Photo/Illutration A self-driving truck, rolled out by Isuzu Motors Ltd. to media representatives, steers itself autonomously in Mukawa, Hokkaido, on Nov. 18, while a driver has both hands off the wheel. (Jumpei Miura)

MUKAWA, Hokkaido--Isuzu Motors Ltd. will soon conduct trial runs of a self-driving truck for transporting spare parts along a public road, the major truck manufacturer announced recently.

The truck will serve a route that links the cities of Tochigi, Tochigi Prefecture, and Ichinomiya, Aichi Prefecture, and will be driving itself along a section of an expressway between January and spring next year.

A human driver will be aboard the vehicle to keep constant watch over its operating conditions and be ready to take the wheel in an emergency.

The truck will carry Isuzu spare parts between Isuzu Group’s operation bases.

Isuzu and other commercial vehicle makers are working hard to develop self-driving technologies in the hopes that autonomous vehicles will gain broader traction in society amid the serious driver shortage.

The test operation will utilize a heavy-duty truck of a model that Isuzu has developed jointly with Applied Intuition Inc., a U.S. startup.

Media representatives were given a preview on Nov. 18 of a demonstration of autonomous driving at Isuzu’s proving ground here in Hokkaido.

A self-driving truck was shown utilizing LiDAR technology, which uses laser light to detect obstacles, and other utilities to ascertain the surroundings as it changed lanes and passed another vehicle that ran ahead.

“Our technology can fully cope with typical traffic scenarios,” said Hiroshi Sato, an Isuzu senior executive officer. “We will proceed with development work in the coming months and years so we can deal with cases that may arise on rarer occasions.”

Isuzu officials said they plan to develop technologies so their self-driving system can cope with more complicated situations and to start a Level 4 self-driving truck and bus business in fiscal 2027.

In Level 4 autonomous driving, the system handles all tasks under specified conditions.

Elsewhere in the commercial vehicle manufacturing industry, Hino Motors Ltd. in July began working with a business partner to operate self-driving trucks on a road endurance testing field.

The autonomous trucks can run without a driver at any time of the day, which effectively shortens testing periods, officials said, adding that the challenges posed by self-driving technologies are also being identified through the efforts.

Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corp. is also beginning to work with parties including Yamato Transport Co. to test-operate autonomous driving technologies from January.

Isuzu, Hino and other companies are working together on yet another demonstration test for developing infrastructure toward a practical implementation of autonomous driving.

Related News