UPS recently tested a self driving truck. How do self driving trucks work?
In: Engineering
The current wave of self-driving trucks will be limited to highways, interstates and small amounts of in-town driving (Just enough to get them to their dropoff location). AI software and powerful processors have enabled them to become practical and low cost. They use various sensor technologies to make this possible.
**GPS:** This is what determines the vehicles position and when and where they need to turn.
**4G LTE:** Allows the vehicle to keep the map data accurate and to access road condition reports to determine if the current route is passable. For fleet trucks, this will also allow them to stay in contact with HQ. This may also allow multiple trucks from the same fleet to travel in a convoy, though they do not have to use cellular data to do this, they could use different wireless technologies.
**Cameras:** These vehicles will use at least one camera, with one always facing forward. These cameras will look for things like other cars, road lines, traffic cones, traffic signs, and potential obstacles such as road debris and pedestrians. Side cameras are important for detecting nearby cars adjacent to the vehicle. Rear cameras can be used to detect if the vehicle is going to be passed or possibly rear-ended. Front cameras will detect the road lines to help keep the vehicle centered and to navigate turns.
**LIDAR:** This is a special type of camera that can detect the 3D shape of objects. Normal cameras can have difficulty detecting 3D shapes. Usually only one of these sensors is fitted to a self-driving vehicle.
**Ultrasonic:** These types of sensors have been fitted in vehicles for a long time (Look for the tiny circles in the bumpers of cars), most used to detect cars in bling spots and assist in parking. These are useful for detecting the distance between two objects, but it only works in close range. These can assist self driving vehicles by assisting them in parking or checking for nearby vehicles before switching lanes. They can also assist in determining clearance when navigating tight spaces.
**Radar:** Radars have more recently been fitted in many vehicles, they are used to automatically adjust cruise control to the speed of the vehicle being followed, and to detect potential forward collisions. They are used for similar things in self driving vehicles.
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