We are not there yet, but driverless trucks are in our future. In this case it’s the Peterbilt company that is experimenting with a bumper-mounted radar system, on one of the trucks, and a lidar camera on the other. They are being used to determine the distance from the truck to the vehicle or obstacle ahead of it. The lidar has the added advantage of not only being able to determine an obstacle ahead, but also a wider field of “view” and the ability to provide some data on the size and shape of whatever is there.
For on-highway situations, these and a windshield-mounted camera provide data to keep the truck in the lane as the truck steers itself. Kahn said this lanekeeping technology is capable of taking 85% of the active steering out of the driver’s hands, leaving him much more refreshed.
