Are you worried about (cargo-)theft? The way I imagine it:
- (assumption) it takes less criminal energy to steal something when no human observer is around
- lonely road in the middle of nowhere
- well known driving behaviour means it is easy to stop (overtake, then slow down to a halt?)
- enable mobile phone jammer (optional)
- take cargo
Not sure how we're thinking about this now internally. If there was such a technologically adept actor targeting us I'd be more worried personally about safety than the cargo itself.
Wouldn't that work pretty well with a human driver? I don't think most truck drivers are going to risk their life for their cargo. If you block a truck in with a couple cars and block them from calling 911, they'll just try to protect themselves and maybe try to film you if they're brave.
Some things might be easier for the thief, but others I imagine harder.
Multiple on-board backup locations of numerous video sensors means unless the entire vehicle is torched (and even then), some evidence of the people who carried out the theft will probably survive.
When talking about autonomous platforms, a jammer might no longer be sufficient. If communication is lost, how hard is it to launch a drone (or multiple) whose job it is to keep visual contact with the vehicle while increasing distance, and relay the feed up when communication is re-established (how large an area does a jammer affect?).
There are ways to mitigate these defenses/logging (reduce all unique visuals, stop vehicle in tunnel), but also ways to minimize those mitigations.
I'm not sure it's any easier than when a human is present to defend the goods.
I feel like the risk of this is lower than that of rail car theft (find a place where the train slows down, hop on it, steal stuff, leave before it gets to a depot. Or alternatively disconnect the last car and take everything).
Starsky CEO here: Currently, cargo theft is less of an issue than F&F would have you believe, and unfortunately seems more driver related than land piracy.
It certainly is something that I think of, but safety engineering requires simpler processes (because simpler means less things need to go right, which is good when things are breaking). I'd rather pay more for cargo insurance than have more complicated logic that causes more accidents with people.
Easy answer- self destructing cargo. Epoxy Glue tubes which can be exploded on capture inside the container. Goods become unusable, robbery unsubstainable.
