Real world Self-driving trucks today
In the iron ore mines of Western Australia, huge haul trucks have been driven by computers for years, following set routes and watched over from a control center far away. Mines are good places for self-driving vehicles because the routes are fixed and the public is kept out.
NASA also pays companies to land robotic spacecraft on the Moon carrying science instruments and cargo, through its Commercial Lunar Payload Services program.
Possible future Robot haulers off Earth
On the Moon or Mars, robot cargo pods could carry ice from mines, oxygen tanks, spare parts and building materials between the landing pad and the base, day and night, without putting people at risk. Crews would step in only when something went wrong.
Real world The first Moon buggy
Astronauts on Apollo 15, 16 and 17, in 1971 and 1972, drove an electric Lunar Roving Vehicle across the Moon. It folded up to fit inside the lander, carried two astronauts and their tools, and let them explore much farther from their spacecraft than on foot.
Art In this artwork
This illustration shows a boxy white and red cargo vehicle with glowing blue pads underneath.
Look closer
- Is there a driver's seat?
- Find the cargo doors in the back view.
Think about it
- Which jobs should robot vehicles do, and which should people do?
- Who is responsible if a self-driving vehicle crashes?
- Why are mines a good place to test self-driving trucks?
Key words
- Autonomous
- Able to work without a person in control.
- Haul truck
- A huge truck for moving rock in a mine.
- Payload
- The cargo a vehicle carries.
Sources
The real-world facts on this page are based on these sources:
- Rio Tinto, autonomous haul trucks in the Pilbara iron ore mines of Western Australia
- NASA, Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) robotic Moon deliveries
- NASA, "In-Situ Resource Utilization" (using local resources on the Moon and Mars)
- NASA, Apollo Lunar Roving Vehicle and the Artemis Lunar Terrain Vehicle
