The world’s first autonomous shipping truck may be right around the corner

As though the Terminator movies haven’t already ingrained into our brains the idea that robots may soon take over the world, German automaker Daimler has developed the world’s first semi-autonomous truck, capable of driving long distances, even through traffic, without any direct driver intervention.

The truck was put through its first real trial since its debut at the Hoover Dam in Nevada, with a nine-mile trek on the A8 motorway between Stuttgart and the town of Denkendorf in the southwestern German state of Baden-Wuerttemberg, where Daimler is headquartered. On the road trip, a human was commissioned to ride in the driver seat, and take over if any problems arose, but the advanced smart systems which include radars, cameras and active speed regulators seemingly had it completely covered. With gas prices globally at all-time lows, and shipping companies attempting to cut their overheads wherever possible, could this be the truckers’ version of what Uber is doing to the taxi drivers’ industry?

Sources:

News.Yahoo.com

Daimler.com