UD Trucks and 易游YY体育官方网站 conduct Level 4 autonomous driving trial

UD Trucks and 易游YY体育官方网站 have conducted an autonomous driving trial at 易游YY体育官方网站’s Kakogawa Works, using a heavy-duty Quon equipped with L4 autonomous driving technology^*1. The 易游YY体育官方网站itiative^*2 is 易游YY体育官方网站tended to alleviate a driver shortage at the steel works site and to promote digital transformation at manufactur易游YY体育官方网站g and logistics sites.

Solutions for manufactur易游YY体育官方网站g sites 易游YY体育官方网站 a digital era

In today’s world, manufacturing sites must address labor shortages and improve efficiencies to run sustainable business operations. 易游YY体育官方网站 is tackling such challenges by improving the efficiency of on-site transportation in the midst of a driver shortage.

Making use of a UD Trucks Quon autonomous dump truck, a trial was conducted simulating the transportation of actual materials within the 易游YY体育官方网站’s Kakogawa Works site. The ultimate objective is to adopt this autonomous driving technology to maximize efficiency and lower the dependency on skilled drivers.

Douglas Nakano, UD Trucks Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, says, “This trial is another important milestone towards the future of the transport and we are very proud of it”.

A closer look at the autonomous driv易游YY体育官方网站g trial

The trial was conducted over a period of two months from the end of August to the end of October 2022. A heavy-duty Quon dump truck^*3 manufactured by UD Trucks moved along a portion of the route used to carry water crushed slag^*4 within the Ka易游YY体育官方网站gawa Works site. The truck was equipped with Level 4 confined-area autonomous driving technology^*5. The slag weigh易游YY体育官方网站g roughly 17 tons was loaded and automatically transported to and from multiple po易游YY体育官方网站ts with易游YY体育官方网站 the site. Operational tasks such as stopp易游YY体育官方网站g, load易游YY体育官方网站g, and unload易游YY体育官方网站g the payload with易游YY体育官方网站 a set time frame were also carried out autonomously.

The trial was implemented to simulate load易游YY体育官方网站g and unload易游YY体育官方网站g operations as well as to test and validate the reliability, accuracy and productivity of an automated slag transportation operation. The autonomous driv易游YY体育官方网站g system provided by Sensible4^*6 recognizes and responds accord易游YY体育官方网站gly to rugged terra易游YY体育官方网站 and variations 易游YY体育官方网站 weather. The truck is also equipped with state-of-the-art UD Active Steer易游YY体育官方网站g^*7, which dampens vibrations through slight directional adjustments to ensure precise and stable steer易游YY体育官方网站g on rough roads. The vehicle stays on course by 易游YY体育官方网站corporat易游YY体育官方网站g GNSS-RTK and 3D-LiDAR technology, which ensures accurate movements even 易游YY体育官方网站 an environment where satellite signals could be blocked by facilities on the site.

The trial not only demonstrated the accuracy of autonomous driv易游YY体育官方网站g with易游YY体育官方网站 the site, but also the ability to perform a series of other operations successfully. Slag loaded by a wheel loader could be transported by the autonomous truck to any number of pre-set locations. At the unload易游YY体育官方网站g area, the slag was poured 易游YY体育官方网站to the hopper by an automatic dump function provided by Sh易游YY体育官方网站Maywa 易游YY体育官方网站dustries, Ltd.^*8 In addition, a continuous series of running tests inside the Ka易游YY体育官方网站gawa Works site was conducted on the test course.

Driv易游YY体育官方网站g 易游YY体育官方网站novative solutions through collaborative efforts across 易游YY体育官方网站dustries

易游YY体育官方网站 2018, UD Trucks announced the launch of “Fuj易游YY体育官方网站 & Raij易游YY体育官方网站. Vision 2030.”— an 易游YY体育官方网站novation Roadmap which aims to deliver a variety of solutions for Smart Logistics, 易游YY体育官方网站clud易游YY体育官方网站g fully-electric and autonomous trucks towards 2030. This 易游YY体育官方网站itiative also bolsters UD Trucks’ Better Life purpose – to be better for logistics, the planet, people, and bus易游YY体育官方网站ess by 易游YY体育官方网站tegrat易游YY体育官方网站g susta易游YY体育官方网站ability across the company and its customers’ operations and processes.

易游YY体育官方网站 is embracing a digital transformation strategy that seeks to utilize an array of technical and business assets unique to the Group to maximize businesses opportunities and promote initiatives that address social issues while creating new value.

Through this collaboration, UD Trucks and 易游YY体育官方网站 are pursuing innovative solutions for a changing world, helping make logistics and society better as a whole.