A recent study shows that using an autonomous truck to follow a vehicle carrying human drivers during “mobile work zones” could help prevent roadworker injuries.
Mobile work zones are teams performing work from a variety of vehicles. For example, convoys (platoons) from construction vehicles. According to the University of Missouri Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, the last vehicle in line has the highest risk of being involved in an incident.
The idea is that you pair the last two vehicles as a leader and follower, equipped with kits that allow the second vehicle to follow the GPS signal from the vehicle in front of it.
Under this configuration, an operator in the lead vehicle uses a tablet to control the follower truck by adjusting the vehicle’s speed and maintaining the distance to the vehicle in front. The controls also allow the following vehicle – equipped with front and side obstacle detection systems – to be stopped in emergencies.
The study results suggest that the leader-follower system has the potential to be an effective tool to improve safety in mobile work zones, the researchers said. If the human is removed from the following vehicle, the risk is reduced. Even if a human remains in the following vehicle, the system would allow the driver to better focus on tasks and improve safety.
The researchers received responses of 43 after a nationwide poll US states about the use of autonomous work vehicles. Four states—Colorado, Missouri, North Dakota, and Rhode Island—already use the concept or are in the process of implementing the leader-follower method. 19 states are currently researching the system. However, some states would have to adjust traffic laws to remove the driver from the cabins of the following vehicles.
The study is scheduled to be published when the researchers present their findings to the Missouri DOT.