PREDICTIVE CRUISE CONTROL

Freightliner used the Mid-America show to introduce its new, proprietary RunSmart Predictive Cruise system. It evaluates the upcoming road profile more than one mile in advance and determines the most fuel efficient vehicle speed. The system is now available as an option for Detroit Diesel DD15-equipped Freightliner Cascadia trucks with a 72-inch raised roof.

Developed by Daimler Trucks North America, working with NAVTEQ (a global provider of digital map data for location-based solutions and vehicle navigation) it’s said to increase fuel economy when a truck is running across rolling terrain.

Unlike standard cruise control, where the truck tries to maintain a set speed regardless of the terrain ahead, RunSmart Predictive Cruise looks up to one mile ahead of the truck’s location and anticipates road grades by using GPS and 3D digital map technology. It adjusts the actual speed of the truck for maximum fuel efficiency based on the terrain while staying within 6% of the set speed.

Using advanced digital map slope data from NAVTEQ, RunSmart Predictive Cruise combines high-precision GPS road coordinates with road grade data of more than 200,000 miles of the most widely used truck routes in the continental United States.

"This is part of our long term vision to improve truck efficiency using GPS and 3D digital map technology," said Derek Rotz, manager of advanced engineering for Daimler Trucks North America.


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