Mercedes has released a new type of heavy duty trucks
which come with an updated system of driving assistants.
With this new set of assistants Mercedes raises the
part-autonomous driving level to Tier 2.

With part-autonomous driving Tier 2 these trucks can accelerate, brake and steer all by themselves without the interaction of the driver.

What sounds frightening at first might however decrease the number of accidents that occur caused by drivers that are too tired or distracted from the traffic by other things. Astounding that the system will work at virtually every speed up to 85mph (130km/h) although heavy duty traffic still is limited to up to 65mph (100km/h) in most countries.

The most important part is the lane assistant which keeps the vehicle on it’s lane and steering the truck accordingly. The lane keeping assistant uses two cameras to the left and right front of the truck to analyze whether the truck is in lane or not. Although the system uses a set of sensors to analyze the lane marks to keep the truck in lane, the driver still is in charge to control the vehicle and always has control over it. The system is about to relieve the driver on long straight tours with only few slight turns. On tours with heavy turns this system still might disable itself and put the driver in charge to avoid accidents.

The camera assistant has been improved and two high-resolution cameras (1920×720) give the driver a complete 360° view even if the truck is operating as single lorry or dual-lorry composition. the cameras also check the space 2 metres before the truck and 1 metre behind the truck to avoid accidents with bicycle drivers or even pedestrians crossing the truck’s way closely.

The driver will have access to a smartphone-supported management console. Also comfort apps for music playback will be integrated. The screenshots suggesst that also Apple CarPlay will be implemented, which is also present in various other cars and their sound systems.

Another aspect is also the gasoline usage whcih will be decreased by up to 5 perscent depending on the stop-and-go ride frequency. The interesting fact is that the heavy machinery delivers a torque of 3000Nm using 630HP/463kW power. On an annual duty base of 150’000km whis would result in 1350 litres less gasoline used.

There will be also a CNG variant available which will reduce the CO₂ emmission a little more but at the cost of power. The machine will then have 302HP / 222kW which will also mean less torque. However a hybrid version of the Actros isn’t planned at all as the price would not reflect the value of that combination. However a pure electrical version of the Actros is already designed and will be tested with selected customers soon. This might apply to the E-Truck getting it’s power from power lines above the truck lane. The E-Truck system is already tested in select parts of the swedish highway network and first sections are also built in Germany. If tests will succeed, then it’s possible that the E-Actros will be a good alternative and an option for near-zero-CO₂-emmission driving.