An Autonomous Truck Goes to Work in Russia
The company says testing self-driving technology on a closed site is crucial, as it differs fundamentally from highway driving.
Yandex has begun testing autonomous freight transport at a Sportmaster distribution center in the Moscow region.
The autonomous tractor hauls containers of goods across a closed facility with numerous narrow passages. Its task is to pick up containers from a loading area and deliver them to the correct warehouse building and gate. A container-type semi-trailer is used for the operation.
For now, the truck completes an average of 22 trips per day. Importantly, no changes were required to the distribution center’s logistics or infrastructure—the autonomous vehicle was integrated seamlessly into existing operations.
A Natural Fit
As the company noted, driving within a closed facility differs significantly from highway travel. The tractor must maneuver frequently, reverse, interact with other equipment and continuously monitor the condition of the semi-trailer.
The testing will help further train the model underlying Yandex’s autonomous driving technology using new data, while also expanding the range of scenarios in which it can be applied.
In the future, Yandex’s autonomous trucks are expected to handle warehouse logistics alongside long-haul routes. At present, they are already transporting cargo along the M-4 highway for Yandex Market and the Magnit retail chain.
