The first production-ready autonomous truck drives on the Autobahn

After presenting a futuristic concept truck equipped with an autonomous control system last year and an updated version of the concept on the roads of Nevada earlier this year, Mercedes now reveals an autonomous truck that is ready for production.
The truck is a Mercedes Actros models, and it is the first production-ready truck to drive autonomously on a highway. The launch took place in early October on a stretch of the German motorway between the Denkendorf and Stuttgart Airport. Behind the wheel was Wolfgang Bernhard, the head of the truck and bus division of Daimler and sitting in the passenger seat Winfried Kretschmann, Prime Minister of the German state of Baden-Württemberg.
Currently, the truck is only authorized to travel autonomously in a test phase, but according to Mercedes the technology is ready for production. In his first attempt, Bernhard drove the truck from a service station to the Autobahn. As soon as the truck slid into the traffic flow on the right lane, the Highway Pilot was activated and was able to take over the complete operation of the vehicle. During the test, the truck meticulously kept to its way and has remained at an optimal distance from the vehicle ahead of him.
When the vehicle encountered road works, it asked the driver to regain control. Once passed the work zone, Bernhard was able to put the Pilot Highway road system. If the driver had not regained control when Highway Pilot requested, the truck would have stopped by itself and safely.
There are still obstacles to bypass before we can see that type of truck on our roads. The biggest remaining legislation. Mercedes hopes that autonomous vehicles will be able to hit the road by 2020.