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Artificial intelligence, replacing human labor, is no longer news to anyone. However, robotic truck drivers have kept many economists awake at night. Until a few years ago, nobody would say that electric vehicles could reach such a height.
It is believed that road transport is one of the most affected by the replacement of man by AI, due to the high turnover, the risk of life, and because it is considered a highly complex activity. As a result, autonomous trucks have become an object of tremendous technical innovation and investment.
Fenatran 2022 – Autonomous Truck
Even though insecurity is high, robotic truck drivers are still far from being a reality. Contrary to what many people think, replacement may occur gradually, as many truck driver activities are more difficult to automate, such as vehicle maintenance, cargo protection, etc. In an optimistic vision of the future, men and machines will work as a team.
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What would a robotic truck driver mean to a truck driver? In theory, the truck would handle most of the driving in good condition. This is the promise of all the engineers behind autonomous vehicle technology.
But the insecurity at this point is still great, because in moments of risk, such as a collision or sudden braking, the window of time is very short. And there is evidence that automating some aspects of driving has led to a higher rate of near misses in critical events compared to manual driving.
Still thinking about a job between man and robotic truck driver, it is natural to divide the work in road transport. Robotic truck drivers travel long distances, on more constant roads, and human truck drivers pilot delivery trucks, within cities for example.
It is still not a viable model, but some companies in the technology of autonomous vehicles understand that the challenges of man/machine coordination, in the current levels of semi-autonomy, are so difficult and intractable that they are trying to “skip” this step, focusing their attention on the development of vehicles that can move without human involvement.
