Autonomous truck transport has taken a huge leap forward in North America in recent weeks, with American company Kratos Defense and Security Solutions successfully executing a multi-week demonstration of its self-driving truck platooning system in Québec, Canada.
The system involved the deployment of two class-8 tractor trailers, with one human-driven ‘leader’ truck collecting and transmitting navigation data to an autonomous ‘follower’ truck.
The human driver in the leader truck adjusts vehicle speeds, gaps and manoeuvres to adapt to changing environmental or operational conditions, rather than the autonomous vehicle solely relying on AI and machine learning algorithms.
Vice President of Business Development for the Kratos Unmanned Systems Division Maynard Factor says the addition of the human leader improves safety and productivity when compared to solely operating autonomous trucks.
“The successful deployment of our self-driving truck platooning technology in the Canadian forestry industry demonstrates the ability of the system to navigate complex situations in challenging environments,” Factor says.
“This is a game-changing effective and viable solution for maintaining critical business continuity even under the current driver shortage situation.
“By pairing a human-driven leader truck with a driverless follower, we’ve developed a flexible deployment model that prioritizes both safety and productivity.
“The human driver of the leader can adjust driving behaviour in real-time as needed to optimise performance of the self-driving follower to navigate complex edge- and corner-case situations safely.”
The self-driving system kit was deployed in Québec for the region’s challenging environment.
The system demonstrated precision navigation on off-pavement roadways with degraded access to GPS, steep grades, severe visibility-limiting dust, sub-freezing temperatures, rain, and variable lighting conditions.
It hauled both loaded and unloaded timber trailers, and Kratos reports strong interest and positive feedback in the capability.
“Kratos Unmanned Ground Systems business is just one of several dual commercial and National Security technology use examples in our company, where we leverage our research, development, innovation, and production resources to combine capabilities, reduce cost and multiply value for our DoD and commercial customers,” President and CEO of Kratos Eric DeMarco says.
“At Kratos, affordability is a technology and better is the enemy of good enough; we are ready to field and deliver value today, as demonstrated with our Quebec initiative.”
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