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Consider2SidesPeace t1_ist0s72 wrote

Curious but skeptical here. Would love to see transparency, their accident record and the complexity of their test area.

One one hand yes robotics make sense for offloading the strain of long hauls from humans. One other, a loaded 53+ foot rig that makes a calculation mistake? Yes, there are people on board. People makes mistakes just like robots do. The machine is only as smart as we make it. Read up on Tesla's automated driving record. The debate is are these systems mature are really safe enough?

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edward414 t1_ist4492 wrote

My understanding is that the early runs are done on looong stretches of boring highway. The human safety driver likely takes over leaving and entering cities.

I've read about the potential for a human in a room somwhere being able to remotly take-over the entering and exiting cities part.

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NelchaelSS t1_ist9q75 wrote

Remote driving trucks would be hard AF, you have a huge ass heavy vehicle that you need to drive in places where you have a 5 inches clearance on either side. Not to mention that when you drive a truck you need to feel it.

Self driving trucks won't be a thing, for a long long time.

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Idkawesome t1_ista9x5 wrote

well, if they require a driver, there isn't really much difference from current truck drivers. I got my CDL recently, and modern trucks have cruise control. So, you get on the highway and you put on cruise control, and then the biggest struggle is not falling asleep. which, that's what training is for, after the training period, you get used to the long highway drive and you don't fall asleep.

But with modern cruise control, trucks will slow down to match the speed of traffic. the driver has to engage when there is a major speed change, like if it goes from 65mph down to 40, because of a traffic backup or something. But honestly for most of the day you're just sitting there listening to music, holding the steering wheel straight.

So with robotic trucks, I guess they just upped cruise control to the next level, so that it will switch gears and stuff on its own too. I think it is just sensationalism. They are trying to freak people out, or wow them, as usual. Sensationalism sells articles better than grounded stoicism.

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