Freightliner New Cascadia with Level-2 Automated Driving Named Best Transportation Technology at CES 2019
LAS VEGAS, NV… Daimler Trucks North
America’s Freightliner new Cascadia® was awarded the
prestigious honor of “Best Transportation Technology” at theengadget annual ”Best of CES”
awards ceremony at the 2019 Consumer Electronics Show (CES). According
the engadget, the
Transportation Technology category is awarded to the best technology related to
the “ever-advancing science of getting from here to there.” The truck debuted
at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Monday, and is the first SAE Level 2
automated truck to enter series production in North America.
“With the
new Cascadia, we aim to significantly reduce both accidents and fuel
consumption with advancements in automation, helping the truck drivers do their
job with more safety and with less fuel,” said Roger Nielsen, President and CEO
of Daimler Trucks North America. “We are facing more trucks on the road with
increased hauling demands, regulatory pressures and ongoing global concerns
over energy resource depletion. Now more than ever, it is imperative that we
continue to innovate and push our engineering solutions striving, above all,
for safety and helping our customers to run their business efficiently.”
Journalists
from over 25 countries experienced the truck’s SAE Level 2 driving capabilities
at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Monday shortly after Martin Daum, Member of
the Board of Management of Daimler AG with responsibility for Daimler Trucks
& Buses, announced that Daimler Trucks will put highly automated, SAE level
4 trucks on American roads within a decade. Daum also announced the company
would hire nearly 200 mechatronics and robotics experts at their Automated
Truck R&D Center in Portland, Oregon in support of this effort.
Detroit
Assurance® 5.0 enables SAE Level 2 driving in the new Cascadia. The suite of
camera- and radar-based safety systems assists the driver by accelerating,
decelerating, and steering independently. The Detroit Assurance 5.0 Adaptive
Cruise Control and Active Lane Assist features make automated driving possible
in all speed ranges for the first time in a series production truck.
“Highly
automated trucks will improve safety, boost the performance of logistics and
offer a great value proposition to our customers – and thus contribute
considerably to a sustainable future of transportation,” said Daum.
In May
2015, Daimler Trucks North America initiated the industry conversation on
automated driving with the introduction of the Freightliner Inspiration Truck
at Hoover Dam. This was the first automated truck licensed to operate on U.S.
public highways. Fast forward to CES 2019, the unveil of the new Cascadia with
Detroit Assurance 5.0 brought the Inspiration Truck to fruition, delivering SAE
Level 2 automated driving for the first time in North America.