’ve fallen foul to a less than skilful driver, or have an issue with your vehicle that you think our expert technicians can help you with, don’t hesitate to get in touch. You can contact our team of friendly professionals on 01524 382262, where we are eagerly awaiting the opportunity to deliver high specification repairs, using only the finest quality components and craftsmanship.

For all you guys who are active on other social media outlets, you can also find Propshaft Repairs over on Facebook. So give us a like and keep in the loop!

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Whitegate
White Lund Ind. Est.
Morecambe
Lancs.
LA3 3BS

Tel: 01524 382262
Fax: 01524 844904
info@propshaftrepairs.com
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