Didn't know we were that close. 120 driverless road trains for the West Pilbara In a world-first, MinRes will deploy a fleet of 120 autonomous road trains, which will each carry 330 tonnes of iron ore along a 150km route. bigrigs.com.au
Going to be interesting to see the results of the first pile-up, when there's a major sensor failure!
Been testing in the southwest for two years now. If Yellow {YRC} could have managed to have been the first they would have done it. No calling in sick, no coming to work late, no days off, no medical insurance or other benefits, no E-Log to worry about, no filth in in the cab, the list goes on. My old boss/owner said if those ever become available I have a list of 30 drivers that will get the axe.
It said they've been testing for the last 2yrs and now they're going to deploy 120 units, so you would have to imagine that nothing catastrophic has happened yet? I suppose it comes back to redundant safety's for all the necessary systems, being a closed road should make it a little easier by keeping all the idiots out of the way. It's probably a bit of a double edged sword re drivers. As stated the owners don't have to put up with bad drivers, but it's also taking jobs away from good drivers. But if it works they'll be no stopping it, it will become the norm.
When they start running on public roads, will they stop to help at a wreck? Autonomous ships are being developed. I wonder how helpful they will be at picking up people from liferafts. I hate to think of the disappointment of being shipwrecked at sea and seeing "help" go steaming on by a half mile away.
Hmmmm......I wonder if the road maintenance will be done autonomously also??
It seems lately its inattentive truck drivers causing the wrecks so maybe they will help in that instance. We hear more and more crashes at road construction stops due to drivers not paying attention.
This appears to be somewhat similar to autonomous haul trucks on remote Australian mine sites that operate on a dedicated road system free of other traffic. From what I know a lot of Australian mining operations are struggling to recruit operators because of the need for a FIFO system from the nearest city despite paying pretty good salaries. If this is a new operation that could probably be the reason why.
It is a whole new Iron ore mining operation, from a new location and shipping out through a coastal location that cannot have a deep-water port, due to the entire area basically being a huge tidal flat region. Interestingly, they're also planning for those autonomous road trains to be electric-powered (swappable battery packs). Janus Electric, an Australian electric truck startup, already has a prototype electric truck roadtrain, and the demand for them is huge. So, this company (MinRes) is spending mega-billions to build a new Iron ore mine, build a 150km dedicated haul road (including grade separation where the haul road interacts with public roads), and build a massive 220,000 tonne sealed, negative pressure ore storage building at the port (to prevent any Iron ore dust problem, which is unacceptable to coastal towns with nice clean beaches). From there, the ore is loaded into 20,000 tonne dedicated barges and run 40 kms offshore, where the ore is then transferred into "Cape size" bulk ore carriers (usually around 150,000 tonnes capacity). On top of that, they are building two "resort-style" camps for their on-site employees - one at the minesite, and one on the coast. You can get some idea of the profitability of Iron ore mines from this level of expenditure. But only a limited number of people want to work in Iron ore mines in Western Australia, it requires someone who can cope with temperatures of up to 50°C in Summer, sometimes below 0°C in Winter, isolation, long working hours, limited entertainment, and work associates who are often less-than-social personalities. For the companies, it's a massive cost saving, eliminating as many employees as possible. They spend mega-millions on isolated minesite camps and facilities to try and provide a normal social life, and they often have to build major airstrips and aviation facilities that are capable of taking decent-sized, 50-pax-plus jets for the FIFO employees. The Onslow Iron Project - Mineral Resources MinRes’ Onslow Iron project is set to redefine mining in Western Australia through world-first autonomous road trains, industry […] www.mineralresources.com.au
In a local instance; I wonder how an autonomous truck will chain up over Snoqualmie Pass in the winter. Or any other winter pass.
A bit like comparing apples and oranges. The Australian project is only ever likely to be feasible using autonomous trucks because of a general lack of people in the area where it’s located, let alone drivers. Oh, and they don’t have passes, a winter, or snow to contend with there either.
Oh, I know, but the advertisements and the promotional material paint a whole other world.
Not quite another world, but at least another continent.
When the world goes Autonomous who is gonna buy all the crap they have no money for as not working? I really can see issues if a Autonomous Ship passes stranded Humans, they do ever get picked up the suits will fly against the carrier.
I don't know. I think autonomous has its place. Certainly on private haul roads, especially mining, where it's already very hard, if not down right impossible to get and retain workers.
Auto Chains-By the time I left this last April all tractors had a set of auto chains, trailers will be next. The reason for them-the drivers would get lazy and refuse to install two sets of singles and two drag chains. They would set in a crowded truck stop eating roller dogs waiting for the chain sign to drop. Auto chains could be deplored remotely. What I said above is the reason driverless trucks will take place-way too tough to find help that wants to do the job and do it correctly.
Apparently you haven't read up on universal basic income yet.
If an autonomous vehicle ever even so much as scuffs the paint on my vehicle I'll be suing big time.
Make sure you have one (or more) dashcams to prove that you were in the right otherwise you won't have a leg to stand in IMHO because the autonomous trucks will have cameras everywhere.
Can’t wait until fully autonomous machine technology is evolved enough and affordable for small contractors. I’ll be at 5he front of the line to purchase and deploy. The way I see it is we will not be eliminating any current personnel just not needing to hire more. If we can double or triple our production with autonomous my guys can make 2-3 times more supervising the machines. Autonomy is coming and here to stay. Either learn and embrace it in the business world or be left on the sidelines.
I reckon within 15 years we will have autonomous cars on the market with safety levels better than being driven by a human. You'll hop in the vehicle, tap out your destination on the big screen, and the AI-driven computers and sensors will select the shortest or fastest route, and take you there without you having to lift a finger. It will be great for the oldies who have lost their drivers licence due to medical conditions, poor eyesight or slow reflexes. My old Italian neighbour Barney has lost his licence at 92. Not so much because he can't see, or is frail - just because he failed his initial test, and they wanted him to get checked out by an independent tester - at a cost to him of some $695! He was pretty irate about the whole deal, so he said "stuff it! - I could pay $695 and still not get to keep my licence!" So I sold his car for him and he's accepted he's not going to drive again. It's probably a good thing, I don't think his driving style was all that good, and it was a bit scary watching him indulge in his 60 or 70 years of bad habit accumulations - driving through stop signs at 20kmh, not looking carefully at intersections, and not keeping to his lane properly. It will take a while for people to trust autonomous transport, but once it gets over the hump of general acceptance, people will not want to drive themselves any more. Great for long-distance travel.
Really considered for old Blue, not enough in the budget and really have NO Desire for that type of road anymore.
I'm not big on lawsuits but I'd do it just to prove a point. If another person put a little ding on my truck I would (and have) let it slide. I don't agree at all with autonomous vehicles and don't think they should ever be legal on public streets. You can't automate every job, put folks on UBI and expect any good from it. People need to have a purpose and a reason to get out of bed in the morning. If you no longer have that we may as well not even exist.
AI may take care of that.
That is exactly my fear. We will replace ourselves.
Maybe it's like that thing that cleans the floors at Walmart
Correct-remember what was said about the computer-and everyone has one.
Oh yeah. It will take care of you all right...
If a chain comes loose, who is going to tighten it? And if the rig loses a tire how will it decide what to do? I really just don't see it happening. Also, how will the AI bot know to back down this steep temporary driveway into a dumpsite and oh yeah, avoid that one spot because it is uncompacted etc? I just don't see it... mostly I'm talking about construction trucking.
Man will do man in. My dad once said {If there were two people left on the planet one would be busy looking for a bat to club the other}.
There are a few areas humans will be needed. But as time goes by---.
I view this much like the machine shop and manufacturing business in a previous life in the early 80's. My experience was in machine tools. In the beginning it was tracer guided machine tools. then came in NC (numerical control) with punched tape. Then came CNC (computerized numerical control) with magnetic tape and hand written code. Then came CAD/CAM. Now you can enter part dimensions directly on the screen at the machine. Automation is great for repetitive complex tasks. It is said 5 axis sub spindle machines can replace 10-15 high level machinists with better quality assurance, no labor unions, vacations, sick pay or 401k.My youngest daughter's Chevy Suburban is damn near autonomous with lane assist , braking... I rode in a Tesla recently that damn near drove itself. I'm not saying it is a good thing but it is coming. The only old school machinists I know today are doing one off's, re-work or very limited production on fairly simple tasks.
That will be one of the best benefits of autonomous vehicles giving mobility to the ones in society who can no longer safely do it themselves. Getting older myself by the time I won't be able to drive anymore this technology will be old hat.
I came into CCC as it developed in Aircraft(info from my Dad) cars and then motorcycles to expand into trucks, has invaded every aspect of life including tooth brushes hair driers or toaster and can openers for whatever reason those needed it. Said if before where as I read a lot still that the basis still exists if not more so with Nuke weapons, We live one major EMP event from reverting to the dark ages with death or killing each other over a bowl of grain a constant companion.
Just hide under your desk.
Do not have one!! Just a old table. At least on farm and Artesian well we should be OK.
Great movie.
All these movies keep warning us about AI
Is a point to that
I don't know about all that, but I'll sure be tickled when an autonomous shoveler goes out and digs through 5 feet of snow to try to find control points in order to do a site calibration! Lol
San Francisco to get round-the-clock robo taxis after controversial vote Google and GM want the city to allow their self-driving fleets to operate 24/7, but critics say they are ‘not ready for prime time’ www.theguardian.com I heard this story on the radio as well. A rep from the fire department was concerned of the several incidents of these cars stopping in front of the fire hall doors, and could not be moved. The fire trucks could not get out, and respond to calls. 'No! You stay!' Cops, firefighters bewildered as driverless cars behave badly Reports and videos document San Francisco cops and firefighters' problems with Waymo and Cruise driverless cars breaching emergency scenes. missionlocal.org
Just shove them out of the way lol.
I must be living under a rock, I really didn't know that autonomous cars were already in use.
What's snow?
And what year was that movie made? 1984--39 years ago. Park in front of a fire hydrant in Seattle--and the F.D. will use a KW and shove your car right along with the rest out of the way. My brother witnessed that on a street near the UW when a restaurant had caught fire in the early 90's.
Wife and I are going to SanFran next month for the Auburn- Cal game. I thought it was going to be an interesting challenge before self driving cars..
Hope they leave the owner on the hook for repairs too. Its not like fire hydrants are hidden, some are pretty well marked too.
Or
Not the first time I've seen that. People never learn, or they just think they are "smarter" than the rest of us.
Just found in BURIED News, WAYMO has ceased Autonomous Vehicle testing and development, laid off nearly all staff. Waymo kills off autonomous trucking program Ride-hailing will let Waymo focus on "near-term" commercial success. arstechnica.com I dare say all too many algorithms that would not add up.
One can only hope. It is probably though similar to what a political commentator said recently: MOD EDIT. Leave the politics elsewhere. I see no good at all from any autonomous vehicle. Just because you can do it doesn't make it a good idea.