One of Europe’s most important truck and bus manufacturers, MAN Truck&Bus, has lifted the veil on what is currently preoccupying many. The company released the data collected by the self-driving trucks to give anyone a peek behind the scenes and to help advance the field.
By the way, it became the first vehicle manufacturer in the world to publish such data. Information related to the test of self-driving trucks (vehicle data, data from sensors) is MAN Truck Scenes available to anyone on the website. The data collection, which processes around 747 different traffic situations, comes mainly from test runs on highways and roads connected to freeways. It also provides an excellent insight into the mysteries of so-called node-to-node transport.
The “sensor set” of the self-driving MAN truck consists of four cameras, six lidars, six radars, two inertial measurement unit (IMS) and high-precision data from the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS). MAN TruckScenes is the first dataset containing 4D radar data with 360° coverage, making it the largest 3D radar dataset.
When publishing the data, the experts also paid attention to making it possible to compare how the self-driving system performed in different weather conditions. Various pictorial and digital information were also annotated. MAN specialists see that all this promotes machine learning and makes it easier for the developers of self-driving systems to continuously develop the environment recognition function and improve its performance.
The decision of MAN Truck&Bus could have serious consequences for the industry. The open exchange of such freely available and free data sets between different actors, such as manufacturers, universities and software developers, can accelerate development and help standardize data formats. It also enables a standardized comparison of results and methods, which serves as a reference for scientific studies. It also simplifies cooperation with external development partners.
The Bavarian company, known for its lion logo, has been dealing with self-driving trucks since 2018. For the first time, the autonomously controlled truck was tested in a port in Hamburg. Between 2019 and 2023, it was tested in a transfer terminal of Deutsche Bahn. And since 2022, the manufacturer has been participating in a project (ATLAS-L4) aimed at creating the legal environment for self-driving trucks to travel on highways and between logistics hubs.
At the end of the project, in 2025, a live test of the prototype is planned on a highway. According to MAN Truck&Bus, the autonomous driving of trucks may enter series production at the end of the decade.
Source: www.vezess.hu
