Volvo Launches Test of Self-Driving Garbage Truck

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Garbage collection could be handled by robotic vehicles. That’s the premise Volvo Trucks is checking out in tests of a self-driving garbage truck in Sweden. The truck company has a venture with Swedish waste management company Renova to learn how autonomous refuse vehicles can improve safety, make trash collection more efficient and reduce driver injury.

“Driving a heavy commercial vehicle in an urban residential area with narrow streets and vulnerable road users naturally imposes major demands on safety, even when the vehicle's speed doesn't exceed a normal walking pace,” said Carl Johan Almqvist, the traffic and product safety director for Volvo Trucks. The test vehicle travels very slowly and continuously monitors its surroundings. It stops if sensors detect any potential obstacles.

The work is parallel to the testing of an autonomous Volvo truck operating in the Kristineberg Mine in northern Sweden that started last year.

When Volvo brings its automated garbage truck to a new neighborhood, a driver is in the cab, guiding the vehicle through the collection route so that the on-board system can use its sensors and GPS technology to monitor and map the area.

Last Edited by TheToolMan on 05/30/2017 12:54 PM