Aurora Innovation has announced that its self-driving technology, the Aurora Driver, is now “Feature Complete” and is one step closer to commercial deployments of autonomous trucks in 2024. The company plans to launch a driverless freight service known as Aurora Horizon between Dallas and Houston next year.
Co-founder and CEO, Chris Urmson, explained that the Aurora Driver has been taught what it needs to safely transport freight without a driver. The sensor suite includes radar, standard lidar, and Aurora’s “FirstLight Lidar,” which can see more than twice the distance of conventional Lidar, allowing for higher speeds. The sensors are paired with Aurora’s powerful computing system and the Aurora Atlas high-definition mapping system.
The release of the Beta 6.0 version of the Aurora Driver brings new improvements, including the ability to detect and respond to unexpected scenarios such as sudden heavy rain, snow, or fog that reduce visibility, high winds that compromise control of the truck, and collisions with other road users or objects. In such situations, the Aurora Driver slows down or stops, and a remote Command Center Specialist is notified.
Sterling Anderson, co-founder and chief product officer, said, “Aurora Driver Beta 6.0 marks the first time a fleet of trucks is equipped to operate with all of the primary technical features and driving capabilities required by our commercial product.” Over the last 18 months, Aurora has incrementally improved the Aurora Driver’s autonomous performance, safety, and reliability through six Beta updates in pilots for companies such as FedEx, Werner, Schneider, and Uber Freight.
With the “Feature Complete” status achieved, the focus is now on achieving the next milestone on the roadmap to commercialization, “Driver Ready,” which will see the company closing the safety case for the Aurora Driver through a final phase of refinement and validation. This is expected to be achieved by the end of the year on the Dallas to Houston route, by which time the number of pilot loads carried out weekly is expected to have increased to 100 from the current tally of 40.
Although the Dallas-Houston route is the immediate priority, Aurora has made clear that the potential span of its logistics network stretches right across the United States. As Chris Urmson put it, “we’re excited to have the Aurora Driver Feature Complete and are focused on delivering this technology safely, quickly, and broadly.” The future of autonomous trucking is fast approaching, and Aurora Innovation is at the forefront of this exciting new era.
