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Hitchless towing
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gpokluda View Drop Down
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Posts: 276 		Post Options Post Options   Quote gpokluda Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: Hitchless towing
    Posted: 27 Aug 2022 at 9:58am
Article on Toyota's experiment with hitchless towing. Several years ago, Honda debuted a concept motorcycle that would follow its owner, or at the least the person that had the magic fob, in their pocket. The bike would remain upright without use of side stand or the rider having to put leg down at stops thanks to gyros and sensors.
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GlueGuy View Drop Down
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Posts: 2630 		Post Options Post Options   Quote GlueGuy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27 Aug 2022 at 10:17am
What could possibly go wrong?
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David and Danette View Drop Down
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Posts: 1214 		Post Options Post Options   Quote David and Danette Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27 Aug 2022 at 2:40pm
 It's the same legal questions with self driving vehicles who's responsible in some accidents the manufacturer or the driver.
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StephenH View Drop Down
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Posts: 6288 		Post Options Post Options   Quote StephenH Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27 Aug 2022 at 3:02pm
Okay. I see it as a remotely piloted tow vehicle. Beyond the obvious safety questions, I'm sure the states (and Federal government) will view this as another motor vehicle that needs to be taxed, registered, licensed, and insured. I don't see any upside to having to pay all of these on a specialized vehicle with no other use.
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lostagain View Drop Down
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Posts: 2587 		Post Options Post Options   Quote lostagain Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27 Aug 2022 at 3:30pm
Why not just program a self-driving motor home to go to your desired camping spot.  Drive your Tesla to the destination to meet it already parked, awning out, slide outs extended, sewer line attached, water hooked up, cell phone signal booster antenna raised, and the 50 amp plug connected.  Heck, you could have a robot aboard to prepare a margarita and nachos for when you arrive.  Like GlueGuy says, what could possibly go wrong?  Clown
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offgrid View Drop Down
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Posts: 5290 		Post Options Post Options   Quote offgrid Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Aug 2022 at 4:54am
There are lots of parks round the country that have been doing that for many decades now.

I think they call them.... rental cabins. And many are in spectacular private spots that you couldn't dream of getting a campsite at.

No safety hazards, RV maintenance or depreciation, fossil fuel burn, or setup headaches. Just show up in your Tesla or whatever, transfer your food from your cooler to the cabin fridge, and voila.

But it ain't RVing.
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Tars Tarkas View Drop Down
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Posts: 1446 		Post Options Post Options   Quote Tars Tarkas Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Aug 2022 at 9:37am
So, it's an autonomous tow vehicle that has to have hitch so you can attache a trailer.  To be of any use with an RPod it needs to have about a 5000 lb tow capacity and be able to pull the trailer over mountain passes.  So it's going to have to have some horsepower.  In other words, you can spend, say $600 adding a hitch to your car or truck or you can spend, what? $20,000 or more on one of these things to accomplish the same purpose.  If your "tow vehicle" is a Smart Car or a Tesla, this might make sense in some ways, I suppose.

Going over that mountain pass there will have to be some way to force the passenger vehicle to slow down down on the way up and some considerable braking and/or way to gear down the towing robot thing.  And some way to prevent the care and the trailer from ever getting more than about 10 feet apart.  Otherwise some idiot will absolutely try to change lanes by going between the lead car and the robot.

Interesting challenges.  It's going to have to be an EV. so put the price at probably around $40.000.  I'll take two.

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Posts: 276 		Post Options Post Options   Quote gpokluda Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Aug 2022 at 3:34pm
I believe there is limited practicality for the use case as presented by Toyota, however, I think there are some real advantages to having a power assisted RV trailer that communicates with the TV. Here are two examples that come to mind:

1. You pull up to your back-in campsite, you place your TV in neutral and allow the RV to back into the site pulling your TV along. Or better, you unhitch your TV and the RV pulls into the site by itself (I can only imagine how many marriages this would save)

2. You're ready to hook up, you place your RV and TV in hook-up mode and they hook up autonomously. Add Bluetooth-like communication between the TV and RV and no need to hookup electrical for turn signals, brakes and lights. (This would still save some marriages but not as many as #1)
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StephenH View Drop Down
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Posts: 6288 		Post Options Post Options   Quote StephenH Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Aug 2022 at 4:24pm
https://www.westmarine.com/trailer-valet-remote-controlled-rv-and-trailer-mover-with-9000-lbs.-tow-capacity-19953157.html

There is already a solution to #1. It ain't cheap though.
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gpokluda View Drop Down
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Posts: 276 		Post Options Post Options   Quote gpokluda Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Aug 2022 at 6:48pm
I can't even imagine hauling that thing around on a trip and unloading it. But, what if the RV had an electric assist motor at each side and allowed one motor to go in reverse, or lock ,while the other side could motor forward. That would be quite handy.
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