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Driverless trucks.

Posted: Fri Aug 25, 2017 8:43 pm
by fungus
As announced on lunchtimes news.

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/car-news/9 ... n-uk-roads

Problems ahead?

Nigel.

Re: Driverless trucks.

Posted: Fri Aug 25, 2017 9:57 pm
by GTR1400MAN
The future.

I predict within 10 years cars will be added as well. Long trains of vehicles driving at a constant speed. No bunching. No slowing/speeding up. Of course this is on motorways and large dualled A roads only. This will happen long before we have autonomous cars. It will look something like the up-lift section in this:


Re: Driverless trucks.

Posted: Fri Aug 25, 2017 10:18 pm
by akirk
so how will that work with non-autonomous users of the same road?
- when someone tries to change lane through the middle of the queue...
- when someone needs to leave or join the motorway and there is a half mile queue of linked vehicles in the way...
- when a deer runs out from the side of a motorway into the middle of the queue...
- when vehicle 3 of 8 has a blowout...

lots of questions yet to be answered...

Alasdair

Re: Driverless trucks.

Posted: Fri Aug 25, 2017 10:33 pm
by fungus
Point three was raised by Edund King.

Nigel.

Re: Driverless trucks.

Posted: Sat Aug 26, 2017 7:01 am
by Triquet
fungus wrote:Point three was raised by Edund King.

Nigel.


Venison pate.

Re: Driverless trucks.

Posted: Sat Aug 26, 2017 7:10 am
by Horse
Serious answer/question: will deer run at vehicles or gaps? If gaps, how small will they go for?

Re: Driverless trucks.

Posted: Sat Aug 26, 2017 7:50 am
by GTR1400MAN
Let's clear one other point they are not driverless.

Think of it as adaptive cruise control ... on steroids.

Re: Driverless trucks.

Posted: Sat Aug 26, 2017 8:14 am
by akirk
GTR1400MAN wrote:Let's clear one other point they are not driverless.

Think of it as adaptive cruise control ... on steroids.

maybe so, but with human nature as it is, who wants to bet on the concentration / focus of the drivers in trucks 2-8?!
Alasdair

Re: Driverless trucks.

Posted: Sat Aug 26, 2017 8:31 am
by Strangely Brown
There won't be any [concentration]. Once the driving task is semi-automated the driver will become so disengaged from it that I do not see how, in any way, they would be able to "take over" in any emergency. If you think that drivers doing paperwork etc while on the road is a problem now...

ETA: Anyway, if the trucks are close enough together to make a meaningful difference to congestion and fuel economy, what would the driver be able to see that they could "concentrate" on, apart from the new graffiti on the back of the truck in front.

Re: Driverless trucks.

Posted: Sat Aug 26, 2017 8:36 am
by Strangely Brown