Automotive News Canada - January 2017 - V2 - 13

* JANUARY 2017

Transport trucks equipped with platooning technology - GPS and a
wireless connection coupled with their own collision-avoidance sensors
- circle a track in close formation. ( P H O T O : R O B E R T B O S T E L A A R )

Getting
in line with

PLATOONING

By ROBERT BOSTELAAR
O T TAWA

CORRESPONDENT

BLAINVILLE, QUE. - THREE
Volvo transport trucks "platoon" in circles at the National
Research Council (NRC) test
track here, to take the critical
next step toward a fully autonomous driving future.
With systems that allow each
vehicle to know what the other is
doing, they can follow each other
only metres apart and brake and
accelerate as a pack. It's as if they
are physically connected.
But well before autonomous
vehicles actually arrive - perhaps in a decade - platooning
could provide significant realworld-right-now benefits such as
fewer collisions, improved traffic
flow and reduced stress on operators.
The big selling point now is an
improvement in fuel efficiency
when the vehicles tuck in closely to reduce aerodynamic drag,
"the same way that motorsports
racers and cyclists do," says NRC
Group Leader Brian McAuliffe.
Look for these systems to
come first in large commercial
vehicles, those that could offer the
biggest payoff in reduced operating costs and lowered greenhouse
gas emissions.
It is this benefit that lured
trucking-company CEOs and government officials to Blainville
for two weeks in late 2016. Volvo
transport trucks and their
30,000-kilogram loads circled, lap
after lap, separated by as little as
a half second, which equates to
17.5 metres.

Critical phase of an autonomous future
- vehicles being able to communicate
with each other - is tested in Canada

It's hard for me to look in
my crystal ball and provide
a definitive answer on when
the technology will come
to market.
Ryan Klomp

Director of environmental
and transportation programs
Transport Canada
For an industry with millions
of trucks burning an average 33.6
l/100 km, according to a 2012 U.S.
report, the prospects are enticing.
"Six per cent at a minimum is
just phenomenal. Four or five per
cent is fantastic [as a savings tar-

get], and I think a lot of carriers
would take that," says Canadian
Trucking Alliance spokesman
Marco Beghetto.
But a closed track, Beghetto
says, is a long way from public
highways, which is a point the
researchers readily concede.
Can platooning offer any benefit over long-combination vehicles (LCVs) that drive with two
full trailers in tandem, which are
already allowed on many divided roadways? And how would
weather and the actions of other
road users - car drivers are
notorious for their sudden cut-ins
- affect platoon performance?
Another question: Aren't
trucks already grouping up,
despite the lack of any radarbased emergency braking systems? Many answers won't come
without real-world use, for which
the trucks in this test are essentially ready. Already carrying
Volvo's collision-avoidance tech-

FORMATION: Two to four transports closely grouped in line
OPERATION: Lead truck sets pace; following trucks use GPS,
their own sensors and data supplied through wireless link from
the other trucks to cooperatively measure and adjust position.
Driver steers in the Canadian test; steering inputs automated
(with driver able to override) in some other trials
APPLICATION: Controlled-access highways. Not considered
viable for city driving
FUEL SAVINGS: At least six per cent averaged in Canadian test;
as much as 21 per cent in other testing. No savings for lead
vehicle with 18-metre spacing to the others following
OTHER POTENTIAL BENEFITS: Enhanced road safety, reduced
driver fatigue, smoother traffic flow, translation of technology to
passenger cars
KEY CONCERNS: Effects of weather and traffic, potential driver
inattention

nology, they have been modified by the California Partners
for Advanced Transportation
Technology (PATT) program with
global-positioning systems and
dedicated short-range radios, plus
layers of software to interpret the
data being shared and apply it to
the vehicle controls.

CANADA-LED RESEARCH

SIGNIFICANT FUEL SAVINGS
Early findings suggest at least
a six-per-cent fuel saving for a
three-truck formation versus
the same trucks running independently, says McAuliffe. At
least seven per cent when the
standard trailers are swapped
for more aerodynamic units with
side and rear fairings.
Still-bigger gains are possible
in winter when dense, cold air
increases wind resistance.

HOW PLATOONING WORKS

The readout tells test driver Christian Deslières when his truck
is linked with others in the formation, and it alerts him when
brakes are applied automatically when the lead truck slows.
(PHOTO: ROBERT BOSTELAAR)

Launched in 1986 at the
University of California,
Berkeley, PATT sent the trucks
north for detailed fuel-economy
testing in the NRC trial, especially in three-truck platoons. The
testing also capitalized on NRC
research into transport-trailer
aerodynamics.
Still needed are international
standards for vehicle-to-vehicle
messaging, legislation changes to
allow close following and perhaps
most important, public willingness to pass truck control from
human to machine.
Platooning advocates insist
that drivers will be present and
ready to take over if needed, but
no one is sure how they can be
kept attentive.
"It's hard for me to look in my
crystal ball and provide a definitive answer on when the technol-

ogy will come to market," says
Ryan Klomp, Transport Canada's
director of environmental and
transportation programs.
Some jurisdictions are
already clearing the way for
vehicle-to-vehicle communications. In December, the U.S. state
of Michigan created an exception to minimum following distances to allow the closer following required for platooning.
California's Peloton Technology
says 11 other states have
approved trials. Peloton, with
backing from Canada's Magna
International, had planned to
begin supplying transponders in
late 2016 that permit two-truck
platoons.

CAR TRAFFIC TO BENEFIT
Whenever it arrives, at least
some of the platooning technology will flow to cars. Klomp foresees the use of vehicle-to-vehicle
radio and adaptive cruise control
to prevent chain-reaction collisions.
"If you have people doing an
abrupt stop four cars in front of
you, for example, [platooning
technology] can very much contribute to the overall safety of
traffic in the vicinity." - ANC

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Automotive News Canada - January 2017 - V2