U.S. Army to Test Robotic Vehicles on Michigan’s I-69

Sometime in late June, the U.S. Army will begin testing driverless military vehicles on I-69 in the "thumb area" of Michigan. The agency testing these vehicles is the U.S. Army Tank Automotive Research Development and Engineering Center, or TARDEC, based in Warren, MI. According to MLive.com, I-69 will remain open to traffic during the tests, but the military vehicles will have drivers behind the wheel at all times. The tests will be used to assess the radio communications systems that will be used when the vehicles actually are driverless.

Why is this a good idea? Driverless trucks would allow for convoys to operate in wartime 24 hours a day, while eliminating mistakes made by tired drivers - and most importantly - it would cut the danger of roadside bombs, at least for the drivers of the cargo trucks.

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