In May, when Freightliner pulled the curtain back on its new Inspiration autonomous truck model, the company promised CDL-holding journalists the opportunity to get a Nevada autonomous truck endorsement in the fall.
This week, I found myself once again at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway – just north of Sin City – where I was able to climb behind Inspiration’s wheel and see just what it’s like to be in control of an autonomous truck as it drives itself down the highway.
Freightliner engineer Jim Martin was my instructor, riding shotgun in the passenger seat. He gave me an overview of the system while the truck was parked. Martin noted that Freightliner took great pains to make sure the Highway Pilot autonomous driving system was both simple and intuitive to operate. And that goal has been accomplished. In practice, Highway Pilot is about as complex to initiate as a common cruise control system on cars and trucks today.
Highway Pilot uses an array of vehicle safety and sensor systems to guide itself down the road. These include specialized cameras that track lane markings, two separate radar systems, GPS vehicle tracking systems and Detroit’s DT12 automated manual transmission. All of the systems on the truck that support and enable Highway Pilot are tried, tested and on the market today, save one: An electric servo motor connected to the steering column that actually takes signals from the Highway Pilot electronic control system and translates those commands into actual steering wheel movements.
But, Freightliner engineers note, almost all of the Highway Pilot systems are in widespread use in fleets today. As startling and sensational as the thought of an autonomous truck may be, the fact is the integration and combination of these existing technologies are what enable autonomous vehicle control.
Behind the wheel, enabling Highway Pilot is only possible when all the systems’ sensors are satisfied that safe operating conditions are present. The cameras, for example, must have clearly defined lane markers to track. The radar systems must have uncluttered acuity looking forward and the GPS system must have a strong signal and reliable information about the area the truck is operating in.
