As part of a Daimler educational initiative, two German youngsters had the autobahn ride of their lives in a prototype Mercedes-Benz Actros 6×4 tractor which has the autonomous Highway Pilot system installed.
Taking your hands off the steering wheel while driving a 6×4 tractor unit towing a trailer on the autobahn with two kids on-board sounds crazy, but not in this particular vehicle.
By riding shotgun in the cab with Daimler engineer Enrico Wohlfahrt in the drivers seat, Emma Reinke (11-years-old) and Nick Hoffmann (10-years-old) became the first children ever to ride in an autonomous truck.
Reinke and Hoffman were selected to travel in the new Actros as junior reporters for the Daimler Mathematics, Information Sciences and Technologies educational initiative, known as MINT.
Wohlfahrt stayed in control of the vehicle until it entered the A8 motorway between Denkendorf and Stuttgart airport.
He then activated the Highway Pilot with the touch of a button and let the truck take over.
Due to GPS data as well as the in-built cameras and radar sensors, the system always knows where the vehicle is. It adapts the speed and steers automatically so the truck can optimally drive along in the flow of traffic.
The junior reporters checked that there were no feet on the pedals and that the steering wheel was indeed moving by itself.
Reinke asked Wohlfahrt if it felt strange the first time he drove the truck in autonomous mode.
“It was quite exciting,” he replied.
Wohlfahrt admitted to the children that he was a bit nervous the first time he took his hands off the steering wheel.
” Now that I have driven so many kilometres in the truck I am very relaxed about it,” he says.
When the truck pulled up at the end of the short journey, Hoffman says he did not feel nervous during the drive.
“I felt very safe, even though Enrico didn’t have his hands on the steering wheel at all,” he says.
“What a pity it’s over, it was fun.”
The Highway Pilot Actros made its debut last October with a demonstration of autonomous driving on the same route.
It is the world’s first series-production truck with the capability to drive autonomously.
Engineers will use the vehicle to continue developing automated driving technology for future products.
