Trucks of the future

The truck of the future will have a digital co-driver on board. A virtual guardian angel that assists the driver or even takes over if the driver loses control.

"We quite simply attach eyes to the truck," says Erika Jakobsson at Volvo, one of the powerhouses in the drive to develop intelligent vehicles.

Weekends, accidents, bad weather or road-works. There are many reasons for traffic queues, but they all have one thing in common: where there are queues, there is also a risk of accidents.

A survey by the European Truck Accident Causation Study shows that 47 per cent of all truck accidents take place in monotonous situations such as traffic queues, with vehicles travelling in the same direction, or in stressful situations such as crossroads and road-works.

Now technology is being developed to help ensure that this type of accident becomes less frequent.

Right now, the EU's HAVEit project is focusing heavily on next-generation intelligent vehicles that can save lives and the environment through the development of advanced driver-assistance systems. The Highly Automated Vehicles for Intelligent Transport project has 28 million euros at its disposal and the aim is to develop a sort of virtual co-driver that responds to the current traffic situation and the driver's needs.

"One of the challenges is how the vehicle should communicate with the driver, what sort of displays, voice functions and so on it should have. We all have different temperaments, so the system must recognise when the driver is feeling irritated or calm," says Reiner Hoeger, project co-ordinator for HAVEit.

The automotive industry has been building and conducting research into automated vehicles for some time now and a lot of new features have already made it into production. Tomorrow's vehicles, however, are being optimised to assist the driver not just by helping him or her but by actually taking over certain tasks when necessary.

This technology relies on a number of sensors on the outside of the vehicle that respond to the traffic environment and scan lane markings, road signs, the current traffic situation and the road conditions. This is combined with an internal system that monitors the driver and interprets his or her needs.

What is more, the truck is enhanced so that it can be controlled electronically. The same technology will also help make the vehicles more economical and help the driver drive in a more environmentally favourable way.

"We are not trying to make the driver superfluous, we want him or her to always have some form of control. We do this through continuous dialogue between driver and system, where the vehicle becomes more or less automated depending on the current circumstances," explains Reiner Hoeger.

All told, 20 companies are involved in the project which started in 2008 - everything from vehicle manufacturers to universities. One of the major contributions comes from Volvo Technology. The aim is that in 2011, the project should demonstrate the new technology in seven vehicles, three of them heavy commercial vehicles from Volvo. Two trucks are currently undergoing a digital transformation at Volvo Technology in Gšteborg, Sweden. One truck focuses more on safety, the other on environmental aspects.