Aurora Innovation has launched its commercial self-driving trucking service in the US state of Texas, with regular driverless customer deliveries between Dallas and Houston.
Aurora said it is now the first company to operate a commercial, self-driving service with heavy-duty trucks on public roads in the US. It plans to expand this to El Paso in Texas and Phoenix in Arizona by the end of this year.
“We founded Aurora to deliver the benefits of self-driving technology safely, quickly and broadly. Now, we are the first company to successfully and safely operate a commercial driverless trucking service on public roads,” said Chris Urmson, CEO and co-founder of Aurora.
“Riding in the back seat for our inaugural trip was an honour of a lifetime, the Aurora Driver performed perfectly and it’s a moment I’ll never forget.”
Aurora’s flagship product, the Aurora Driver, is an SAE L4 self-driving system that is being deployed firstly in long-haul trucking. To date, it has completed over 1,930km (1,200 miles) without a driver.
Aurora’s launch customers are Uber Freight and Hirschbach Motor Lines, a carrier that delivers time- and temperature-sensitive freight. Both companies have had long-standing supervised commercial pilots with Aurora.
Uber Freight and Aurora started working together more than four years ago, noted Lior Ron, founder and CEO of Uber Freight: "Moving autonomous commercial freight without anyone behind the wheel is a historic step forward in our mission to build a smarter and more efficient supply chain, and one we’re proud to lead alongside Aurora.”
Aurora’s safety-focused approach to delivering autonomous technology is paramount said Richard Stocking, CEO of Hirschbach Motor Lines. “Transforming an old-school industry like trucking is never easy, but we can’t ignore the safety and efficiency benefits this technology can deliver. Autonomous trucks aren’t just going to help grow our business, they’re also going to give our drivers better lives by handling the lengthier and less desirable routes.”
Prior to driverless operations, Aurora closed its safety case, which is how the company assembled evidence to show its product is acceptably safe for public roads. Safety cases are an essential tool for any company deploying autonomous vehicle technology as they promote transparency and build trust with regulators and the public.
The company also released a Driverless Safety Report which includes details about the Aurora Driver’s operating domain for initial operations along with Aurora’s approach to cybersecurity, remote assistance and more safety-critical topics.
The Aurora Driver is equipped with sensors that can see beyond the length of four football fields, enabling it to safely operate on the highway. In over four years of supervised pilot hauls, the Aurora Driver has delivered over 10,000 customer loads across three million autonomous miles. It has also demonstrated capabilities such as predicting red-light runners, avoiding collisions and detecting pedestrians in the dark - hundreds of metres away.
Aurora said its verifiable AI approach to autonomy blends powerful learning models with guardrails to help ensure the rules of the road are followed, like yielding for emergency vehicles. Verifiable AI also played a critical role in enabling Aurora to close its driverless safety case.
Aurora’s launch trucks are equipped with the Aurora Driver hardware kit and numerous redundant systems including braking, steering, power, sensing, controls, computing, cooling and communication, enabling them to safely operate without a human driver.
Aurora said it is working with industry leaders across the transportation sector including Continental, FedEx, Hirschbach, Nvidia, Paccar, Ryder, Schneider, Toyota, Uber, Uber Freight, Volvo Trucks, Volvo Autonomous Solutions and Werner.
Most US states today allow for driverless vehicles, including New Mexico and Arizona. Greg Abbott, Texas state governor, said his state continues to attract emerging industries because it offers an environment that welcomes entrepreneurs and encourages innovation. “Texas ranks No. 1 for technology and innovation and that continues as we welcome America's first self-driving trucks,” he said.
“These new, autonomous semis on the I-45 corridor will efficiently move products, create jobs and help make our roadways safer.”
