UPS recently tested a self driving truck. How do self driving trucks work?
In: Engineering
I presume you mean “how do they guide themselves “
Two basic technologies are used: GPS and edge detection ( to put it *very* simply)
GPS uses an accurate clock to measure tiny differences in timing signals from multiple satellites. From this data, using basic trigonometry, you can ascertain your location. ( the more accurate your clock, the smaller the margin of error, and the more accurate your position)
Edge detection. I’m being very broad here. But the vehicle ( autonomous cars do this too) uses various sensors- radar, thermal, optical etc to take a stream of photographs of its surroundings. Using a computer, it checks each photo ( each frame of a video can be treated as a stand alone photo) for certain general shapes, and where they are in relation to the vehicle. There is also a comparison made between the sequential photos to check relative motion of objects- that is, does that object appear to be moving, and in what direction? If it’s getting too close, evasive action is taken.
So, in a nutshell, GPS tells the vehicle where it is, and the sensor system lets it avoid colliding with things.
Combine that with a computer that has a set of street maps, and… there you go.
Simple in concept, a nightmare to actually engineer.
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