Daimler debuts autonomous truck on US roads

Daimler Trucks has become the world’s first manufacturer to be granted a road licence for an autonomous heavy-duty truck. The state of Nevada licensed two Freightliner Inspiration trucks for regular operation on public roads. The first journey in the Freightliner Inspiration truck equipped with the intelligent Highway Pilot system for autonomous driving took place on US highway 15 in Las Vegas.
May 20, 2015 Read time: 2 mins
2069 Daimler Trucks has become the world’s first manufacturer to be granted a road licence for an autonomous heavy-duty truck. The state of Nevada licensed two Freightliner Inspiration trucks for regular operation on public roads.

The first journey in the Freightliner Inspiration truck equipped with the intelligent Highway Pilot system for autonomous driving took place on US highway 15 in Las Vegas.

In July of last year, Daimler Trucks provided the world’s first demonstration of an autonomous truck in action when the Mercedes-Benz Future Truck 2025 drove along a cordoned-off section of the A14 autobahn near Magdeburg. In the last few months the technology has been tested over many thousands of kilometres and configured for use in US highway traffic.

The Freightliner Inspiration Truck is based on the series-produced US Freightliner Cascadia Evolution model, with the addition of the Highway Pilot technology. This comprises a front radar and stereo camera plus tried-and-tested assistance systems such as the Adaptive Cruise Control+, as seen in the Mercedes-Benz Actros. The technology was further developed and extensively tested for licensing on public roads in Nevada.

“Our Freightliner Inspiration Truck is the world’s first autonomous commercial vehicle to be licensed for road use. Our achievement here underlines yet again our role as a technological pioneer and demonstrates our consistent dedication to develop the technology for autonomous long-distance driving to series production standard,” stated Dr Wolfgang Bernhard, Daimler AG board member responsible for trucks and buses.

“We are in a unique position among manufacturers that we are able to implement technologies across all business units and brands. We have transferred our Highway Pilot system to our US Freightliner brand within a very short time frame and developed it for the world´s first autonomous truck to be licensed for road use,” reports Dr Bernhard.
Location Based Systems

Related Content

  • September 27, 2017
    Daimler Trucks tests truck platooning on public highways in the US
    Daimler is testing connected trucks in platooning operations on public roads in the US, having completed trials at its Daimler Trucks North America’s (DTNA) proving ground in Oregon. Daimler is using ‘pairing’, with two connected Freightliner New Cascadia truck trailer combinations. It says truck platooning connectivity and automated driving improve safety within the vehicle convoys, support drivers and enhance efficiency through closer distances between the connected trucks.
    Read More
  • July 31, 2018
    Daimler and Baidu to develop automated driving and connectivity in China
    German car manufacturer Daimler has extended its partnership with technology company Baidu in China to develop automated driving and connectivity projects. The companies partnered in 2017 to develop the Baidu Apollo, an open platform intended to support the major features and functions of automated vehicles. Daimler also joined the Apollo Committee, a group whose stated aim is to accelerate research on safer solutions in automated driving and promote the drafting of related regulations. In July, Dai
    Read More
  • February 28, 2013
    Driverless vehicles just around the corner?
    umors that self-driving taxis are about to hit the streets of Las Vegas have turned out to be untrue… but the age of the driverless vehicle is only just around the corner, as Pete Goldin finds out. From Herbie the Love Bug to Knight Rider to the cast of the Pixar film Cars, the autono­mous auto has long been a beloved icon in the entertainment industry. But how close is the fiction to fact? The general public might be surprised to find out just how soon autonomous vehicles could be driving on our roadways.
    Read More
  • June 29, 2015
    Bosch and Daimler developing automated parking system
    Daimler, Bosch and car2go are cooperating on a new project that will see cars parking themselves. Automated parking uses an intelligent infrastructure in the car park and a vehicle control unit from Bosch in conjunction with the newest generation of Mercedes-Benz on-board sensors and the car-sharing expertise of car2go. This will enable automated manoeuvring in appropriately equipped parking garages in the near future. The user books a vehicle from car2go via smartphone and as soon as he is in the ca
    Read More

Highlighted Content