Japan's driverless trucks to cut fuel consumption

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Japan has tested a small fleet of driverless trucks, Phys.org reports. The idea is that if you keep a convoy running at a constant speed in a perfectly straight line at exactly the same distance apart, then you create a slipstream that reduces drag and adds significant fuel efficiency.

That's what the country's New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) did recently.

It ran three unmanned trucks at 80 kilometers per hour (50 mph) behind one truck piloted by a human. Each vehicle remained 4 meters (13 feet) from the next one.

NEDO thinks that such technology can decrease fuel consumption by at least 15 percent. But the Phys.org story does not report fuel results from the trial, so perhaps the homo sapiens-light formation didn't yield the hoped for energy savings. But NEDO will try again soon. It plans more tests later this year.

"NEDO hopes to have a practical version of this automated driving system ready around 2020," the story notes.

The trucks used a combination of milliwave radar, infrared laser radar and cameras to detect obstacles and white lines. They communicated with each other via wireless technologies including infrared. Two printed circuit boards helped maintained the caravan's formation.

Industrial and academic partners in the project include Mitsubishi Electric, NEC, Oki Electric Industry, Denso, Hino Motors, the University of Tokyo and Nihon University.

Video from the driverless seat:

Wherever wheels are rolling, there's barely a driver in town:

Images: Videos are from responsejp via YouTube. Photos are screen grabs from the videos.

Take a ride on the driverless highway via many SmartPlanet stories. Here are just a few:

• UK takes driverless cars for a spin
• Google’s self-driving cars: Reality or science fiction?
• How driverless cars will improve the future of driving
• What autopilot shares with seatbelts: Big Brother will require it in your cars

This post was originally published on Smartplanet.com