Look, no hands

DRIVERLESS trucks could play a big part in the future of efficient road transport.

In the 1950s, in the United States, cars were developed to follow tracks buried in a specially built highway.

A number of car makers looked at the feasibility of such systems throughout the 1970s and 1980s. One, Volkswagen, had a project where it linked VW Golfs into an "electronic train".

Mercedes has gone one better and brought the thinking up to date for big trucks with its so-called Electronic Draw-Bar.

The idea is to link trucks together using electronic signals passed from the lead truck to each one behind. When the lead truck turns or brakes, the others follow suit.

The system works so well that a change in European laws could soon see driverless trucks on our roads.

Mercedes says that the second truck of a "coupled" pair will use 15 per cent less fuel as it rides in the slipstream of the lead vehicle.

It will be much closer than would normally be safe but radio links, and infrared cameras, allow trucks to run between six and 15 metres apart.

Mercedes says the coupled vehicles can also operate perfectly well on winding roads.

Since "drivers" would still be on board, Mercedes has also developed a driverassistance system. Again, using cameras, the truck "reads" the lane markings or the road's edge. If the driver loses concentration or falls asleep at the wheel and the truck veers from the road, it emits a sound like debris being thrown up into the wheel arches on the side of the road where the vehicle is heading.

Instinctively, the driver steers the other way.

In addition, the distance sensor can operate the truck without the driver lifting a finger, even in stop/start traffic bringing it to a complete halt if necessary.

Mercedes reckons drivers could soon spend their time operating laptop computers to check stock or communicate with head office while the truck is on the move. It might seem alarming, but Mercedes is convinced that it is perfectly safe.

The totally automated truck is already at work.

Two Mercedes Actros models are operating inside a large chemical factory at Ulm in Germany. They follow electronic tracks laid into the roadway between the production line and the warehouse.

Large projecting bumpers, front and rear, house sensors and the trucks slow or even stop for an obstacle in their path. They also have external stop buttons for emergencies. Engineers are at present working on software which will allow the trucks to reverse with a trailer.

The law does not allow robot trucks on our roads, but how long will it be before we start seeing these 21st Century wagon trains on the M25?

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