After the iconic bullet train, Japan is now constructing a rare “conveyor belt road” which will connect Tokyo to Osaka and will probably leave the rest of the countries wondering if they can match them technologically.
The automated cargo transport corridor is also called an “autoflow road” and will spread some 320 miles between Tokyo and Osaka.
This road will not be a moving walkway but will facilitate the movement of robotic pallets carrying cargo from one destination to another.
“We need to be innovative with the way we approach roads,” said Yuri Endo, who is a senior deputy director at Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism, while speaking to The Associated Press.
Endo is overseeing this ambitious project. “The key concept of the autoflow road is to create dedicated spaces within the road network for logistics, utilising a 24-hour automated and unmanned transportation system,” he added.
Here’s how the “conveyor belt road” looks like
In the official concept video, dozens of the cargo pallets were seen moving across the autoflow road which is divided into three lands and is placed between an existing highway.
The middle lane works like a passing lane but also is the place where pallets stop while they are designing two outermost ones for opposite flows of traffic.
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In the video, the driverless vehicles were seen automatically moving between the lanes and forming convoys on the fly with robotic coordination which is impossible for human drivers.
After the vehicles reach their destinations, automatic forklifts are expected to load and unload the cargo. According to the transport ministry, the automated network will be able to do the work of 25,000 truck drivers every day.
(With inputs from agencies)