# 'Road Train' Autopilot Driving System Cuts Fuel Consumption, Travel Time

**URL:** <https://forums.speedlife.net/t/road-train-autopilot-driving-system-cuts-fuel-consumption-travel-time/151193>\
**Category:** NYSpeed Automotive\
**Created:** [March 10, 2010, 8:52am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/road-train-autopilot-driving-system-cuts-fuel-consumption-travel-time/151193 "2010-03-10T08:52:29Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Avatar](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/avatar/32/5076_2.png) [@Avatar](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Avatar)\
**Post date:** [March 10, 2010, 8:52am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/road-train-autopilot-driving-system-cuts-fuel-consumption-travel-time/151193/1 "2010-03-10T08:52:29Z")

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> **['Road Train' Autopilot Driving System Cuts Fuel Consumption, Travel Time](https://www.treehugger.com/cars/road-train-autopilot-driving-system-cuts-fuel-consumption-travel-time.html)**
>
> It's one of those ideas that crosses your mind while you're stuck in never-ending stop and go traffic on some ugly stretch of the highway: what if there were some sort of a sensor that could put all of those cars into lockstep?

![http://www.treehugger.com/road-train-sensor-automated-driving.gif](http://www.treehugger.com/road-train-sensor-automated-driving.gif)

I really feel that this is the future once GPS and on-board driving AI improves. We could repurpose or expand sections of interstate to include two lanes of computer-controlled driving. It could work like the toll system or HOV lanes, where when your car enters a specific area the computer automatically takes over and drives for you. Road-trains would result and all the benefits that come with it. We would still have regular traffic on surface/residential roads and interstate exits and could drastically reduce traffic on non-computer-controlled interstate. I would gladly sign up to kick back and relax on long stretches of highway.

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**Author:** ![ProgRocker](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/progrocker/32/5434_2.png) [@ProgRocker](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/ProgRocker)\
**Post date:** [March 10, 2010, 9:02am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/road-train-autopilot-driving-system-cuts-fuel-consumption-travel-time/151193/2 "2010-03-10T09:02:53Z")

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Not In for the Beta testing though

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**Author:** ![Avatar](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/avatar/32/5076_2.png) [@Avatar](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Avatar)\
**Post date:** [March 10, 2010, 9:23am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/road-train-autopilot-driving-system-cuts-fuel-consumption-travel-time/151193/3 "2010-03-10T09:23:27Z")

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> [@ProgRocker](#):
>
> Not In for the Beta testing though

That’s what Europe is for.

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**Author:** ![vt1992s10](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/73ab20/32.png) [@vt1992s10](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/vt1992s10)\
**Post date:** [March 10, 2010, 2:29pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/road-train-autopilot-driving-system-cuts-fuel-consumption-travel-time/151193/4 "2010-03-10T14:29:15Z")

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This technology is already used in the military and has been for years.

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**Author:** ![Avatar](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/avatar/32/5076_2.png) [@Avatar](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Avatar)\
**Post date:** [March 10, 2010, 3:39pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/road-train-autopilot-driving-system-cuts-fuel-consumption-travel-time/151193/5 "2010-03-10T15:39:39Z")

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> [@vt1992s10](#):
>
> This technology is already used in the military and has been for years.

DARPA does a lot of work like this, I’m not surprised it’s already in use. In any case, I imagine that sort of application is still primitive compared to what would be needed for civilian use. Thanks for the info, I’ll look more into it.