Daimler AG Explores Driverless Snowplows Using Mercedes-Benz Arocs Trucks

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Mercedes-Benz driverless Arocs trucks equipped with snowplows. (Photo courtesy of Daimler AG.)

Daimler AG, parent company of Mercedes-Benz, recently provided details about an AAGM (Automated Airfield Ground Maintenance) project it’s conducting at the former Pferdsfeld Airbase in Germany that involves four driverless Mercedes-Benz Arocs trucks equipped with snowplows. The trucks operate in a remote-controlled convey to clear airfields during winter. Daimler is cooperating on the project with its own Lab 1886 innovation incubator and Fraport AG, a leading provider of airport management services based at the Frankfurt Airport.

How It Works

Daimler points out this approach could enable just one operator to clear an airfield with greater precision, at lower costs, and with staff-scheduling savings vs. conventional approaches. Mathias Dudek, Fraport AG head of infrastructural facility management, stated his company’s hope is that the project will help it plan future equipment deployments more precisely and efficiently when sudden wintry conditions occur.

The driverless snowplow tests follow previous projects Daimler conducted in recent years involving Highway Pilot and Highway Pilot Connect systems related to commercial truck automation. Those projects included testing self-driving trucks on public roads, including Germany’s autobahns. In 2016, for example, Daimler tested three Mercedes-Benz Actros trucks using the Highway Pilot Connect system to enable “electronic docking” or “platooning” of the trucks.

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Mercedes-Benz Arocs 2045 AS 4x4, OM 470 LA, Grounder, 315 kW (428 hp) and 2100 Nm of torque, snow-clearing semitrailer combination, automated driving, Remote Truck Interface. (Photo and caption courtesy of Daimler AG.)

The advantages of an electronic vehicle-to-vehicle network include increased safety for the trucks in the convey, relief in terms of driver workloads, and improved fuel efficiency due to the trucks essentially drafting off one another, Daimler states.

Unlike the Highway Pilot and Highway Pilot Connect projects that were designed for testing on public roads, Daimler states the objective of the AAGM project is to implement “state-of-the-art telematics-based vehicle control technology in areas not accessible to the public.”

Use Cases

Martin Daum, a Daimler AG Board of Management member overseeing Daimler trucks, stated Daimler AG is working to implement two specific use cases. “Firstly, automated driving in quite normal traffic on motorways—with the clear aim of relieving driver workload and significantly improving safety. And secondly, driverless operation in enclosed areas to significantly improve productivity. With today's demonstration of automated snow clearance on an airfield, we are once more reinforcing our claim to technological leadership," he stated.

Testing The Snowplows

For the driverless snowplow tests, Daimler equipped four Arocs with a RTI (Remote Truck Interface), described as technology for remotely controlling vehicle functions and exchanging information. The telematics schemes and RTI enable all four trucks to operate automated, and any truck can lead or follow in the convoy. Moreover, from a control panel, an operator can determine how many trucks to include (up to 14 is possible) and in what order. Helping enable this is usage of DGPS (dual GPS) technology in each vehicle and V2V (vehicle-to-vehicle) communication technology.

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Mercedes-Benz driverless Arocs trucks with snowplows turn in accordance with curves on the airfield. (Photo and caption courtesy of Daimler AG.)

Testing involves a predefined snow-removal program the convoy leader controls throughout and that designates routes, direction, and speed of the trucks. Daimler stated the swaths that snowplows clear are predetermined, with the goal being a “high-precision clearing trajectory,” meaning “routes to be driven are always specified cartographically and are followed with pinpoint precision thanks to a differential GPS system—accuracy: 3cm—by the lead vehicle, as well as the other convoy vehicles thanks to constant target/actual comparisons.”

Daimler notes that the interaction between RTI and the control unit enables fast and secure data exchanges among vehicles with full-data exchanges happening every 0.1 seconds. “This opens up new possibilities for our customers: High-precision maneuvering procedures of conventional trucks, remotely controlled by the driver outside the cab—for example, positioned at the rear of the vehicle with a perfect view of the maneuvers—are possible, as is unmanned driving in mines, at container terminals or other closed-off sites", stated Martin Zeilinger, head of advanced engineering at Daimler Trucks.

Source: Daimler AG