Volvo Trucks Demos Platooning Tech

AB Volvo has completed tests of three of its VNL 670 heavy-duty trucks in a partially automated platoon on Los Angeles highways.

Using forward-looking sensors, adaptive cruise control and vehicle-to-vehicle communication, the trucks traveled at 55 mph while maintaining 50-ft following distances between them. Volvo says there were staged and unplanned vehicle cut-ins during the demonstration to show how the platooned vehicles adapt to changing traffic conditions.

Automated platoons allow vehicles to travel in close packs with synchronized braking and acceleration. The technology has the potential to significantly improve safety and traffic flow while reducing congestion and greenhouse gas emissions. Volvo says the technology is meant to aid professional drivers, not replace them.

Volvo teamed with the Partners for Advanced Transportation Technology (PATH) at the University of California, Berkeley, on the technology development and demonstration program. The project is sponsored by the U.S. Dept. of Transportation and Federal Highway Administration. Other participants were Cambridge Systematics, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority and Gateway Cities Council of Governments.

PATH, which has been working on platooning technology since 2003, demonstrated its first three-vehicle fleet in 2010.