Shift Magazine - December 2021 - 14

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underscore the importance of autonomous
trucking to the future of America's
economy, " CEO Don Burnette said.
Rather than dock-to-dock operations,
moving goods directly from warehouse to
warehouse, Kodiak believes autonomy's
first wave will arrive on highways only,
while human drivers take over at " truckports "
located alongside interstates to
handle the driving on more complex surface
streets.
Interstates are not the only place the
company has tested. In the spring, it
struck a partnership with the U.S. Air
Force and signed a 15-month contract
to explore ways some operations might
be automated at Dover Air Force Base in
Delaware.
LOCOMATION
How might automation play a shortterm
role in solving the driver shortage
and supply chain logjam? Perhaps with
technology such as the kind Locomation
is developing.
The Pittsburgh-based
company
has
developed a two-truck system, in which
a lead truck operated by a human driver
can be paired to a second one that follows
behind with autonomous and connected
technology.
Though the Federal Motor Carrier
Safety Administration is still studying
emerging trucking business models such
as these convoys, Locomation envisions
a resting, off-the-clock driver in the trailing
big rig. Periodically, the trucks could
switch places to allow one driver to lead
while another rests. It could allow for trips
of 20 to 22 hours within hours-of-service
regulations.
To date, Locomation has raised $63 million
in funding, according to Crunchbase.
In October, the company said it had
partnered with Cummins to integrate its
autonomous systems with the engine
manufacturer's powertrain systems.
PLUS
Shortly before an expected public listing
in November, Plus pulled the plug on
its blank-check merger with Hennessy
14 shift * december 2021
Pronto
Capital Investment Corp. V. The two
companies cited developments in the
regulatory environment " outside the
United States " as the reason, though both
expressed hope the deal would come to
fruition at a later date.
But a big order for Amazon remains unaffected.
Amazon has ordered 1,000 of the
PlusDrive driver-assist systems, the company's
first on-road product. Deliveries of
the system began in February and continue
to Amazon and other customers, such as
Chinese truck manufacturer FAW.
Plus says it has preorders from Chinese
truck fleet operators Rokin, Dhihong and
Duckbill. Plus projects more than 100,000
of
its PlusDrive systems will
reach public roads by the end
of 2025.
One differentiator for the
company, which has operations
in both the U.S. and China: The
company has taken an evolutionary
approach, starting with
driver-assistance systems and
building toward fully
autonomous
ones.
Robotic Research
Locomation
Plus
PRONTO
The rest of the industry may be racing
toward self-driving trucks. Pronto is racing
in the opposite direction. Started as a
company building both driver-assist and
self-driving systems, Pronto is now pursuing
applications for autonomy in off-road
environments.
" The simple truth of the matter is that
we are still years away from having driverless
vehicles at any meaningful scale
on public highways or city streets, and
commercially viable AV deployments
will take much longer, " Pronto's Anthony
Levandowski said in a September blog
post
that announced another development
- his return as CEO.
Levandowski had been on hiatus while
he faced charges of stealing trade secrets
from Google during his tenure with the
company. He pled guilty to a single count
and was later pardoned by Donald Trump
during the former president's final days in
office.
Refocused at Pronto, he says autonomous-driving
technology is ready for offroad
markets and commercially viable now.
ROBOTIC RESEARCH
Before the DARPA challenges provided
a kick-start for the entire autonomous-vehicle
industry,
Robotic Research
had
been developing AVs for the U.S. military.
Founded in 2002, it has collected " a
Shift Magazine - December 2021

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