Sweden’s autonomous trucking startup Einride is betting on hybrid trucks dominating the future, wth remote teleoperators on hand to take over as needed. According to Venuture Beat, Einride has been hiring remote truck operators for several months, a process that kicked off in Sweden and will expand to the U.S. later this year.
The company plans to make around 20 such hires over the next 18 months, with each operator eventually able to monitor and control as many as 10 vehicles at a time. Today, the company is unveiling what this remote setup will look like.
Enrinde has raised upwards of $30 million to build electric trucks designed as pods, with no space for a human driver. These pods can carry various types of materials, and have been tested on sites and on public roads since last May.
Although the trucks are designed to drive themselves, some scenarios could require human intervention, Venture Beat reports. For example, local regulations may require autonomous vehicles to remain on highways, requiring humans to take over from a remote location when the truck exits.
A video Einride released shows a hybrid autonomous vehicle future in which teleoperators sit inside a remote station, with a screen and steering wheel. The operator can control the vehicle with the tap of a button.
If another vehicle in the fleet gets into trouble, a message will flash on the operator’s screen and they can switch to that truck. At first, Einride’s stations will be set up so a single operator can control two vehicles, but there are plans to expand this to include up to 10 trucks.
Source: Venture Beat
