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Tomorrow, June 14, the first Russian self-driving KAMAZ trucks will carry cargo along the M-11 Neva federal highway. The launch of self-driving freight trucks – the first stage of the Unmanned Logistics Corridors project – will take place as part of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.

Four KAMAZ-54901 digital freight trucks will carry commercial cargo from St. Petersburg to Moscow and operate between the logistics terminals of these cities. The project involves the largest carriers: PEC, Global Truck, Gazpromneft-Snabzhenie.

Unmanned cargo delivery is being tested as part of the Experimental Legal Regime Program (ELR) on the M-11 Neva highway. The Ministry of Transport of Russia is responsible for the implementation of the project.

Within the framework of the XIV International Integrated Safety & Security Exhibition 2023 held last week in Kubinka, Moscow Oblast, KAMAZ PTC demonstrated a fire truck based on the KAMAZ-43265 chassis.

The Integrated Safety & Security is the largest Russian exhibition project at the federal level demonstrating the results of state policy and achievements in ensuring safety and security of the country, its population and territory. The company’s exposition presented on the territory of the Patriot Congress and Exhibition Center demonstrated the ATs-3.4-40/4 fire tank truck on the KAMAZ-43265 (4×4) chassis. The vehicle is designed to deliver an appliance crew of six people to fire sites and fire-fighting equipment providing effective extinguishing with both water and air-mechanical foam.

The all-wheel drive of the vehicle provides high cross-country ability and controllability under bad road conditions and in winter. Superstructure elements, including a fire pump, fire monitor, steps and handrails, flashing beacons, are controlled by the driver remotely – from the crew cab and pump room via the LCS. The water tank holds 3,400 liters, the foam tank contains 204 liters. The pump with a capacity of 50 l/s and a head of 100 m, the high pressure stages of the pump at a nominal rating of 4 l/s and a head of 400 m are located in the rear compartment. The vehicle operates at air temperature in the range from -40°C to +40°C.

As for the KAMAZ-43265 base chassis, its advantages are already familiar to customers. The wheel arrangement is 4×4, the engine KAMAZ 667.512 with a capacity of 285 hp complies with the Euro 5 emission standard. The cab has four doors. The gross weight of the fire truck is 15.7 tonnes.

In general, more than a dozen models of fire fighting equipment have been created on the basis of KAMAZ vehicles. They successfully perform their tasks in emergency situations, at industrial facilities and in settlements. The company continues to provide the country with the necessary equipment and expand the product line with new popular models.

The first self-driving KAMAZ trucks were tested at the Vostochno-Messoyakhskoye field located on the Gyda Peninsula of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug.

The first digital KAMAZ trucks based on serial KAMAZ-43118 vehicles have completed pilot operation on winter roads in the Arctic. For several months, two robot trucks transported cargoes along the 140-kilometer winter road connecting the autonomous oil field with the village of Tazovsky.

A distinctive feature of these trucks is that they are allowed to go on routes in difficult weather conditions, while ordinary trucks operated by drivers are prohibited fr om it. Such extreme conditions are not a problem for unmanned vehicles: communication between trucks is carried out via industrial Wi-Fi, 3G/4G and a special microwave frequency. The trucks are equipped with several types of sensors that monitor the environment: they draw a digital road map, detect various kinds of obstacles within a radius of 200 meters, register static and moving objects.

The possibility of uninterrupted operation of self-driving vehicles during typical operations at the northern oil fields will enable their owner to significantly reduce the delivery time of goods, minimize downtime of equipment, etc. After the winter roads are closed and until the end of autumn, the unmanned trucks will continue to work at other facilities, wh ere they will also carry out ground transportation.

The development of robotic vehicles, including trucks, is one of the main trends in the automotive industry. KAMAZ started actively creating unmanned trucks and ADAS trucks back in 2017-2018. By this day, the company has accumulated extensive experience in the development of driverless trucks, combining efforts with Russian specialists, cooperating with leading universities, contributes to strengthening the technological independence of the country.