Volvo Trucks’ Vera is set to go to work moving containers around a logistics center in Sweden
Credit: Volvo Trucks
What would trucks look like if they didn’t need to accommodate a human driver? Volvo Trucks’ Vera vehicle is an exploration of this idea, doing away with the cabin entirely so it can more efficiently tow goods around ports and factories. The freewheeling four-wheeler has just been assigned its first task, and will soon go to work delivering containers to a port terminal in Sweden.
Revealed in September last year, the autonomous Vera is powered by the same drivetrain and battery packs found in Volvo’s electric trucks. It is, however, more electric sled than electric big rig, consisting of four-wheels and a low-profile body that can be latched onto by standard load carriers and trailers.
The thinking is that one day fleets of connected Veras can scurry around ports, factories and other facilities with large loads on the back. Communicating with one another via a […]
Remote Viewing the Year 2060
Sweden, being one of the more ‘civilized’ (life-affirming) structured societies, I suspect that truck drivers, cab drivers, etc will receive an annual living compensation for job loss and training for work that suits the individual on multiple levels. Since that is not the case in the US, I cringe when I hear the shift to robots and automatons. There’s been a great deal of creative thought and energy going into these kinds of things. I would like to see the energy going into creating new life-affirming economic systems. Systems that take into account the weight of resources (Bucky Fuller). Thank you for today’s SR. As always, it’s thought-provoking.
That said, I’m pleased to see that this vehicle will be out of the fossil fuel loop! See you here tomorrow!
I agree with you Sam, but am afraid that terrorists may find a way to use the technology to their advantage; (I really hope not though).