The United States has launched a general-purpose truck automatic driving system, which can adapt to a variety of models.
According to FutureCar, Embark, a start-up company in San Francisco, has released a new automatic driving system called "Embark Universal Interface (EUI)", which enables different trucks produced by multiple manufacturers to have automatic driving function.
The system consists of standard components and connecting components. The standard components include all the hardware needed for the automatic driving system, such as camera, lidar, etc. The connection components include various interfaces, which are responsible for conveying the instructions issued by the standard components to various institutions of different vehicles. Embark said that this modular design is conducive to expanding the scope of product adaptation and reducing costs.
At present, in addition to Embark, a number of companies are developing automatic truck driving systems. Automatic driving system will not be as tired and distracted as human beings, it will improve the safety and efficiency of truck driving and reduce the travel cost.
First, the free combination system of standard components and connecting components can be flexibly adapted to different models.
Embark said that after a lot of research and initial investment, the company decided not to choose a single truck manufacturer to cooperate, but to independently develop a universal automatic driving system suitable for trucks of different manufacturers.
This autopilot system, called "Embark Universal Interface (EUI)", consists of two parts: standard components and connecting components. The first part of the standard components includes all the basic components needed to realize the automatic driving function, such as camera, lidar, car computer and so on. Embark said that he has a deep understanding of what the automatic driving system applied to trucks should be like. All basic components have been specially designed, tested and analyzed, and the whole process lasted for thousands of hours.
Embark even developed its own dedicated gateway called Embark Gateway. This processor has the working ability of automotive ECU and can be used on any truck equipped with Embark autopilot system.
▲ A special gateway named Embark Gateway is responsible for communicating with truck systems of different manufacturers.
The second part, that is, the connection component, its functions include physical or mechanical docking, electrical system docking and software docking. The connecting component will transmit the instructions issued by the standard component to the power, braking, steering and other systems of the truck to realize the control of the vehicle.
Embark said that the adaptive range of this modular autopilot system is very wide, the standard components and connecting components can be freely combined and flexibly arranged, and the cost of the whole system has been effectively controlled. At present, this system has been able to adapt to a variety of models under the brands of Folena, Peter Bilt, Wanguo Truck and Volvo Truck. With this system, Embark has become the first autonomous driving technology company to establish cooperative relations with the four major truck manufacturers in the United States.
▲ Installation renderings of standard components. The camera and lidar are located above the front windshield.
Second, a number of enterprises will join in the research and development of truck autonomous driving, and the freight industry will usher in a revolution
Embark’s long-term vision is to combine its autonomous driving system with more truck platforms and make a profit by providing routine maintenance and warranty solutions. At the same time, the vehicles of the four major manufacturers in the industry are excellent test platforms, and Emabrk will take this opportunity to test and improve its own autonomous driving system. The company also plans to become a rulemaker in the truck autonomous driving system industry. In the future, standards such as sensor positions on different vehicles, communication protocols between vehicles, telematics, power management, etc. will be formulated by Embark.
Foreign media said that many technology companies have invested in the research and development of truck autopilot systems, such as TuSimple from California and Einride from Sweden. However, I am afraid that only Embark can make an autonomous driving system applicable across platforms for the time being.
In addition, truck manufacturers may not stick to an automatic driving system. For example, Volvo recently chose to establish a partnership with Aurora, which will provide the former with an automatic driving system. Folena has reached an agreement with Waymo in October 2020, and the "Waymo Driver" autopilot system provided by Waymo for Folena trucks even allows customers to customize their own hardware installation methods.
▲Waymo provides a sensor installation scheme for Folena trucks. Customers can choose their own hardware collocation and installation location.
Foreign media believe that it may be more difficult to achieve automatic driving on a truck than on a home scooter, because from the perspective of vehicle engineering, trucks are much bigger, heavier and more complicated. However, the freight industry also has some advantages that are conducive to the play of autonomous driving. The route of the truck is relatively fixed, but the journey is relatively longer and takes longer. Under this working condition, the automatic driving system will not be as tired, distracted and rested as humans. The application of autonomous driving will greatly shorten the transportation time and reduce the transportation cost. Now so many enterprises have joined in the field of truck automatic driving. As long as the technical problems in vehicle engineering can be solved, the freight industry will surely usher in a new revolution.
Conclusion: Commercial autonomous driving technology will develop rapidly.
Although many companies have invested in the research and development of truck automatic driving system, their development strategies are different. The enterprises represented by Embark hope to occupy more market share through a system that can adapt to a variety of vehicles, so as to become the rule makers in the industry in the future. Other companies choose to deepen cooperation with truck manufacturers, make technology more suitable for specific models, and win the favor of repeat customers through more detailed services. It doesn’t matter who is right or wrong in different ideas. Whether it is exclusive to a single vehicle or universal to multiple vehicles across platforms, autonomous driving technology will greatly improve the safety and cost-effectiveness ratio of truck driving.
Compared with domestic passenger cars, trucks may be more eager and need autonomous driving ability. With the automatic driving function of trucks, freight companies no longer need to pay high salaries to professional drivers to drive huge and complicated trucks, and no longer need to delay the delivery of goods because drivers have to rest. The more goods a truck loads, the more expensive it is, and the more you can save even a dollar or a minute. It can be predicted that the cooperation between truck manufacturers and self-driving technology companies will become closer and closer, and self-driving trucks will become more and more popular with freight companies.
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