Say hello to the T-Pod Truck; an autonomous truck that is currently undergoing testing on a public road in Sweden. It is running along with other traffic while being used for transporting goods around the industrial zone. T-Pod Truck comes from Einride – a Swedish startup.
Einride is operating the electric Truck on a small length of road in Jönköping, which is considered to be the transport hub located in the heart of Scandinavia. The test began on Wednesday last week and is slated to run up until the end of next year. This is the first time that a completely self-driving truck without any backup driver has made its way onto a public road.
The T-Pod Truck remains under remote supervision by an operator who will intervene if deemed necessary. Other companies are carrying out test runs on public roads with a driver who sits inside the Truck and takes control where the driver deems necessary. T-Pod Truck weighs in at 26 tons and comes equipped with radars, 3D sensors, and cameras. This enables it to achieve a 360-degree awareness of its environment.
It has been developed by Einride, and it utilizes an autonomous driving platform that has been developed by NVIDIA. The systems of this self-driving Truck rely on 5G network for connection. The Truck has a range of 200 kilometers. The route that it takes from a warehouse to the freight terminal building is a mere 300-meter long run; however, it does feature five right-angle turns and a stretch of 100 meters where it shares the road with other vehicles. According to a spokesperson from Einride, the T-Pod Truck will be making this trip a number of times on a daily basis.
The Truck can attain speeds of up to 53 miles per hours but is restricted to 3 miles per hour during the test runs. The speed limit was imposed by the Swedish Transport Agency. What do you think of this amazing self-driving Truck? Do let us know!