Volvo’s Autonomous Future Truck VERA
Remember in the movie LOGAN where you see the dead flat front self-driving truck on the highway. Those are called Autonomous trucks which surprisingly looked realistic to me. But it got better when Volvo launched the first electric autonomous commercial truck for the future of transportation between logistics hub at a port in Sweden. It’s called the “VERA” Volvo’s autonomous future truck.
Volvo's Plan
Volvo, Swedish Automotive titan partnered with the ferry and logistics giant DFDS to use this autonomous driver less truck Vera for transportation of goods. In fact, Volvo‘s autonomous future truck has been planning since 5 years on self-driving trucks in various sectors and industries like farming, mining and other transportation services. Volvo cautions that the trial isn’t ready to kick off yet and this is just a first assignment they wanted to reveal publicly. This amazing step towards the future of trucks needs a further development in terms of technology, operation management and infrastructure adaptations, before it can be fully operational. The automaker points out “moreover, necessary safety precautions will be taken to meet societal requirements for a safe path towards autonomous transports”.
What Can Vera Do?
What can Vera do with logistics giant DFDS partnership you ask? DFDS will be using several Volvo trucks which will be monitored from the control tower keeping the limited speed to less than 40 kmh with a repetitive route in check. Volvo says, it’s unclear at this stage how far apart the two locations are or indeed how often Vera will be running. Volvo and DFDS says that it’ll be based on ”needed Capacity” at the time. DFDS CEO Torben Carlsen says, “We want to be at the forefront of connected, autonomous transportation”. “This collaboration will help us develop an efficient, flexible, and sustainable long-term solution for receiving autonomous vehicles arriving at our gates — benefiting our customers, the environment, and our business.”
Conclusion
Volvo Trucks are no stranger in offering various electric models, the drive lines of which have been carried over to Vera which is without the need for driver accommodation. This vision of 2020 project has also seen pilots from Volvo which is another driverless milestone like production ready self-driving SUV. Volvo’s autonomous future truck hasn’t said how much it has pumped into tech fund’s stake, nor when it might begin fitting the sensor to production vehicles for other various demands. According to Volvo’s commitment of vision 2020, company president and CEO Hakan Samuelsson said “by 2020 no one should be killed or seriously injured in a new Volvo car”.
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