Daimler Trucks Archives - North America FarmQuip Magazine

Daimler Truck Sets Industry Benchmark with Redundant Scalable Truck Platform for Autonomous Driving

Michele Catinari — Mon, 13 Dec 2021 18:00:57 +0000

Daimler Truck is developing a scalable autonomous truck platform that is perfectly suited for SAE Level 4 autonomous driving, including redundancy systems needed to achieve safe and reliable operations. The four key areas with a redundant architecture are the braking system, the steering system, the low voltage power net, and the network communications. In case that any of the primary systems encounter a fault, the Level 4 vehicle will be able to monitor, assess and deploy its backup systems to control the truck safely.

Daimler Truck’s L4 truck platform is based on Freightliner’s market-leading Cascadia and aims to set new industry standards. The unique redundant truck chassis is being developed for Waymo Via based on their specifications. A first version of the truck has already been delivered this year for integration of the Waymo Driver, the autonomous driving system. If a fault is deemed critical to the operation of the vehicle, the autonomous driving system will allow the truck to follow a safety protocol and be able to execute a “minimal risk maneuver” to come to a safe stop.

Dr. Peter Vaughan Schmidt, Head of Autonomous Technology Group at Daimler Truck:

“Every smart autonomous driving system needs a strong foundation: our Level 4 vehicle platform based on the Freightliner Cascadia is ideal for the integration of autonomous software, hardware, and computing. It can significantly contribute to enhancing safety in traffic thanks to its redundancy of systems and a multitude of sensors. It brings us much closer to our vision of accident-free driving.”

The redundant system architecture

More than 1500 new and unique requirements have been identified by Waymo Via. The engineering team at Daimler Trucks North America LLC (DTNA) is developing and implementing these requirements during the vehicle development process. For example, while today’s pneumatic braking systems have to fail operational attributes, Daimler Truck’s Level 4 vehicles have an additional layer of electronic redundancy, using two electronic control units (ECU) – a primary and a secondary system. Together, they ensure full brake performance, to safely execute a minimal risk maneuver in case one system is not operating properly.

The same logic applies to the steering system that has been enhanced by having two servo motors. In case of an electronic or hydraulic failure, the backup servo motor also receives the requested steering angle from the autonomous driving system and can react accordingly.

Constant communication between these key systems ensures that there is no loss of critical information flow among the controllers. Daimler Truck has included a second communication network to key devices, which is also protected by cyber security requirements. As for the demanding power consumption by all the ECUs and sensors in an autonomous truck, a robust low voltage power net is required. Exclusively developed at DTNA, the power net system ensures constant energy flow to critical systems.

Scalable solution for Daimler Truck’s customers

In combination with third-party autonomous driving software, this redundant chassis offers customers full SAE Level 4 autonomous driving capabilities. As part of Daimler Truck’s dual-track strategy, the truck manufacturer is working together with two strong autonomous technology partners, Waymo Via and Torc Robotics, offering multiple routes to commercialization. Daimler Truck has the capability to tailor and scale the Level 4 truck chassis to the autonomous driving specifications of both technology partners.

Daimler Truck is in a market-leading position as demand grows – best testing conditions in the U.S.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics, the U.S. has seen the tonnage of goods shipped by trucks increase by 56 percent in the past decade. This number is expected to nearly double in the next two and a half decades. At the same time, the trucking industry faces a shortage of drivers.

These developments contribute to a growing need for safe, reliable, cost-effective trucking solutions. DTNA’s role as the U.S. market leader and as the innovation leader for the industry provides a unique position to safely develop and test automated truck technologies. Based in Portland, the team of experienced engineers at DTNA is responsible for developing, building, and releasing the Level 4 vehicle platform with redundant systems in close collaboration with their partners. DTNA already reached a critical milestone towards series production and delivered a first version of the redundant Freightliner Cascadia built for L4 readiness to Waymo for integration of the Waymo Driver.

Autonomous Technology Group – a global technology powerhouse for automated driving

Following the investment announcement in automated driving at the beginning of 2019, Daimler Truck established the Autonomous Technology Group. Daimler Truck’s global organization for automated truck driving brings together its worldwide experience and expertise.

The Group takes responsibility for the overall strategy and implementation of the automated driving roadmap, including research and development, testing and validation, and setting up the required operations infrastructure and network with the ultimate vision of series production of autonomous trucks (SAE level 4) within the decade. The Group has a global reach with experts working in various locations throughout the company’s worldwide development network.

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Daimler Trucks North America Names Amer Diab as General Manager of Distribution Network Development

newsroom — Mon, 23 Aug 2021 16:00:21 +0000

Daimler Trucks announced that Amer Diab has been appointed general manager of distribution network development, where he will lead the growth and expansion of the sales and service network for Freightliner and Western Star trucks in close collaboration with dealers partners.

Diab began his career with Daimler in 1997 as an industrial engineer before making a transition to the finance and controlling organization in 2004. During his tenure, he has held a variety of successive roles of increasing responsibility. Diab most recently served as general manager, truck controlling. In 2020, he was appointed interim CFO while then-CFO and current DTNA president and CEO, John O’Leary, assisted Mercedes-Benz Truck in Germany as chief transformation officer.

“Amer’s leadership acumen, diplomacy, and strategic thinking will all be instrumental in maintaining our high standards for customer experience as we work with our dealers to grow the Freightliner and Western Star sales and service network to complement the increasing share of the market that our brands represent,”

said Drew Backeberg, senior vice president, aftermarket, DTNA.

Diab holds a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from Youngstown State University and an MBA with a concentration in finance from the University of Portland. He succeeds Kevin Bengston, whose appointment to the role of president and CEO of Thomas Built Buses was previously announced.

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Daimler Trucks Names Mary Aufdemberg as General Manager of Product Strategy and Market Development

Michele Catinari — Thu, 12 Aug 2021 18:00:22 +0000

Daimler Trucks announced that Mary Aufdemberg, currently general manager and president of Daimler Trucks Remarketing (DTR) has been appointed general manager of product strategy and market development.

“Mary has been a driving force behind the unprecedented growth of SelecTrucks and the entire portfolio of activity at Daimler Trucks Remarketing. Her proven track record of brand leadership, relentless focus on customer needs, and strong familiarity with our Freightliner and Western Star lineup are a winning combination for supporting our continued sales leadership, and for planning out the future of our product evolution with input from our customers, our dealers and our staff,”

said David Carson, senior vice president, sales and marketing, DTNA.

Mary Aufdemberg

Aufdemberg started her career with Daimler in 2004, working in financial services for a subsidiary, before formally joining DTNA in 2008 as the lead for the center of education and marketing at Thomas Built Buses. In 2012, she accepted an executive management role as director, product marketing for Freightliner, where she was instrumental in launching the New Cascadia and debuting DTNA’s first self-driving concept truck.

She joined DTR in 2017 as the director of acquisitions and operations and was promoted to the role of general manager and president in 2019. Under Aufdemberg’s leadership, the DTR team embarked on an aggressive growth strategy for the SelecTrucks brand, which has added 11 locations during her tenure.

Aufdemberg is an ardent supporter of the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion at both DTNA and for the industry as a whole. She serves as the executive sponsor of EQUAL, DTNA’s employee business resource group for LGBTQIA, and sits on DTNA’s Diversity and Inclusion Council.

Kary Schaefer

Aufdemberg previously served on the board of directors of Women in Trucking for six years (2013-2019) and held the role of chairperson for five of those years. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Marketing from the University of Illinois and an MBA in International Marketing & Finance from DePaul University.

Aufdemberg succeeds Kary Schaefer who transitions to a new role as chief engineer, cab systems / entire vehicle engineering. Schaefer is a 23-year veteran of DTNA who, prior to her role as general manager of product marketing and strategy, held a variety of engineering roles of increasing scope and responsibility.

“We owe an incredible debt to Kary for her past six years serving as the steward of our Freightliner and Western Star products and brands. She has been an unwavering advocate for our customers and dealers as we have launched so many products inspired by their feedback and designed to meet their needs, including the all-new Western Star 49X and the game-changing Freightliner eCascadia and eM2,”

added Carson.

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Daimler Trucks North America Partners with Decisiv

Michele Catinari — Mon, 09 Aug 2021 18:00:45 +0000

Daimler Trucks announced a partnership with Decisiv Inc., the industry leader in Service Relationship Management solutions, to integrate its SRM platform with DTNA’s Uptime Pro dealer service management platform.

“Our partnership with Decisiv will further enhance our Uptime Management Suite by reducing the time to write up repair estimates, enabling instant approvals, verifying real-time parts availability, and providing consistent labor hours utilizing standard repair times. It will allow our dealer service locations to operate at peak efficiency, with the transparency and real-time coordination to provide an even better customer experience, and it’s just one of many initiatives we have underway to improve service productivity and capacity to further drive customer uptime,”

said Paul Romanaggi, chief customer experience officer at DTNA.

The connectivity between Decisiv SRM and Uptime Pro streamlines estimate creation for dealers, which are then sent to the customer for approval. The estimate and approval process is fully integrated into Uptime Pro and incorporates diagnostics, repair information, and photos from DTNA’s Express WriteUp mobile app into a service case in the Decisiv SRM platform.

“By working together, Decisiv and Daimler Trucks North America are optimizing the service experience for dealers and fleets. The synergy we’re enabling through this integration creates best practices for workflow and communications that minimize asset downtime. Together, we are delivering a best-in-class service event management solution that will keep Freightliner and Western Star dealers in the lead as trusted partners to their customers,”

said Michael Gibson, vice president of strategic partnerships at Decisiv.

To further enhance service management for DTNA dealers, the SRM case can automatically be integrated with Dealer Management System software, interfacing with DTNA’s Online Warranty Link (OWL) system and its VIP truck specs database.

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