Automated Vehicles at SOLUTRANS

Supporting the sector towards self-driving

According to a recent American survey, the arrival of autonomous trucks could shake up logistics in the next ten years. Technology is taking shape, but remains expensive. And yet it could help cut operating costs by 45% in the long term.

Transport remains a traditional industry which has seen few major or structural changes over previous decades. In this area too, the move to self-driving will be gradual. We could take the example of platooning (driving in a convoy – grade of automation 3) which should be the first to arrive on our motorways. In essence, only the first truck will be controlled by a driver, and in the ones following behind, the driver will have disappeared. This technology could help to compensate for today’s shortfall of drivers; but a new organisation will still have to be put in place. Drivers will wait for their vehicles at motorway exits (known as geo-fenced zones) to drive them on in an urban environment.

This will naturally lead to many significant repercussions across the logistics chain.

While we wait for the advent of total vehicle autonomy, which is as yet inconceivable, SOLUTRANS 2023 will focus on the technologies that will lead to self-driving heavy commercial vehicles. This naturally starts with ADAS, which are developing in all new vehicles and will be well-represented in the exhibition’s aisles. They use radars, lidars, and other sensors for safety today, but will be absolute must-haves in the operation of autonomous vehicles tomorrow.