Meanwhile in Japan ….. Back in 2021 the Japanese government through its Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Tourism (MLIT) contracted a consortium of four technology / smart transport companies to take on a project to research, develop, demonstrate and deploy up to Level 4 automated driving
Toyota Tsusho , Advanced Smart Mobility, Nippon Koei, and Mizuho Research and Technologies, were contracted by the two Japanese Government ministries to commercialise what its statement says is “high-performance trucks on expressways”.
Most recently, the four companies have been working toward the social implementation of Level 4 autonomous driving trucks, including being selected to demonstrate the experiment of autonomous trucks by “Roadside-to-Vehicle Coordination” on a Japanese expressway, and just last week the four major Japanese truck makers Isuzu, Hino, Fuso and UD Trucks announced that tests using large trucks with automated driving technology on the Shin-Tomei Expressway would start soon.
Level 4 autonomous driving is defined as a state in which the autonomous driving device replaces all driving operations in a limited area that meets specific driving environment conditions.
The four tech companies, along with the four manufacturers, as well as logistics, and other related companies are aiming to solve one of Japan’s and for that matter the rest of the World’s biggest social issues – driver shortages.
The conglomerate said it is aiming for the social implementation of autonomous driving trucks on motorways from 2026 through the joint public-private effort, which METI and MITI have conducted and coordinated.
The ongoing initiative, which started in 2021 and s set t wind up in 2025, aims to achieve independent driverless navigation between relay areas such as logistics facilities, service areas, and parking lots around motorways with verified support from external infrastructure equipment, operations such as monitoring and management, and vehicle functions necessary for the operations.
In the demonstration tests the group will separately confirm and verify the multiple functions necessary for implementation of autonomous driving between the Surugawan-Numazu service area and the Hamamatsu service area on the Shin-Tomei Expressway.
Specifically, it says it will confirm and verify the automatic departure/arrival system that automatically starts and parks the vehicle at departure and arrival points, and a braking function to stop the truck in an emergency, information on vehicle faults and problems and response to fallen objects, which is transmitted from roadside equipment such as ITS spots installed around the road, and remote monitoring functions while driving.
Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) is an infrastructure for providing traffic information using information and communication devices installed on roads, enabling drivers to receive real-time traffic information and safety information.
Based on the evaluation results of the demonstration tests, in 2025, it plans to verify the process from vehicle departure at a service area to merging and changing lanes on the main road, as well as parking at the destination under conditions closer to those of actual driving.
In addition, it says it plans to conduct demonstration experiments using priority lanes for autonomous vehicles, which is one of the ‘early harvest projects’, setting up Connected Autonomous Vehicles or CAV corridors under METI’s “Digital Lifeline Development Plan”
During the project Toyota Tsusho handled the overall planning management and project promotion, while Advanced Smart Mobility has been handling vehicle system development and evaluation testing, Nippon Koei was in charge of the operation of demonstration experiments, while Mizuho Research and Technologies looked after the examination of useful business models in logistics systems uszing Level 4 autonomous driving trucks, as well as running business feasibility analysis.
The four Japanese truck makers collaborated with the organisation and evaluation of driving conditions, as well as planning the demonstration experiments
