Otto is determined to make kits to transform regular trucks into self-driving trucks.
(Otto self-driving trucks)
One of the problems that are seldom addressed by autonomous car dreamers (like me!) is that the American "fleet" of vehicles takes more than a decade to turn over. So, it makes a lot of sense to sell kits to bring the future closer for more companies.
In his 1956 story The Corkscrew of Space, sf legend Poul Anderson described self-driving trucks called electrotrucks:
As he watched, [the spacecraft] entered its cradle and was wheeled off toward the waiting electrotrucks. Unloading began immediately; the trucks gulped packages and scurried like beetles toward the warehouses.
Also, as far as earlier mentions of the idea that Otto is trying to bring to the market is concerned, I should mention Stephen King's short story Trucks, which described a rebellion by autonomous trucks (brief movie clip below).
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!)
is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for
the Invention Category that interests
you, the Glossary, the Invention
Timeline, or see what's New.
Tumblin' Tumbleweed Rovers To Eplore Mars
'His sensors out and working, and the whirring of the tape that sucked up sight and sound and shape and smell and form...'
Reflect Orbital Sunlight On Demand
'I don't have to tell you about the seven two-mile-diameter orbital mirrors that circulate around the satellite, making it habitable.'