Daimler Demos Automated Truck Platooning on Autobahn

Daimler AG’s commercial truck unit this week demonstrated three self-driving Actros heavy-duty trucks traveling in a connected platoon near Dusseldorf on Germany’s autobahn.

Platooning can cut high-speed following distances between trucks by two-thirds to as little as 15 meters (50 ft), Daimler says. In addition to freeing up road space for other vehicles, the tight alignment creates an aerodynamic drafting effect that can boost a truck’s fuel efficiency by as much as 7%.

Daimler notes that automated driving technologies also can cut braking reaction times to less than 0.1 second. This compares with an average of 1.4 seconds for human drivers.

Daimler says its latest Actros “smart” trucks are equipped with 400 sensors and more than 100 million lines of software code. In the platooning test, the three vehicles communicate with each other via a dedicated wi-fi connection. The vehicles retain their own autonomous vehicle capabilities if they are separated from the platoon or need to react to unexpected circumstances, such as another vehicle cutting in between the platooned fleet.

Daimler began testing trucks with partially autonomous capabilities last year. The company plans to participate in next month’s European Truck Platoon Challenge with five other companies to test fleets of semi-autonomous trucks in various European cities.