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Einride, a company based in Gothenburg (Göteborg), Sweden, has a vision that lowers these hurdles slowing the adoption of both alternative energy and self-driving technologies in hauling. The key change? Take the driver out of the vehicle with a hybrid of self-driving and remote control.
Einride plans to have their driverless (windowless, even) T-pods plying the route between Gothenburg and Helsingborg by 2020. The 7-meter (23- feet) long vehicle can carry 15 standard pallets and up to 20 tons. The trucks roll through their highway distances in fully automated mode. But when they near population centers, the T-pods can be put under remote control, with a human managing the navigation.
With no paid personnel on board to be bored and useless during long charging cycles, electric motors begin to make more sense. The T-pods can travel 200 km (124 miles) on a single charge, and stops at charging stations add little to the overall costs of haulage compared to traditional rigs that have down-time during driver resting periods. Remote drivers can simply switch their attention to a different vehicle when one T-pod stops for recharging. Which is a good thing, because even the run up and down the Swedish coastline between Gothenburg and Helsingborg may be a bit out of range without a top-up along the way.
Maybe all those hours playing Starcraft did not go to waste after all--perfect training to be an Einride operator.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 19 2017, @05:08AM (2 children)
Because lag when going 80 MPH doesn't matter.
Because GPS is never wrong and map database never have incorrect or outdated data.
Because there's never any interference with communication.
Because it's against the ToS to use Windows as a real-time, safety critical OS.
Because no one has every accidentally pulled out a joystick cable and took a few moment to figure it out.
Because everything is designed for touchscreens and no one has joysticks anymore.
Because everyplace has 100% power up-time.
Because encryption never gets hacked or implemented improperly.
Because suicide car-drivers will commit suicide the old fashion way when they can't drive a car.
Because driving trucks for minimum wage for hours and hours on end isn't soul crushing work. (How long can you play Dessert Bus?)
Because companies are 100% moral and will never cut any corners by having multiple operators operating multiple vehicles.
Because a co-worker can't walk up to your truck and spill coffee on you while you're driving.
Because there has never been a single video of a self-driving car navigating a construction zone, accident site, or almost every other possible thing which could arise during highway driving, including poor weather.
Because it'll be trivial to box the truck in, then steal everything in it before the company or police could respond. Highway robbery indeed. Kids will grow up with heroes jumping on and defending driverless trucks instead of horses (well, actually that already happened).
Because no drunk or emotionally charged idiots will ever shoot paintballs at car sensors.
And yet, I see no reason why this type of vehicle won't exist in the future. Too many companies want to be first with self-driving cars that they'll push them out before they're ready. And when we do get them, they'll have backdoors for remote control. At the very least for developers, but probably for end users too for private road use and the few random times you drive inside buildings.
How about we get self-typing keyboards working first? When I use voice control to type a message my keyboard keys never move. We can't even get that right!
(Score: 3, Interesting) by bradley13 on Wednesday April 19 2017, @06:50AM (1 child)
Hey granther, let's look at your objections:
Because lag when going 80 MPH doesn't matter.
Autopilot on the highways. Some trucks already effectively have this, just with a driver pretending to pay attention.
Because GPS is never wrong and map database never have incorrect or outdated data.
Defined routes, local sensors for lanes, etc.. Again, this part is already proven technology.
Because there's never any interference with communication.
Again: autopilot on defined routes. When the truck is under remote control, the automatic systems should still be active, for the case of interrupted communication. Fail-safe: stop the truck.
Because it's against the ToS to use Windows as a real-time, safety critical OS.
Where does Windows come into this? Actually, they said that the new truck is "windowless" :-)
Because no one has every accidentally pulled out a joystick cable and took a few moment to figure it out.
See above: make the system fail-safe
Because everything is designed for touchscreens and no one has joysticks anymore.
Huh?
Because everyplace has 100% power up-time.
So? Go to any large trucking agency, step into their control center, and imagine a power failure. It will be a mess, even today.
Because encryption never gets hacked or implemented improperly.
Yes, it's a whole new world of technology to hack. Let's stop all progress, because each step brings new dangers with it.
Because suicide car-drivers will commit suicide the old fashion way when they can't drive a car.
Huh?
Because driving trucks for minimum wage for hours and hours on end isn't soul crushing work. (How long can you play Dessert Bus?)
I cannot imagine sitting in a truck cab, hours a day, every day, driving back and forth on the same route. Some people apparently like the work. Sitting in a data center, playing remote pilot, not seeing the problem...
Because companies are 100% moral and will never cut any corners by having multiple operators operating multiple vehicles.
Let's stop modern civilization and we'll all go back to our ethical agricultural life, working 100+ hours/week to avoid starving...
Because a co-worker can't walk up to your truck and spill coffee on you while you're driving.
Man, did you get up on the wrong side of the bed today...
Because there has never been a single video of a self-driving car navigating a construction zone, accident site, or almost every other possible thing which could arise during highway driving, including poor weather.
Finally, a point that makes sense. As self-driving vehicles become more common, things like this are going to require some serious consideration. Probably a lot of standardization, or even special signaling for automated vehicles.
Because it'll be trivial to box the truck in, then steal everything in it before the company or police could respond. Highway robbery indeed. Kids will grow up with heroes jumping on and defending driverless trucks instead of horses (well, actually that already happened).
Guess what, this already happens in various forms. In one case I know of, a driver was looking for a business to make a delivery. Someone ran up to the truck, pointed to a warehouse door, and said "here we are, unload here". Wasn't the business, and the goods were never seen again.
Because no drunk or emotionally charged idiots will ever shoot paintballs at car sensors.
See "fail-safe" above. There are lots of monkey wrenches people could throw into the infrastructure today. Scatter a box of nails across the highway, for example. This stuff rarely happens, because most people are civilized.
Everyone is somebody else's weirdo.
(Score: 2) by PiMuNu on Wednesday April 19 2017, @11:49AM
> Finally, a point that makes sense. As self-driving vehicles become more common, things like this are going to require some serious consideration.
> Probably a lot of standardization, or even special signaling for automated vehicles.
I assumed for many years that someone had already thought of plugging wifi/RF/cheese transmission into all the signposts to deal with automated vehicles. It would be insane to require automated vehicles to process visual info for this stuff when there are so many more elegant solutions.