Autonomous Truck Success

[Euclid]

zugmann

 

 

rdamon

A full investment in automation should include an electric trainline with speed and temperature sensors on each axle, electric brakes.  Make the car individually addressable so the computer can lock out on any high temp or brake issue.  Another benefit is they can put some LED lights on the side to help with people driving into the train at a dark crossing.

 

To run anything udner any guise of automation, you are going to have to spend big money on maintaining stuff.  Not exactly the expert field of many companies anymore.   RR or not. 

Adding autonomous running will cost a lot of money, but it would not necessarily include that currently popular push for adding sensors to everything imaginable on the train.  It also does not have to include changing to ECP brakes.  All of the changes are on the locomotives.

[Gramp]

Saw a Nova episode on Britain's Crossrail (Elizabeth Line) project. 13 years and 25 billion. Quite a segment on the software system problems encountered including autonomous movements. On Amazon Prime and PBS. 

[Overmod]

Euclid

All of the changes are on the locomotives.

Even if this were so -- and it is not -- it doesn't take a whit away from the point zug was making.  Assuming you actually read what he said, and understood it.

[BaltACD]

Overmod

 

Euclid

All of the changes are on the locomotives. 

Even if this were so -- and it is not -- it doesn't take a whit away from the point zug was making.  Assuming you actually read what he said, and understood it.

Euc - you forget under PSR any maintenance is too much for the financial model.

[Euclid]

Overmod

 

 

Euclid

All of the changes are on the locomotives.

 

 

Even if this were so -- and it is not -- it doesn't take a whit away from the point zug was making.  Assuming you actually read what he said, and understood it.

 

 

It is completely true in the original context I provided.

 

I read Zug's comment several times, and understand it just fine.  I thought about my reply and composed it off the forum and proof read it.  He made more than one point.  My main point was related to his comment about railcars getting beat up by customers at their loading/receiving facilities.  I thought that point carried over to his last sentence, so I did not include in the quote these middle sentences by Zug:

 

'cause that stuff is going to last more than 3 hours once it gets to an industry or shortline. 

 

I don't think most people have ever seen how many industries handle their cars. Hell hath no fury as a trackmobile, forklift, or front end loader..

 

My comment, "All of the changes are on the locomotives" was intended to mean in the context of his concern about railcars getting damaged by customers and thus imposing increased cost for autonomous running equipment because of its presence on railcars.  

 

The largest context was from the preceding comment that Zug was replying to, which included the idea that comprehensive sensors be added as part of an autonomous conversion.  So, because most of those sensors would be on the railcars, I assumed Zug was referring to those sensors being damaged by careless abuse of railcars by the shippers, as part of the cost of autonomous running.  

 

So I said: "All of the changes [for autonomous operation] are on the locomotives” [as opposed to the railcars].  My assumption about autonomous running is that it does not fundamentally include compressive sensors for railcars.  That is a separate agenda that is very popular just as autonomous running is.  

 

But other than my specific focus, my comment did not mean to exclude all of the changes required for autonomous running that would be needed for the entire system excluding railcars.  As I mentioned earlier, there will be more changes needed for autonomous running than just equipping locomotives for it.  I believe the greatest cost will be in the area of revising methods of operation and train composition that will be required (and enabled) by autonomous running. I believe this will be the greatest area of expense by far.   

 

Generally the still larger context/premise seems to be that the railroads cannot afford autonomous operation.   

[Ulrich]

When I was a kid my dad, my brother, and I patented a self driving lawnmower. We had a prototype built, and it worked like a charm. That was 40 plus years ago. Unfortunately it wasn't commercially viable.. And so it is with alot of technology.. it may work somewhat (or very well) but if the economics don't make sense it goes nowhere. 

[zugmann]

The church next to one of our feed mills has a couple robotic lawnmowers.  Always get a kick seeing them out and about at 3am running around. 

You were just ahead of your time. 

 

Kind of like how Swanson's was the original Ubereats. 

[tree68]

There's always tethering your self-propelled mower so it winds itself up on a stake...

Of course, farmers are now using GPS when seeding, and other such functions.