Aurora Innovation is interested in driverless trucks as they are showcasing the capabilities that Autonomous Trucking can display. So much so in fact, that they are starting to unleash a whole hoard of driverless trucks in the State Of Texas. Aurora actually made a public statement that will really change the game in terms of AVs or Autonomous Vehicles. “The company has introduced the final driving capabilities needed to commercially haul freight without vehicle operators between Dallas and Houston by the end of 2024.” For the time being however, safety drivers will sit in the cab as well, in the case of an emergency.
Currently, it’s going to be a test track of Dallas, Texas to Houston, Texas. These Autonomous Trucks are going to be potentially the wave of the future or a call to fear. Aurora believes they’re providing “complete autonomy to their trucks. But really, it looks more like they’re going to pursue a timeline of making multiple updates to the Aurora Driver Beta system throughout the past 18 months. All while “incrementally, Increasing the Aurora Driver’s autonomous performance, safety and reliability. The Pilot can haul for various companies like Werner, FedEx, Uber Freight and Schneider. The system is also known as “Feature Complete.
Aurora mentions how there are two features that have been unlocked by the Aurora Driver Beta 6.0 update. Like using identification and responding capacity for collisions with other vehicles or property. Additionally, another feature is how the driverless truck will be able to detect and respond to “out of design domain” scenarios. All while various extreme weather events will help the Aurora Driver to notify the Command Central Specialist, whom is able to instruct and therefore show the rest of the fleet on what is the process to proceed.
In a public statement, Chris Urmson, Co-Founder and CEO of Aurora, sounded optimitsic.
“From day one, we made foundational technology investments and strategic decisions that have helped us reach this pivotal moment. We are now positioned to close our Safety Case for launch, the final step to achieving Aurora Driver Ready later this year. As we mature operations in advance of the launch of Aurora Horizon, our customers will continue to experience the value autonomy can bring to their businesses.” Who knows where else the business will go from here? It truly is anybody’s guess. Except for the robots. They’re too busy at work to think.
