GET T Y IMAGES, JEREMY BIDONHELLO VERA
VOLVO VERA TRUCKLorries of the future may be barely recognisable
from the ones pounding up and down motorways
today. Say hello to Volvo’s self-driving truck Vera,
which does away with a driver’s cab entirely.
In spite of its sleek, futuristic looks, Vera is not
just a concept vehicle. Volvo is working with
shipping and logistics company DFDS on a system
that would use these driverless trucks to haul
goods five kilometres from a transport hub to a
port terminal in Gothenberg, Sweden – a route
that takes in public roads. It’s expected to be upand running within five years. Vera navigates
using onboard cameras and a system that builds
up a 3D laser map of its surroundings. There’s also
a safety backup, enabling staff in the control
centre to take control remotely if needs be.
“Driverless lorries are most likely to be used
where you have a high volume of short, repetitive
journeys,” says Mikael Karlsson, vice president of
autonomous solutions at Volvo Trucks. Longer,
more complex journeys will still be left in the
hands of human drivers – at least for now..FEATURE TRANSPORT REVOLUTIONGET T Y IMAGES, JEREMY BIDONHELLO VERA
VOLVO VERA TRUCK
Lorries of the future may be barely recognisable
from the ones pounding up and down motorways
today. Say hello to Volvo’s self-driving truck Vera,
which does away with a driver’s cab entirely.
In spite of its sleek, futuristic looks, Vera is not
just a concept vehicle. Volvo is working with
shipping and logistics company DFDS on a system
that would use these driverless trucks to haul
goods five kilometres from a transport hub to a
port terminal in Gothenberg, Sweden – a route
that takes in public roads. It’s expected to be up
and running within five years. Vera navigates
using onboard cameras and a system that builds
up a 3D laser map of its surroundings. There’s also
a safety backup, enabling staff in the control
centre to take control remotely if needs be.
“Driverless lorries are most likely to be used
where you have a high volume of short, repetitive
journeys,” says Mikael Karlsson, vice president of
autonomous solutions at Volvo Trucks. Longer,
more complex journeys will still be left in the
hands of human drivers – at least for now..FEATURE TRANSPORT REVOLUTION