Daimler Trucks Videos Promote Platooning
Burney Simpson
Germany-based Daimler Trucks has posted on You Tube a series of new videos promoting its Highway Pilot Connect system, with three freight trucks platooning and running on the autobahn near Dusseldorf.
Each of the four short videos rely on the visuals to make their point, so viewers don’t have to speak German or English to get a sense of connected vehicle communications.
There are shots of the dashboard showing the Connect system on, the three trucks running in tandem, the drivers taking their hands off the wheel as the truck operates autonomously, and the trucks stopping simultaneously.
(The visuals beg the question – can the drivers in the two follow-on trucks do something besides sip their coffee and put their feet up once they are in connected mode?)
One video presents the concept of platooning, while the others highlight how the trucks handle a specific road event – a lane change, a cut-in vehicle, and an emergency braking.
Daimler says the trucks can run 15 meters apart, reducing aerodynamic drag.
Nevada last year gave Daimler the OK to operate two of its Freightliner trucks on its roads.
Here are the three highlight videos- Lane Change;