A Silicon Valley start-up company claims to have completed the first commercial journey from coast to coast through America with an autonomous truck.
Plus.ai said one of his vehicles had transported a refrigerated truck full of butter from California to Pennsylvania in less than three days.
The system relied on sensors, cameras, radar and Lidar (light detection and range) technology and computer vision software, supported by artificial intelligence.
But a driver and an engineer rode along.
The most important
“This cross-country freight run …. shows the safety, efficiency and maturity of our autonomous trucks, which already deliver cargo for other partners a few days a week,” said co-founder Shawn Kerrigan.
“Continuous progress in our autonomous trucks will allow these fast cross-country runs to become the norm in the future.
Prof. David Bailey, from the University of Birmingham Business School, said the trip from Tulare on the west coast to Quakertown on the east coast was “very important”.
He added: “Although many commentators have become enthusiastic about non-driver technologies in recent years, interest declined after it was overhyped.
“But it is important to note that the underlying investment in the new autonomous technologies is still ongoing, as evidenced by this Plus.ai self-driving truck run.
Autonomous cars
Daimler and Tesla also develop self-driving trucks.
But Uber canceled his research program last July to focus on instead
Autonomous cars.
Tom Bruls, from the University of the Oxford Robotics Institute, told BBC News Embark and TuSimple had similar successes.
Go, for example, completed a 2,400 mile trip across the US last February.
Freight journeys were relatively easy because the traffic on highways flowed in the same direction at about the same speed, Mr. Bruls said.
“Only the beginning and the end of the journey (off the highway) have to be done by hand for now,” he said.
“So I think it's a fairly large market, especially in countries like the US or Australia.
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