Transportation Automation Innovation: Recent Autonomous Vehicle News

The automotive world has seen plenty of advancement over the past year, from automation in the manufacturing process to applications of robotic (autonomous) vehicle operation.

In just the past month, ABB announced a partnership with Engineering Software Steyr (ESS) to enhance the process of painting in automotive shops by up to 30%, while on the deployment side, Volvo and John Deere have respectively announced the launch of new autonomous vehicles for major logistics and agricultural customers.

Reducing Waste in Vehicle Production

Building a car is nothing short of a technological phenomenon. Thousands of individual components are assembled, along with hundreds of preparation and finishing processes that must be completed before a new car can roll out the factory door. With each step, some waste is incurred, either energy or materials, so every increase in efficiency can equal a large savings over time.

ABB recently announced an investment into Engineering Software Steyr (ESS), which will add an advanced simulation capability to ABB’s Robot Studio, the software suite that plans motion for robotic applications like painting.

Simulation algorithms can improve the speed and quality of auto body paint spray and finishing. Image used courtesy of ABB

Efficiency in the painting process involves reducing raw material (paint) consumption with fluid flow algorithms and reducing the time to finish a product with better simulations of heat transfer during spraying and drying processes.

Volvo Launches Autonomous Freight Hauling for DHL

Moving from test tracks out onto the open road is a major step for driverless automation. Volvo recently announced the beginning of two freight lines in Texas: between Dallas and Houston and between Ft Worth and El Paso.

This truck lineup, called the VNL Autonomous, is purpose-built for autonomous navigation, meaning that they have been designed to house the sensing, processing, and monitoring systems that ensure control and safety while on the road.

DHL has recently announced the employment of Volvo autonomous trucks to improve freight hauling. Image used courtesy of Volvo

The VNL Autonomous is controlled by the Aurora Driver system. Still, for the time being, there will also be a safety driver on board the trucks to monitor the systems and ensure smooth operation.

John Deere Moves Past the “Field Test” Phase

Technically, a tractor is always deployed in the field, but John Deere has just announced several new autonomous offerings during the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.

While these offerings include sensing and autonomous control, electric vehicle (EV) integration is not always the best choice for field operations, so some designs are still driven by tried-and-true powerful diesel generation.

The large 9RX tractor for tilling and open field operations. Image used courtesy of John Deere

The announcement includes offerings for various scales of production, with the largest being the 9RX tractor for large tillage operations. The 5ML orchard tractor is designed for air spraying, a more sensitive and tightly-controller operation, but without the heavy hauling demands of large field implements.

On a smaller scale, an autonomous BEV (battery EV) mower is intended to counteract the difficulty in finding willing labor to support commercial landscapers across the country.

Keep Moving Forward

The world will always require transportation, but as we look forward to the era of autonomous vehicles, many questions still remain. Safety, reliability, accuracy, and cost must all be weighed, and following announcements across many applications can provide some insights into how these concerns are being addressed. Technology moves forward; we simply need to ensure that it moves along the proper path toward success.