Score one for driverless vehicles.
Six teams of self-driving semi trucks finished long-distance journeys across western Europe Thursday morning, The Guardian reports, marking a major milestone in autonomous vehicle technology. The trucks left from countries like Sweden and Germany and ended their trip in The Netherlands.
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Humans weren’t totally taken out of the equation in achieving the feat. The trucks were essentially playing “follow the leader,” with a group of driverless semis matching the speed and overall route set by a human driver in the vehicle up front.
Still, this so-called “platooning” maneuver can result in benefits like less traffic (as the trucks can drive much closer to one another) and increased fuel efficiency, meaning a potentially greener shipping industry.
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