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Technically Speaking

No Drivers Are Needed

by Dave Trecker
hings are moving at warp speed these days and often But things are better now – streamlined even.
without drivers. At least drivers we can see. And big events showcase the promise. For example, Amazon’s
T After a decade of false promises and misstarts, autonomous Zoox strutted its stuff at the World Cup, with 104 matches spread
vehicles are now starting to carry passengers. The robotaxi industry out over 11 North American cities ending in mid-July. The box-
is taking off across the U.S. shaped robotaxi took fans from hotels to pitches and back to hotels.
No one should be terribly surprised. Elon Musk has been saying Lots of activity in Las Vegas where there was plenty of gambling
for years that driverless vehicles will transform society, particularly to go with the futbol. WSJ accounts gave the driverless cars passing
when coupled with artificial intelligence. At a recent conference, grades, but not all A’s.
Musk told attendees, “Within 10 years, it will be a rare thing to be What about other autonomous uses? There are plenty of them.
driving your own car. The car will be driving you.” And things are certainly simpler when there are no passengers
Musk knows what he’s talking about. As reported in the Wall involved.
Street Journal, Tesla now has nearly 800 robocars plying the roads U.S. Sugar recently announced it was deploying a fleet of
in Texas and California. Others are awaiting approval, including driverless John Deere tractors in south Florida. According to the
many in Florida. announcement, the tractors can plough the sugar fields essentially
And that’s child’s play compared to Alphabet’s Waymo, with non-stop. How sweet is that?
some 3,000 robotaxis operating in six states and more ready to hit Fitted with vehicle automation technology, the tractors are said
the road in 12 others. The company says it now provides over half a to deliver higher crop production than those with human drivers.
million trips a week in 11 cities. Some 250,000 acres of sugarcane are in play.
Uber, the largest rideshare company, just partnered with What about job loss? The press release said something about
Amazon and its box-shaped Zoox for a launch in the Los Angeles “having to hire new employees for the knowledge-based skills this
metropolitan area in mid-2027. technology requires.” But there aren’t too many dedicated tractor
Overall the number of autonomous rides is expected to reach drivers out there, so job loss isn’t much of an issue.
36 million this year and exceed 700 million by 2030, according to In fact, the technology could be the start of a new trend in
Morgan Stanley. farming. U.S. Sugar is said to be considering autonomous corn
And that’s just in the U.S. It’s also going international. For cultivation. Soybeans could be next.
example, Uber plans to offer robotaxis in Munich next year. Then there is cargo delivery.
The launches haven’t all been a walk in the park. Reuters Driverless trucks have been shuttling goods up and down a
reported an incident in Dallas where a robotaxi failed to make a limited number of highways for many years. But now it’s gone well
left turn four times, in each case making right turns to double back beyond that. In Arizona, PepsiCo uses a fleet of autonomous trucks
around the block. A remote attendant finally got it straightened out. to transfer Gatorade from a bottling plant and Cheetos and Doritos
Then there was a pick-up at the wrong airport. And in a separate from a warehouse to numerous supermarket outlets. Imagine the
instance a drop-off at a freeway exit on the wrong side of town. untapped market for that kind of cargo delivery.
Wait times often exceeded 30 minutes. No question, the learning Auto parts to assembly plants, ammunition to military depots,
curve has been steep. sorted plastic waste to recycle facilities. The list is endless and the
potential is staggering.
And all of it driverless.
Dr. Trecker is a chemist and retired Pfizer executive living in Naples.

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