Russian truck maker Kamaz offered a driverless dumper prototype nicknamed Robocop that appears excellent for a post-apocalyptic sci-fi film. Sci-fi references apart, the autonomous heavy truck is absolutely practical and might be examined in real-life situations in coal mines.

The prototype is predicated on the Kamaz Atlant 49 dump truck, inheriting its cab-over design, four-axle 8×4 chassis, turbodiesel engine, and 49-ton (108,027 kilos) payload capability. Whereas the decrease a part of the bodywork and the mattress are carried over from the usual mannequin, the Robocop incorporates a distinctive upper-cab design speaking its driverless nature.

The shortage of doorways, mirrors, and home windows makes it clear that that is an unmanned car. As an alternative of a driver, an array of sensors mounted on the roof, behind the darkish windshield-style panel, and on the aspect wings repeatedly scan the atmosphere. Moreover, when a completely autonomous operation shouldn’t be doable, the truck may also be pushed remotely by an operator.

Extra: Russia’s Kamaz Is Going through A Employee Scarcity, So They’re Contemplating Having Prisoners Construct Automobiles

Kamaz / VK

In accordance with Russian media outlet Drom, the Robocop was designed for working in closed areas like quarries (open pit mines). Kamaz introduced that its driverless truck will head to town of Kemerovo in Siberia, often known as the coal mining capital of Russia. There, it would check its autonomous, off-road, and cargo-carrying capabilities in one of many coal mines.

Notably, this isn’t the primary driverless truck by Kamaz which has been creating and testing autonomous applied sciences since 2017-2018. Earlier this 12 months, the corporate examined autonomous variations of the Kamaz 43118 on the snowy and icy roads of the Vostochno-Messoyakhskoye subject close to the Arctic Circle. The self-driving vehicles transported cargo in excessive climate situations that may be too harsh for a human driver, permitting uninterrupted operation in the course of the winter.

Motorsport followers are in all probability accustomed to Kamaz from its 19 wins on the Dakar Rally. The truck maker was a dominant power within the truck phase of the well-known rally till it obtained banned from the occasion final 12 months resulting from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

H/T to Mikhail for the Tip