Although some companies have abandoned the autonomous truck business, others are moving forward and beginning to close agreements with large companies to transport their products between some of their production, storage and distribution plants.
This is the case of the American company Gatik. This is an American autonomous transportation technology company that offers autonomous trucks to transport materials in urban environments, and that has contracts with Walmart and Tyson Foods.
Gatik operates a fleet of 6.5-tonne autonomous trucks that are equipped with sensors, cameras and radars. The trucks are programmed to follow pre-established routes in urban environments, such as shopping malls, college campuses, and warehouses.
The company has conducted tests of its trucks in several cities in the United States, including Dallas, Houston, Austin and Atlanta. In 2023, Gatik announced that they had begun operating an autonomous grocery transportation service on the campus of the University of Texas at Dallas.
Gatik's autonomous trucks are equipped with a series of sensors, cameras and radars to allow them to navigate safely and efficiently in urban environments. Sensors include lidar, computer vision cameras and object detection radars.
The trucks are also equipped with a navigation system that uses 3D mapping data and real-time traffic data. The navigation system allows trucks to follow pre-established routes and avoid obstacles.
Gatik's autonomous trucks are operated by a team of engineers and scientists who monitor their performance. The operations team is also available to intervene should a problem occur.
You can see a video at https://youtu.be/Br1vU2Xcr-o
Autonomous trucks generally offer a series of advantages:
- Safety: Autonomous trucks are not subject to human errors that can cause accidents.
- Efficiency: Autonomous trucks can operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, without the need for rest.
- Cost reduction: Autonomous trucks can help reduce transportation costs.
But they also face a number of challenges:
- Regulation: Regulation of autonomous vehicles is still under development.
- Technology: Autonomous vehicle technology is still developing.
- Cost: Autonomous trucks are more expensive than conventional trucks.
There are other companies in various parts of the world making their attempts in this same field of autonomous transportation, and it is clear that within some time they will have results.
Surprisingly, Waymo, which is one of the leading companies in the field of autonomous driving, also provides some services between Dallas and Houston for other companies, but from what I have read, they are considering whether or not to continue in this niche of the transportation business. of merchandise.
Each company has its strategy, and it seems clear that it is very difficult to want to cover everything. Time will tell how the autonomous driving business market is distributed.
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