Support The Moscow Times!

KamAZ to Begin Testing Drone Truck Next Week

KamAZ teamed up with software firm Cognitive Technologies and hardware firm VIST Group to modify one of its KamAZ-5350 trucks. Maxim Stulov / Vedomosti

Russia's largest truck manufacturer KamAZ will begin testing a driverless truck next week, the company said in a statement published Tuesday on its website.

The company announced the project last year, and pitched it as a means of making driving safer on Russia's inter-city road network. The scheduled test will be the first major step forward in the project, which should allow the company to field a working drone truck by 2020.

“About 10 types of [autonomous] movements are planned for the test,” the company statement said. These include driving by remote control, moving along a pre-set route and moving in a formation.

Another planned test will see the drone truck drive itself using only information gleaned from video cameras, as well as GPS and Russian Glonass navigation satellites.

KamAZ teamed up with software firm Cognitive Technologies and hardware firm VIST Group to modify one of its KamAZ-5350 trucks with radar, laser sensors, video cameras, communications equipment, and onboard control computers to turn the truck into a drone.

According to news agency Interfax, KamAZ hopes to develop three distinct product lines from this project, which each feature different levels of automatization — ranging from driver assistance to fully autonomous driving — over the next 10 years.

… we have a small favor to ask.

As you may have heard, The Moscow Times, an independent news source for over 30 years, has been unjustly branded as a "foreign agent" by the Russian government. This blatant attempt to silence our voice is a direct assault on the integrity of journalism and the values we hold dear.

We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. Our commitment to providing accurate and unbiased reporting on Russia remains unshaken. But we need your help to continue our critical mission.

Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just 2. It's quick to set up, and you can be confident that you're making a significant impact every month by supporting open, independent journalism. Thank you.

Continue

Read more