Colorado Department of Transportation looks to expand autonomous truck program thanks to grant
Slow and steady is the name of the game for the Colorado Department of Transportation when it comes to road striping.
"Our paint striping always take place at slow speeds," said CDOT spokesman Timothy Hoover.
That doesn't mean it's not a dangerous job. Drivers could slam into the crew while they are working. That's why they have a crash-absorbing truck with video cameras, signage and a safety bar following the them as they work. They call it an automated truck mounted attenuator truck.
"But basically, what it is, is a self-driving truck," said Hoover.
It's technology they have been using since 2018 to protect their striping crews.
"All it does is follow the lead truck and there's kind of like a little trail of electronic breadcrumbs that it just follows kind of like Pac-Man," said Hoover.
That way in case a driver hits something it will hopefully be an empty truck. Instead of the truck full of workers or workers on the road behind it.
In case you were wondering, there's no need to worry that it will get a mind of its own and drive off. The crew is in control and can stop it whenever they need to.
"It's like having a robot. You still need a human to kind of tend to it," said Hoover.
This is one of two in their fleet and so far, they have been mainly used with striping operations, but thanks to a $1.9-million federal grant CDOT is hoping to learn how to use them on other job sites.
"Potholes and some other common roadwork," said Hoover.
CDOT says it's planning to investigate using the autonomous vehicles for more high-speed operations.
"In the future, we're hoping to technology develops to where we can do that," said Hoover.
For now, it performs the most important task: keeping crews safe.
"It might save the life of whomever otherwise would have to be in the cab of an attenuator truck," said Hoover.
Now the system actually has a failsafe that if someone jumps between the two vehicles it will shut off and stop so that nobody gets hurt.