This lorry might look very normal: but it’s far from normal. It’s a self-driving lorry, which has been developed by Uber.
Uber has been interested in self-driving lorries for a while now, and in 2016, they bought start-up Otto. At that time, the Otto lorries still looked a bit clunky, and they had cameras sticking out all over the car. Thanks to the latest technical developments, the difference between regular and self-driving lorries is barely visible anymore.
Uber Advanced Technologies Group developed an operating system that is very similar to that of their self-driving cars. The rotating LiDAR continuously makes 360-degree scans of the road. The lorries are now being tested on the roads around San Francisco. The biggest question is how to make other road users also trust the driving skills of this vehicle.