The potential benefits of self-driving semi-trucks: reduced fuel consumption, more efficient deliveries, increased safety.
The potential drawbacks of self-driving semi-trucks: depleted 4-Hour Energy sales. Also there’s no one to make the horn gesture to.
In a move that may give professional truckers pause, Daimler Trucks put three autonomously driving WiFi-linked Mercedes-Benz trucks onto the German Autobahn and let them loose during a one-off stunt that could have big implications down the road. The self-driving trucks linked up to “form an aerodynamically optimized, fully automated platoon” and reduced the required road space by almost half because the big rigs drove so close together, according to the company.
While the future of autonomous vehicles is undecided, this certainly bodes well for their takeover.
(via The Drive)
Image via Daimler
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