Capital Equipment News June 2015

CAPITAL EQUIPMENT NEWS

JUNE 2015

he Freightliner Inspiration Truck with

Highway Pilot system is the world’s

first autonomous truck to be granted

a license for road use in the State of Ne-

vada. In July last year, Daimler Trucks pro-

vided the world’s first demonstration of an

autonomous truck in action when the Mer-

cedes-Benz Future Truck 2025 drove along

a cordoned-off section of the A14 autobahn

near Magdeburg.

The Inspiration Truck is now the next mile-

stone on the road to series production of

the Highway Pilot system. The development

engineers of Daimler Trucks transferred the

system to the US brand Freightliner and

modified it for use on American highways.

The result: the State of Nevada certified no

less than two Freightliner Inspiration Trucks

for regular operations on public roads.

The famous Hoover Dam was the setting

for the World Premiere of the Freightliner

Inspiration Truck. This projection – at 1.17

million lumens – earned Freightliner the

Guiness World Record title of highest light

output projection.

With the Freightliner Inspiration Truck,

Daimler Trucks has once more succeed-

ed in implementing the latest innovations

across all business units and brands. The

Freightliner Inspiration Truck is based on

the series-produced US Freightliner Cas-

cadia model, but with the addition of the

Highway Pilot technology.

The latter comprises a front radar and a

stereo camera plus tried and tested assis-

tance systems such as the Adaptive Cruise

Control, as seen in the standard Freightliner

Cascadia models and the Mercedes-Benz

Actros. For licensing on public roads in

Nevada, the technology was further de-

veloped and the excellent interaction of

components extensively tested. As part of

the truck’s Marathon Run, the Freightliner

Inspiration Truck covered over 16 000 km

on a test circuit in Papenburg, Germany.

As soon as the Freightliner Inspiration Truck

is safely on the highway, the driver can ac-

tivate the Highway Pilot system. The driver

receives a visual prompt in the instrument

cluster to activate the Highway Pilot. The

vehicle switches to autonomous mode and

adapts to the speed of traffic and then the

driver receives a confirmation message in

the instrument cluster.

The Highway Pilot system uses a com-

plex stereo camera and radar systems

with lane-keeping and collision-prevention

functions. It regulates the speed, applies

the brakes and steers. This combination

of systems creates an autonomous vehicle

that can operate safely under a wide range

of driving conditions – the truck automat-

ically complies with posted speed limits,

regulates the distance from the vehicle

ahead or uses the stop-and-go function

during rush hour.

The Highway Pilot system does not initiate

autonomous passing manoeuvres, as these

have to be executed by the driver. The

same applies for leaving the highway and

changing lanes. Via the user interface the

Highway Pilot keeps the driver visually in-

formed about its current status and accepts

instructions. The driver can deactivate the

Highway Pilot manually and is able to over-

ride the system at any time. If the vehicle is

no longer able to process crucial aspects of

its environment, e.g. due to road construc-

tion or bad weather, the driver is prompt-

ed to retake control. In addition to a visual

prompt in the instrument cluster there is

also a subsequent audible notification.

The Inspiration Truck represents yet an-

other demonstration of the consistent way

in which the Freightliner Trucks technolo-

gy strategy has developed in the USA. As

a global commercial vehicle manufacturer

Daimler is demonstrating how intelligent

technologies can be rolled out across

brands in the group brands within the

shortest time frame. Daimler Trucks’ world-

wide platform strategy in particular allows

economies of scale to be made.

FREIGHTLINER INSPIRATION TRUCK

with highway pilot system