Daimler Truck is developing a Cascadia-based platform which will allow autonomous driving
Daimler Truck is developing a scalable autonomous truck platform which the company says is suited for SAE Level 4 autonomous driving (vehicle can self-drive under limited conditions), including redundancy systems needed to achieve safe and reliable operations.
Daimler Truck’s Level 4 truck platform is based on Freightliner’s market-leading Cascadia and aims to set new industry standards.
Daimler says the four key areas with a redundant architecture are the braking system, the steering system, the low voltage power net and the network communications. In case that any of the primary systems encounter a fault, the Level 4 vehicle will be able to monitor, assess and deploy its backup systems to control the truck safely.
Read about Daimler testing autonomous vehicles in Australia, here
If a fault is deemed critical to the operation of the vehicle, the autonomous driving system will allow the truck to follow a safety protocol and be able to execute a “minimal risk manoeuvre” to come to a safe stop.
The unique redundant truck chassis is being developed for Waymo Via based on their specifications and a first version of the truck has already been delivered this year for integration of the Waymo Driver, the autonomous driving system.
“Every smart autonomous driving system needs a strong foundation: our Level 4 vehicle platform based on the Freightliner Cascadia is ideal for integration of autonomous software, hardware and compute. It can significantly contribute to enhancing safety in traffic thanks to its redundancy of systems and a multitude of sensors. It brings us much closer to our vision of accident-free driving,” says Dr Peter Vaughan Schmidt, head of autonomous technology group at Daimler Truck.