Bosch Shows off Concept of Trucking Future at IAA
Bosch’s VisionX project details what trucks and the driver’s job may look like in a decade. Photo: Bosch
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Bosch’s VisionX project details what trucks and the driver’s job may look like in a decade. Photo: Bosch
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Job description for the truck driver of the future: perform key freight forwarding tasks, including checking transport status via cloud, responding to e-mails, organizing routes, and adjusting them to take on additional cargo. Ideal candidate: a team player with good multitasking capabilities – confidence in using new media a must!
That’s Bosch’s vision of the driver’s job in the not-too-distant future as shown off at the IAA Commercial Motor Vehicles show in Hannover, Germany, recently.
“The truckers of the future will go from being drivers to serving as logistics managers,” says Dr. Markus Heyn, member of the board of management of Robert Bosch GmbH. The commercial vehicles of 2026, Bosch said, will be automated, connected, and electrified.
Bosch showed off the “VisionX” concept study it’s using to demonstrate what commercial vehicles will be capable of in just a few years.
Fully connected and in some cases offering automated driving, they will run on highly efficient diesel or even electricity as the situation demands.
“The truck of the future will be a 40-ton smart device on wheels,” said Heyn. Smart connectivity and automation will enable it to navigate traffic on the freeway itself, mostly without driver intervention. This will give drivers time to take care of other tasks, such as planning routes, processing shipping documents, or simply taking a break.
Visitors to the Bosch booth at IAA got a chance to sit behind the wheel and watch a highly realistic animated feature that allowed them to experience the future of truck driving firsthand.
The Bosch booth also featured a bevy of real-world technologies that are available now, including:
• New display and user interfaces. Bosch is putting large displays and touchscreens in trucks to make connectivity and infotainment functions easy to use.
