Autonomous Transport: Transforming Logistics through Driverless Intelligent Transportation

How can autonomous technology be used beyond end-customer autonomous driving features? This position paper addresses this problem by exploring a novel autonomous transport solution applied in the automotive logistics domain. We propose that factory-complete cars can be transformed to become their own autonomous guided vehicles and thus transport themselves when being moved from the factory for shipment. Cars equipped with such a system are driverless and use an onboard autonomous transport solution combined with the advanced driver assistance systems pre-installed in the car for end-customer use. The solution uses factory-equipped sensors as well as the connectivity infrastructure installed in the car. This means that the solution does not require any extra components to enable the car to transport itself autonomously to complete a transport mission in the logistics chain. The solution also includes an intelligent off-board traffic control system that defines the transport mission and manages the interaction between vehicles during systems operation. A prototype of the system has been developed which was tested successfully in live trials at the Volvo Car Group plant in Gothenburg Sweden in 2017. In the paper, autonomous transport is positioned in between autonomous guided vehicles and autonomous driving technology. A review of the literature on autonomous vehicle technology offers contextual background to this positioning. The paper also presents the solution and displays lessons learned from the live trials. Finally, other use areas are introduced for driverless autonomous transport beyond the automotive logistics domain that is the focus of this paper.