[Car Talk] Optimus Prime is here. Do you still love him since he can’t transform?

How many ICers had a Transformers dream when they were young? Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Decepticon, Megatron... These names have accompanied the childhood of many boys. If I tell you that Optimus Prime is not only in movies and comics, but also around us, how excited would you be?

A huge commercial truck equipped with an autonomous driving system has been unveiled!

When it comes to driverless cars, the first thing that comes to mind may be Google's cute car, or a sci-fi car like the Mercedes-Benz F 015. However, Nevada, the United States, unveiled the world's first registered driverless truck: the Freightliner Inspiration Truck, which I think is much more domineering than the previous two.

Currently, 90% of commercial transport truck accidents in the world are caused by driver fatigue and operational errors. The Freightliner Inspiration series of self-driving trucks is designed to solve the problem of driver fatigue, but the self-driving technology can only be used on straight long-distance highways.

The autonomous driving system is called Highway Pilot, and it is similar to the autonomous driving system on commercial aircraft, that is, the built-in autonomous driving module will only be activated after the truck enters the highway. After activation, the system will always maintain a safe distance from the vehicle in front and drive in the lane, and will not actively overtake. If the truck encounters some situations that it cannot handle during driving, such as snow on the road covering the lane markings, the system will prompt the driver to intervene through a buzzer and an icon on the dashboard. If the driver does not respond within five seconds, the car will gradually slow down and eventually stop.

This technology sounds a bit like the automatic cruise control system on Mercedes-Benz cars to prevent the car from leaving the lane. In fact, the truck's self-driving technology comes from the concept of the F015 autonomous car of sister company Mercedes-Benz.

The Freightliner Inspiration Truck does not require any specific infrastructure such as lighthouses, nor does it need its own dedicated lanes. It will recognize white stripes on the road and roadside signs based on imaging technology. However, the truck still needs a driver, who will be required to drive manually when the autonomous driving system believes that the complexity of the road conditions exceeds its processing capabilities, such as in congested urban lanes or unclear rural lanes.

The Freightliner Inspiration Truck has officially been unveiled, becoming the first self-driving car to be approved for license in the U.S. However, so far only a few states (Nevada, Florida, California and Michigan) and the District of Columbia allow self-driving cars to drive on public roads.

When will such a cool heavy truck with an automatic driving system be available in China? I am looking forward to it just like ICers!