Volvo develops self-driving autonomous refuse vehicle

Volvo has developed a bespoke autonomous refuse collecting vehicle designed to minimise the need for the driver to climb in and out of the cab when collecting the bins for emptying into the body. Having driven the route to program the stopping points, on subsequent visits the driver can simply press a button on the side of the vehicle to initiate the vehicle moving to the next position – either forward or backwards. The appropriate gear is engaged and the park brake released automatically until the move is
May 17, 2017 Read time: 2 mins
609 Volvo has developed a bespoke autonomous refuse collecting vehicle designed to minimise the need for the driver to climb in and out of the cab when collecting the bins for emptying into the body.

Having driven the route to program the stopping points, on subsequent visits the driver can simply press a button on the side of the vehicle to initiate the vehicle moving to the next position – either forward or backwards. The appropriate gear is engaged and the park brake released automatically until the move is completed and then the process is reversed, leaving the driver outside the cab and able to ensure there is nothing in the vehicle’s path.

If the sensors detect something in the way, the vehicle will stop until the driver either moves the obstacle, prompts the vehicle to drive around the item and return to its original path, or takes manual control. A strip of blue LED indicates the vehicle is in autonomous mode and a green light indicates when the park brake is engaged.

During a demonstration, the vehicle travelled in the reverse direction as it was fitted with a rear loading body and this allowed the driver to remain towards the rear of the vehicle instead of having to go to the front during each move to check the path is clear. 
Location Based Systems

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Intelligent powertrains could make cost cuts
    April 30, 2020
    Intelligent vehicle powertrains could be a way of making substantial cuts in operating costs and emissions. David Crawford looks at some far-reaching initiatives in Europe and North America
    Read More
  • Intersection management, cooperative infrastructures - what next?
    February 1, 2012
    What do recent vehicle recalls mean for future cooperative infrastructures? Anthony Smith takes a look. As ITS industry stakeholders converge on Amsterdam for the 2010 Cooperative Mobility Showcase, an unprecedentedly wide range of technologies will be on display demonstrating what might be achievable in the future from innovations based on Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) and Vehicle-to-Infrastructure (V2I) communications.
    Read More
  • Promoting cycling is the solution to congestion and pollution
    August 20, 2015
    Cycling offers health, air quality and road space/parking benefits, promoting governments and the EU to look at tax and technology initiatives. David Crawford reports. One way to improve urban air quality is to make green alternatives to car use financially attractive. Incentivising employees to switch their travel-to-work mode to using their own bikes could increase cycling’s modal share of commuting travel by 50%, a recent French research project suggests. The country’s government already subsidises pu
    Read More
  • NeuroPark provides parking reassurance
    October 8, 2015
    Polish company Neurosoft is showing its new NeuroPark system, part of its NeuroCar product line, which gives drivers directions to suitable parking locations by the side of a motorway and also warns them of potential problems on their route.
    Read More

Highlighted Content