A shipment of butter just made a cross-country trip in a self-driving truck for the first time. A collaboration between Land O’ Lakes and Silicon Valley startup Plus.ai, made it possible for more than 40,000 pounds of butter to make the first coast-to-coast commercial freight trip made by a self-driving truck. The journey spanned 2,800 miles beginning in Tulare and arriving less than three days later in Quakertown, Pennsylvania.
A driver was on board at all time for safety reasons while the truck performed autonomously through various types of weather and road conditions. The latest sensor technology, along with deep learning algorithms and simultaneous location and mapping technologies combined to make the autonomous trip possible. Land O’Lakes indicated that widespread use of self-driving trucks is still a few years out, but there is clear potential in the technology after demonstrating its value in helping to meet heightened demand for butter during the holiday season.
Listen to the report below.
Images provided for use by: Plus.ai
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