Daimler Trucks plans to open an Automated Truck Research and Development Center at its Swan Island, Ore., headquarters the company announced at its Capital Market and Technology Day Wednesday.
The new research development will join a full-scale heavy-duty truck wind tunnel on Swan Island and the High Desert Proving Grounds nearby in Madras, Ore.
DTNA Vice President of Engineering and Technology Wilfried Achenbach says electrification, automation and connectivity are three of the largest factors driving the trucking industry and the new Automated Truck R&D Center will aid in the implementation of those technologies that align with corporate pillars of safety, efficiency and reliability.
“We’re not in this business just to create buzzwords,” he says.
The new center will be dedicated to developing automated driving technology and understanding its impact on society and benefits for customers. Engineers there will lean on resources from other Daimler Trucks locations in Stuttgart, Germany and Bangalore, India, stitching together a global network of engineers dedicated to automated driving.
The three locations will work together, while R&D activities on automated trucks in Germany will also be expanded to expedite and deepen the company’s efforts in the field. The team will be charged with leveraging the experience and knowledge from previous research performed across Daimler’s vehicle divisions, including passenger cars.
“There are a lot of things Daimler cars is leading in automated driving, but it’s not a paste and copy approach [from cars to heavy trucks],” says Peter Vaughan Schmidt, head of Daimler Trucks strategy.
