Bright blue LEDs trace outlines of the next generation autonomous cars, built with the intention of ease as well as accident & DUI prevention. This is the Daimler Freightliner Inspiration Truck.
Daimler-Benz, owner of the Mercedes brand, has introduced the first fully self-driving, licensed Freightliner tractor trailer to operate in Nevada on May 5th 2015. This marks one of the first shifts in the transportation industry toward driverless technology.
Take a tour of the soon to be commonplace interior among all cars.
The technology developed in stunning, operating on the same system as the Mercedes-Benz driverless vehicles.
Radar and Camera Systems
The radar unit in the center area of the Freightliner Inspiration Truck front bumper scans the road ahead at long and short range. The long-range radar, with a range of 820 feet and scanning an 18-degree segment, looks far and narrow to see vehicles ahead. The short-range radar, with a range of 230 feet and scanning a 130-degree segment, looks wider to see vehicles that might cut in front of the truck.
The front radar unit is the basis for the Active Cruise Control and Active Brake Assist available in the Detroit Assurance™ suite of safety systems on the series production Freightliner Cascadia®Evolution.
The area ahead is scanned by a stereo camera located behind the Freightliner Inspiration Truck windscreen. The range of the camera is 328 feet, and it scans an area of 45-degrees horizontal by 27-degrees vertical. The camera recognizes lane markings and communicates to the Highway Pilot steering gear for autonomous lane guidance.
