It's about time we see a self-driving truck reaching our automobile market. Aurora, a self-driving startup, has been testing their driverless trucks in a partnership with Paccar.
As noted from CNET, Aurora is now testing Kenworth T680 and Peterbilt 579 models in Texas. Aurora's latest FirstLight lidar system and Driver software suite will be a perfect match for these models, which will soon be commercialized within the next several years.
Aurora's co-founder and chief product officer, Sterling Anderson, assured in an interview that the partnership will bring something fresh to the table. As noted by Bloomberg, the two companies aim to provide "long-range, multi-modal sensing" when you're driving the big boy at highway speeds.
Paccar stock price jumped 9,9% when the deal was announced on Tuesday.
Not the First Time
In fact, this is not the first strategic business move that Aurora has ever made to cement itself in the industry as the leading force of self-driving, driverless vehicles.
Previously in December, Aurora purchased Uber's ill-fated and controversial driverless car business, Advanced Technologies Group. The division has spent the past few years developing such technology and millions of dollars and sparked an online backlash after one of Uber's self-driving Volvo XC90 struck a woman in Tempe, Arizona.
However, it's only a matter of time until we find out if the deal is beneficial for both parties, as Aurora's approximate valuation skyrockets to $10 billion following the acquisition.
Chris Urmson, the CEO of Aurora, said that the company is in its best position to deliver the tech products to "make transportation and logistics safer" in a much more affordable and accessible way possible.
Dara Khosrowshahi, Uber CEO, said that he's looking forward to the partnership as he joined the driverless company's board of directors. The deal does not entirely exclude Uber from the progression, as the ride-hailing giant revealed that it will invest a whopping $400 million in Aurora to bring the tech back on track.
Long History
Aurora, Uber, and Paccar are not the only companies in this field. For years, the self-driving vehicle industry competition has been fierce, with several competitors like Waymo, TuSimple, Einride, and Hyundai entering the ring.
In 2018, Hyundai completed its first self-driving truck trial on the highway of South Korea. Although it's only SAE Level 3 and it still requires a human assistant to look things out, the progress is something to be proud of that Sout Korea's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport granted an autonomous driving license to a full-size truck. The testbed is a 7.7 kilometers highway within the central region of Seoul, with 60 kilometers per-hour speed limit.
It's safe to expect a few years to see a Level 4 automatic driving, but we're definitely heading in the right direction.
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