Can you imagine a future where firefighters hop on the rig, sit back and let the truck do the driving? It could be possible soon thanks to technology being developed by Mercedes-Benz.
The company's commercial division unveiled its Future Truck 2025, which features autonomous driving technology that it says will allow drivers to take their hands off the wheel to manage other tasks while an autonomous Highway Pilot takes control.
Using a collection of radar sensors and cameras based on those already employed on some Mercedes-Benz automobiles, the truck can tap into proposed vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communications systems, while connecting to the Internet, and safely drive itself at speeds currently as high as 50 mph.
Private transportation is not the only sector looking at driverless technology for moving important cargo more safely, effectively and efficiently. The U.S. military is also moving forward with technology to make truck convoys in hostile environments safer for its personnel.