Frequently asked questions about Volvo Autonomous Solutions and self-driving trucks

An autonomous truck is a truck capable of operating without a human driver. This means features that would ordinarily be controlled by a human driver such as steering, braking, and acceleration, are controlled by a virtual driver. At Volvo Autonomous Solutions, we offer a purpose-built Volvo truck or machine, equipped with redundant systems designed for reliable autonomous operations. For our highway trucks, the redundancy sits in the vehicle itself, whereas for our mining solutions we have built redundancies in the infrastructure.

Autonomous vehicles don’t have a human brain, eyes or ears; instead, they are equipped with a range of sensors (like cameras, radars & lidars) to detect their surroundings, computers to interpret their surroundings, and actuators to direct the vehicle to move as wanted. Moreover, unlike humans, autonomous vehicles can leverage different sensing principles beyond visible light to navigate in lower-visibility conditions such as at night or in fog or smoke.

They can also accurately measure distances and detect obstacles and hazards ahead, avoiding or stopping at an obstacle. 

Our autonomous transport solution is not just self-driving vehicles and machines. It's a full-service autonomous model, meaning that we provide custom packages that encompass everything from software and site infrastructure, to training and operations. We collaborate with our customers to create solutions that are tailor-made for the challenges they face. For mining and quarrying we offer Autona / earth and for on-road trucking we offer Autona / freight. 

ODD describes the specific conditions under which an autonomous vehicle is designed to operate, including types of roadways, speed ranges, weather, and environmental conditions. 

A virtual driver performs all driving tasks within predefined geographic areas and conditions. It utilizes advanced hardware and software that enables vehicle operations without human intervention.

Human safety drivers are crucial in the journey towards fully driverless solutions. In the testing phase, they are responsible for monitoring the autonomous vehicle's behavior and the outside environment in the vehicle while it’s driving autonomously. Safety drivers allow us to gather real-time feedback and data so we can continuously improve and refine our technology, with the end goal of operating safely without human supervision.

We manufacture the Volvo VNL Autonomous trucks in the Volvo Group’s New River Valley plant in Dublin, Virginia. The trucks are integrated line side with our partners’ virtual driver components. By producing trucks with the autonomous software in the production facility, we deliver equipment with OEM grade quality, meaning parts are traceable and held to high quality and safety standards.

The autonomous Volvo FH for mining is assembled in the Volvo Group’s plant in Säffle.

At Volvo Autonomous Solutions, we have a holistic approach to safety.

In mining applications, we work with our customers to create a safety case that is tailored to each site, removing the safety driver when the safety case is closed. Safety by design is integrated into our development processes, allowing us to design and build systems capable of performing safely in their intended environment. This commitment to safety is reflected in our testing and verification protocols, which uphold Volvo’s safety standards through both simulations and real-world testing of trucks, vehicles, infrastructure, connectivity, and cloud systems.

For our on-road solutions, we have a joint safety case with our virtual driver partners. We believe that redundancy is a key part of developing safe autonomous operations. Volvo VNL Autonomous, designed for the ground up for autonomy, features robust redundancy for critical systems, such as braking, steering, and communication, allowing it to operate safely even if a primary system fails.

Read about our approach to safety here.

If the brakes stop working in a truck, a human driver can pull the parking brake to stop. If this happens when there is no human driver in a truck, the autonomous driving system needs to be able to come to a safe stop in another way. This is why we’ve built our autonomous truck for public roads with redundancies for six key safety systems. If the primary braking system fails, the secondary system takes over.

The Volvo VNL Autonomous truck, built from the ground up for autonomy, incorporates six key redundancies for critical systems such as braking, steering, power management, and communication.

For our solutions in confined applications, where the trucks operate in specific autonomous operating zone, we build redundancies into the infrastructure, such as e-stops that can pause the system when needed.

Read more about our approach to redundancy here.

The cameras in self-driving vehicles, known as 'vision sensors', detect light reflecting or emitting from objects. They work alongside other sensors like lidar and radar for accurate detection and classification of objects in various conditions. For the autonomous Volvo FH for mining, we can use the cameras to operate the truck remotely, should it be needed. 

Lidar, which stands for 'light detection and ranging', uses lasers light reflections to build a 3D model of the world around our autonomous vehicles. This helps with localization and obstacle detection, enabling safe and efficient navigation.

Radar stands for 'Radio Detection and Ranging' and is used for contactless measuring of position and velocity of one or more objects using beams of energy, radio waves. And as they hit objects, the energy is dispersed in all directions, with some waves directly reflected back to the radar itself. In our autonomous vehicles, radar is used to detect, track, and observe objects surrounding our vehicles.

GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System, for example GPS or Galileo) provides positioning and timing data from satellites, helping our vehicles determine their precise location. This data, combined with other sensors and maps, allows for accurate navigation.

IMU (Inertial Measurement Units) consists of accelerometers, gyroscopes, and sometimes magnetometers. They help with vehicle navigation, especially when GPS signals are unavailable, enhancing accurate navigation in complex environments.

Adverse weather affects sensor performance much like it affects human vision. Rain, snow, fog, and extreme temperatures all reduce what sensors can clearly detect. To handle this, Volvo Autonomous Solutions' trucks come equipped with wipers, heated surfaces, and weather-proof coatings that keep sensors clear and operational when conditions get tough in addition to regular cleaning of sensors by personnel. Beyond physical protection, the sensor system combines cameras, LiDAR, and radar rather than relying on any single technology and fusing the sensor data, each sensor contributing in a different way.

Legislation for autonomous vehicles varies from country to country. We work with regulators to obtain the necessary permits to test and operate our autonomous transport solutions. Before developing new products or services, we identify the valid compliance requirements we need to meet. 

Volvo Autonomous Solutions have fully self-driving trucks at sites in the mining and quarrying segment, and we drive autonomously with a safety driver in Texas and Oklahoma. The speed at which we will see autonomous vehicles in real-life operation will depend on a number of factors including the pace of technological development, legislation, and infrastructure.

Our trucks operate on specific, validated routes. For highway trucking in the US, the Volvo VNL Autonomous runs on defined lanes, either between terminals or customer endpoints, depending on the customer’s needs. For mining and quarrying, the autonomous Volvo FH for mining operates on defined haul roads within site perimeters. At Brønnøy Kalk in Norway, for instance, the route covers both tunnel and outdoor sections. Before starting operations somewhere new, we identify what compliance requirements apply in that geography and make sure all necessary permits are in place.

On public highway routes, our trucks share the road with human drivers using an autonomous driving system developed by our partners, Aurora or Waabi, that continuously detects, classifies, and tracks what's around the vehicle. The system is built to behave predictably, holding safe following distances, adjusting to traffic, and responding consistently so that human drivers around it can anticipate what it will do.

In mining sites, interaction with human-driven vehicles is managed through site-specific traffic protocols. At Brønnøy Kalk in Norway, for example, our autonomous Volvo FH trucks operate in an autonomous operation zone, alongside other site equipment, as part of a coordinated operation that covers both the virtual driver and the physical site infrastructure.

Refueling is planned as a scheduled part of the operation, not something that gets handled on the fly. The Autona / freight solution for on-road freight includes dedicated infrastructure as a core part of the transport setup, alongside the vehicle, virtual driver, fleet management, and uptime services. Fuel stops are coordinated by the operations team as part of the transportation solution. Because our trucks run consistent, pre-planned routes, refueling happens at the right time and place, without unplanned stops disrupting the flow of the operation.

Our autonomous trucks for mining refuel by taking a truck out of the hauling route when needed. This is often done in conjunction with inspection of the truck to minimize idle time.

Cybersecurity is crucial for protecting networks, devices, and data from unauthorized access. We predict potential vulnerabilities and address them during the development process for the highest level of safety.

In addition, we adhere to industry standards, regulatory requirements, and cybersecurity best practices to deliver secure, compliant, and reliable solutions.

The trucking industry faces a significant driver shortage, expected to exceed 160,000 by 2028. Our autonomous solutions help fill this gap by providing freight capacity. 

Fleet management involves controlling and tracking your fleet, planning routes, managing transport flows, and monitoring performance. Our system enables efficient operations with real-time updates on vehicles, loads, and transport times.

The included infrastructure is tailored to each customer's needs, but typically it includes things like gates, barriers, or communication systems needed to successfully implement autonomous transport solutions in existing business operations. Together with our customers, we define and put the infrastructure needed for their business in place. This means that every autonomous transport solution we deploy is purpose-built for efficiency, designed with safety in mind. 

The benefits of autonomy vary between each of the industry segments we’ve chosen to work with. Within Quarries and Mining, autonomy improves safety by removing humans from potentially hazardous working environments. Within highway trucking, autonomy will help deal with increasing freight demand by creating new transport capacity.In all segments, we believe autonomy will improve efficiency, safety, and sustainability.

We don’t sell autonomous trucks, rather we offer transport-as-a-service in two industry verticals. For highway trucking we offer Autona / freight and for mining and quarrying Autona / earth.

Autona / freight is a complete transport ecosystem, bringing together the Volvo VNL Autonomous truck, a virtual driver, fleet management, terminal infrastructure, operations support, and uptime services. We're already running highway trucking operations in Texas serving customers including DHL Supply Chain, and have expanded our autonomous freight network to Oklahoma City.

Autona / earth is a hauling solution for mines and quarries where Volvo takes responsibility for the full transport flow. It includes an autonomous truck integrated with the Volvo Virtual Driver, operations, fleet management, tailoring infrastructure and uptime management.

Volvo develops the Volvo Virtual Driver, our proprietary autonomous driving system. The Volvo Virtual Driver is in use for our mining and quarrying customers. For highway trucking, we have partnered with Aurora and Waabi for autonomous driving capability. Read more about our partnerships here.