Business news

MINSK, 5 December (BelTA) – Plans have been made to develop a driverless truck in Belarus, BelTA learned from Oleg Yelovoi, Deputy Director General for Science and Innovations at the Joint Mechanical Engineering Institute of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus (NASB).

Oleg Yelovoi said: “We intend to develop a driverless truck. It will be possible in the long term, after 2020. But we are already actively discussing driverless transport with [the Belarusian automakers] BelAZ and MAZ.”

Driverless BelAZ trucks can be developed in the near future. “Drivers are not so important for mining. A specific route is important. We are already working on it. Driverless trucks and other vehicles from MAZ are certainly a more complicated long-term task,” noted the official.

Driverless transport is expected to experience a surge in development in Belarus in the 2030s. “We’ve developed a draft strategy Science and Technologies: 2018-2040. The document is on the agenda of the second congress of Belarusian scientists. Certainly, driverless transportation, including trucks, is a promising R&D avenue, which the draft strategy pays close attention to,” stressed Oleg Yelovoi.