Photo: Hyundai
Of all the carmakers and other companies developing autonomous technologies, Hyundai is perhaps the less visible. So much so that we’re willing to bet you had no idea they are working on a self-driving truck.
Well, they are, and the AV is based Xcient introduced by the South Koreans in 2013. The truck, with a maximum load capacity of 40 tons, was equipped with a Level 3 autonomous driving system and sent down a Korean road.
On August 21, the truck steered, accelerated and maneuvered on its own for the first time in South Korea. Of course, a driver was onboard in order to step in, should the need arise. It didn’t, and the truck managed to keep safe and to move for 40 kilometers (25 miles) on a highway.
Hyundai says the truck abided by the traffic rules in the area and drove on its own with the help of 10 different sensors, three front and side-rear cameras, two frontal and rear radars, three Lidars in the front and sides, and a hitch angle sensor in the trailer coupler.
This last one signaled the change in angle between the truck and trailer in real-time, allowing the truck to be safely stabilized upon sharp turns.
All the data from the sensors was fed to an electronic control module that corroborated it with the stored HD map. Based on the combined info, the system decided when, how and what to do.
"This successful demonstration proves that innovative autonomous driving technology can be used to transform the trade logistics industry." said in a statement Maik Ziegler, Hyundai’s head of research for commercial vehicles.
"At this stage, a human driver is still used to control the vehicle manually in certain situations, but I think we will achieve level 4 automation soon as we are constantly upgrading our technological capability."
No timeline for future developments for autonomous trucks was provided by Hyundai.
On August 21, the truck steered, accelerated and maneuvered on its own for the first time in South Korea. Of course, a driver was onboard in order to step in, should the need arise. It didn’t, and the truck managed to keep safe and to move for 40 kilometers (25 miles) on a highway.
Hyundai says the truck abided by the traffic rules in the area and drove on its own with the help of 10 different sensors, three front and side-rear cameras, two frontal and rear radars, three Lidars in the front and sides, and a hitch angle sensor in the trailer coupler.
This last one signaled the change in angle between the truck and trailer in real-time, allowing the truck to be safely stabilized upon sharp turns.
All the data from the sensors was fed to an electronic control module that corroborated it with the stored HD map. Based on the combined info, the system decided when, how and what to do.
"This successful demonstration proves that innovative autonomous driving technology can be used to transform the trade logistics industry." said in a statement Maik Ziegler, Hyundai’s head of research for commercial vehicles.
"At this stage, a human driver is still used to control the vehicle manually in certain situations, but I think we will achieve level 4 automation soon as we are constantly upgrading our technological capability."
No timeline for future developments for autonomous trucks was provided by Hyundai.
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