South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Company said on Tuesday it has successfully tested out the country’s first platooning of two trailer-connected Xcient trucks, a new autonomous driving technology that could revolutionize the freight and logistics industry in the future.

The demonstration took place on the Yeoju Smart Highway, a 7.7km testbed within the central region expressway established by the government to test autonomous vehicles.

The demonstration successfully displayed vehicle platooning, cut-in/out by other vehicles, simultaneous emergency braking, and V2V (Vehicle to Vehicle) communication technology, the carmaker said.

The platooning maneuver begins when the driver of the following truck approaches the leading vehicle and activates platooning mode. Upon activation of platooning mode, the following truck maintains a 16.7-meter distance, with real-time fine tuning based on the leading vehicle’s acceleration and deceleration. The driver does not need to operate the accelerator or the brake, vastly reducing fatigue on the road and improving safety, the company said in a statement.

With platooning, other vehicles cutting in and out between trucks can also be seamlessly managed. If a vehicle cuts between the platooning trucks, the following truck automatically extends the gap to minimum of 25 meters. When a leading truck makes a sudden emergency stop due to an unexpected situation, the newly demonstrated technology responds by enabling the following truck to decelerate and stop.

The V2V system applied to both trucks in this demonstration showcased how real time information sharing between platooning vehicles can improve control over acceleration and deceleration, the company said. The speed limit was set at 60km/h to ensure safety.

During the demonstration, a real-time frontal video sharing feature was enabled by V2V technology. By displaying videos from the leading vehicle, the following driver can see the road ahead, solving limitations of forward vision for trailing drivers, the company added.

By Lee Jong-hyuk and Minu Kim

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